Nicholas Andersen, M.D.

Nicholas Andersen, M.D., is Director of the Univentricular-Biventricular Care and Research Program and Surgical Co-Director of the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Health. He is also an Associate Professor of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery in the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center.  

Dr. Andersen specializes in the treatment of patients of all ages with congenital heart disease, with a particular interest in complex neonatal heart surgery, single ventricle heart defects, and biventricular repair operations.

Dr. Andersen graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Utah, and then matriculated to Harvard Medical School where he graduated with Honors with Distinction in Surgical Research. He completed his general surgery training at Duke University, where he also finished a cardiothoracic surgery residency. During this time, he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society and also served as a visiting congenital heart surgery fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital. He returned to Boston Children’s Hospital for his accredited congenital cardiac surgery fellowship in 2017. Prior to joining Children’s Health, he was an academic pediatric cardiac surgeon and Co-Director of the Single Ventricle Care and Research Program at Duke University.

Dr. Andersen is a consummate physician and surgeon-scientist with broad clinical interests in all areas of pediatric cardiac surgery, and specialized expertise in single ventricle heart disease, complex biventricular repair pathways, and neonatal heart operations. Dr. Andersen has published over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts pertaining to all areas of pediatric heart surgery. He actively participates in numerous research projects, including clinical research, comparative outcomes research, as well as translational and basic science laboratory endeavors related to furthering the understanding and treatment of children with congenital heart disease. He has also served on the editorial board of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery since 2015.  

“I am honored and privileged to be a pediatric heart surgeon and to have the opportunity to care for children with congenital heart disease and their families. My goal as a surgeon is to perform complete anatomic repair of congenital heart defects with as little surgical and physiologic insult as possible. Our multi-disciplinary team at Children’s Health includes specialists in all areas of pediatric heart care, and together we work to ensure that the best possible surgical repair and outcome can be achieved for each patient. I provide surgical care for patients of all ages (newborn through adulthood) who have repaired or un-repaired congenital heart disease. I am particularly interested in complex neonatal heart surgery and performing complete repair of congenital heart defects in newborn babies.”

Dr. Andersen leads the Univentricular-Biventricular Care and Research Program aimed at improving the survival and quality of life for children born with single ventricle heart defects. “The overarching goal of my research is to improve the lives of patients with single ventricle heart disease. I am involved in studies aimed at stimulating growth of small ventricles, which may allow some patients to progress to a biventricular circulation. For patients with established single ventricle heart disease, we are further studying improvements in surgical technique, mechanical device support, and heart transplantation.”