Born and raised in Brooklyn and the “Irish Riviera,” – Breezy Point – Queens, Dr. Joseph T. McGinn, Jr., chairs the Division of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery at Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute in North Carolina, where he’s helping to revolutionize the discipline of cardiothoracic surgery. More than 25 years ago, he was chair of surgery at Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) and founding director of The Heart Institute at SIUH’s Ocean Breeze Campus. In that position, he developed and refined a breakthrough minimally invasive technique for coronary artery bypass grafting, known as MICS/CABG: Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery / Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting).

Now widely known as the McGinn Technique, the innovative approach provides access to the heart without needing a “zipper” incision or a heart-lung machine. Since the first time in 2005, Dr. McGinn has repeated it more than 1,000times. He started teaching it to one or two surgeons at a time but now travels the world working with groups, propelling the McGinn Technique into the mainstream.

 Dr. Joe Jr.’s son, also Joseph T. McGinn, M.D, is currently a resident in general surgery at the Zucker School of Medicine and plans to apply for a cardiothoracic fellowship after completing it. ♦