Sevak Darbinian, MD
Sevak Darbinian, MD, FACS, FACC is dedicated to upholding the highest quality standards in minimally invasive valve repair and replacement surgery, blood-
conserving open heart surgery,complex aortic reconstructions, including aortic arch bypass procedures, surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation, including the convergent procedure, multi-arterial CABG (coronary artery bypass grafting), and endocarditis.
A board certified cardiothoracic surgeon, he has been practicing in the OCTCS since 2006, and is now the president and CEO of the OCTCS. He is also the chief of cardiac surgery at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, CA since 2008. Dr. Darbinian graduated from the First Leningrad Medical School in St. Petersburg, Russia and was an attending surgeon in the Saint Petersburg Institute of Cardiology. He worked as a research fellow in heart and lung transplantation at the University of Southern California, where he also received general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery training under the leadership of Vaughn Starnes, MD.
Brian Palafox, MD
Graduated from University California Irvine Medical School, did his training and cardiothoracic training also at UCI and joined OCTCS in 1999. Brian Palafox is the chief of cardiac surgery at St Joseph Hospital in Orange and works at Children's Hospital Orange County and University of California Irvine in his free time. He specializes in adult cardiac, adult thoracic, pediatric cardiac and thoracic and general surgery including thyroid cancer and complex abdominal operations.
Taylor Tang, MD
Graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine, did his general surgery training at Kaiser and Arrowhead Regional in Fontana, CA followed by cardiothoracic surgery training at University of California Los Angeles. He joined OCTCS in 2016 and works mostly at St Joseph Hospital in Orange and Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo.
His interests include transcatheter aortic valve replacement, minimally invasive valve replacement techniques, complex aorta repair and stenting including arch bypass procedures, surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation and minimally invasive lung resection techniques.
Aaron Fowler, MD
Graduated from the University Of Utah School Of Medicine after which he completed his general surgery residency at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente in Fontana California. He later went on to complete a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark New Jersey. Dr. Fowler specializes in diseases of the heart and great vessels including coronary artery bypass surgery, mitral valve surgery, aortic valve surgery, aortic aneurysms and dissections.
His special interests include blood conserving heart surgery, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), valve repair surgery, and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation.
William Thibault, MD
Graduated from University of Vermont Medical School, UCI for his training in cardiothoracic surgery. He has been on staff at both St Jude and Mission hospitals specializing in coronary artery bypass grafting with a focus on use of arterial conduits.
Areo Saffarzadeh, MD
Sohail Sareh, MD
As a native of Southern California, Dr. Sohail Sareh received his medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and completed his general surgery training at Harbor-UCLA medical center, one of the top trauma centers in the Western United States. He then pursued cardiothoracic surgery training at UCLA where he developed an expertise in advanced complex heart surgery. His extensive research focusing on improving surgery outcomes has been published in the top journals of general and cardiothoracic surgery, and he has been an invited speaker at multiple national conferences.
Dr. Sareh specializes in leading-edge treatment modalities for coronary artery disease, valvular disease, as well as atrial fibrillation, with an expertise in hybrid minimally invasive surgery and transcatheter based techniques in collaboration with a multidisciplinary heart team. He continues to focus on measures to improve outcomes for patients undergoing heart surgery in Orange County.
Andrew Harding, MD
Dr. Andrew Harding received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He then went on to the University of Texas at Austin where he completed a residency in General Surgery. During his time spent at the University of Texas, he received multiple awards including "Intern of the Year", "ICU Resident of the Year", and the "Award for Excellence in Mentorship". He then pursued a fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Southern California, under the tutelage of Dr. Vaughn Starnes, where he was awarded the "Thoracic Surgery Resident of the Year Award".
Dr. Harding holds a primary focus in all forms of cardiac surgery including coronary artery bypass grafting, valve surgery, arrhythmia surgery, aortic surgery, heart failure, and transcatheter procedures. He has specific interests in total arterial coronary revascularization, complex aortic surgery involving both open and minimally invasive techniques, and transcatheter valve procedures. Dr. Harding is fluent in both English and Spanish.
Dr. Areo Saffarzadeh is the medical director of thoracic surgery at Providence Mission Hospital. He completed residency and fellowship training in thoracic surgery at Yale after attending medical school at UC Irvine.
Dr. Saffarzadeh specializes in minimally invasive surgery in the chest using robotic surgery. He has authored numerous publications and given presentations around the country on robotic chest surgery and methods to improve accurate diagnosis and outcomes in canoutcomes in cancer treatment using new technology.