Biography
Dr. Vial is a practicing cardiac surgeon who also serves as the Chief Physician Executive of Operations for Sutter Health and sits on the system’s Operations Leadership Team (OLT), chaired by Sutter Health’s Chief Operating Officer. In his leadership role, Dr Vial acts as a principal author of clinical strategy deployment, responsible for unifying clinical program building, business development, and operational efficiency across the continuum of care. An important focus of his work is the extension of ongoing specialty service line integration efforts, informing not only operations but also analytics and innovation through interdisciplinary clinical leadership platforms. From the clinical practice perspective, Dr. Vial is particularly interested in structural heart disease, focusing on minimally invasive cardiothoracic surgery and catheter-based valve repair/replacement. He received his bachelor’s degree and medical doctorate from Stanford University. In addition, Dr. Vial earned a master’s of philosophy at Cambridge University in England, while also completing a postdoctoral fellowship in transplant immunology. He received his general surgical and cardiothoracic surgical training at Stanford University Medical Center.
Precision medicine has incredible promise for patients. Enormous amounts of money and time are invested in developing technologies and targeted therapies. Genomics, proteomics, phosphorylation assays, RNA expression, organoid growth, and testing, and even delicate mass measurement of liquid cancer cells are explored. This innovation must be focused to maximize the benefit to the most important participants in our healthcare system, the patient. This track is about putting patient needs first, and understanding and accessing the latest (cancer) treatment options.