Mindaugas Rackauskas

Mindaugas Rackauskas, MD, PhD

Chief, Division Of Thoracic Surgery

Department: MD-SURGERY-THORACIC
Business Phone: (352) 265-5470
Business Email: mrackauskas@ufl.edu

About Mindaugas Rackauskas

My name is Mindaugas Rackauskas, MD, PhD, and I am a thoracic and lung transplant surgeon in the University of Florida Department of Surgery. As a surgeon, I am continually inspired by my colleagues, who devote countless hours doing the seemingly impossible. Providing you or a loved one with the highest quality care remains our priority. It is an honor to be able to play a significant role in my patient’s journey to better health, and having the capacity to save lives is what initially is what drew me to surgery.

I earned my medical degree and master’s from Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. Following medical school, I trained in cardiac and thoracic surgery at the Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. Thereafter, I served as senior registrar of the cardiothoracic department at University Hospital Galway in Galway, Ireland, Blackrock Clinic and St. James’s Hospital, both in Dublin. There, I was appointed as a locum consultant in thoracic surgery and lung transplantation at Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin. Later, I served as a chief lung transplant fellow in Toronto General Hospital. My clinical interests include surgical management of patients with lung and mediastinal cancer, lung transplantation for end-stage lung disease, as well as a range of other general thoracic surgical conditions.

I am committed to continually improving patient outcomes by focusing on leading research initiatives where the primary goal is improving surgical outcomes and quality of care. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I played a key role in the development of protocols and surgical approaches to optimize the management of COVID acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and lung transplantation of more than 40 COVID-19 transplants with 100% patient survival. This has led to transfers from around the country and internationally. Now, UF Health Shands Hospital is a leader in COVID-19 lung transplants.

When I am not working, I enjoy creating lifelong memories with my family and friends. You can also find me outdoors enjoying fishing, nature trails and progressing my passion for photography.

Clinical Profile

Specialties
  • Transplant Surgery
Areas of Interest
  • Esophageal cancer
  • Lung Cancer
  • Lung Disease
  • Lung transplant
  • Mediastinal tumor

Research Profile

Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)

0000-0003-2030-619X

Publications

2024
MerTK-dependent efferocytosis by monocytic-MDSCs mediates resolution of post-lung transplant injury.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology. [DOI] 10.1101/2024.01.18.576261. [PMID] 38328174.
2024
Transesophageal Echocardiography Guided Veno-Pulmonary Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Cannula Insertion Technique.
ASAIO journal (American Society for Artificial Internal Organs : 1992). [DOI] 10.1097/MAT.0000000000002147. [PMID] 38324699.
2023
Intralobar pulmonary sequestration presenting as recurrent left lower lobe pneumonia.
Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center). 36(6):767-769 [DOI] 10.1080/08998280.2023.2258318. [PMID] 37829237.
2023
Intraoperative Hemi-Diaphragm Electrical Stimulation Demonstrates Attenuated Mitochondrial Function without Change in Oxidative Stress in Cardiothoracic Surgery Patients.
Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland). 12(5) [DOI] 10.3390/antiox12051009. [PMID] 37237876.
2023
Reproducing extracellular matrix adverse remodelling of non-ST myocardial infarction in a large animal model.
Nature communications. 14(1) [DOI] 10.1038/s41467-023-36350-1. [PMID] 36813782.
2023
Thoracoliths in Pleural Space Mimicking Lung Cancer: A Case Report.
Cureus. 15(11) [DOI] 10.7759/cureus.48522. [PMID] 38073921.
2021
Commentary: Are we always ready for a challenging surprise?
JTCVS techniques. 10:320-321 [DOI] 10.1016/j.xjtc.2021.09.046. [PMID] 34977747.
2021
Early outcomes after lung transplantation for severe COVID-19: a series of the first consecutive cases from four countries.
The Lancet. Respiratory medicine. 9(5):487-497 [DOI] 10.1016/S2213-2600(21)00077-1. [PMID] 33811829.
2021
Macrophage activating syndrome causing decompensated right heart failure.
Respiratory medicine case reports. 33 [DOI] 10.1016/j.rmcr.2021.101409. [PMID] 34401257.
2020
Rare indications for a lung transplant. A European Society of Thoracic Surgeons survey.
Interactive cardiovascular and thoracic surgery. 31(5):638-643 [DOI] 10.1093/icvts/ivaa165. [PMID] 33057713.
2015
Exogenous connexin43-expressing autologous skeletal myoblasts ameliorate mechanical function and electrical activity of the rabbit heart after experimental infarction.
International journal of experimental pathology. 96(1):42-53 [DOI] 10.1111/iep.12109. [PMID] 25529770.
2014
Surgical treatment of non-malignant laryngotracheal stenosis.
European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. 271(9):2481-7 [DOI] 10.1007/s00405-014-2981-y. [PMID] 24652116.
2010
Diversity and properties of connexin gap junction channels.
Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania). 46(1):1-12 [PMID] 20234156.
2008
The conditional connexin43G138R mouse mutant represents a new model of hereditary oculodentodigital dysplasia in humans.
Human molecular genetics. 17(4):539-54 [PMID] 18003637.
2007
Gating properties of heterotypic gap junction channels formed of connexins 40, 43, and 45.
Biophysical journal. 92(6):1952-65 [PMID] 17189315.
2007
Permeability of homotypic and heterotypic gap junction channels formed of cardiac connexins mCx30.2, Cx40, Cx43, and Cx45.
American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology. 293(3):H1729-36 [PMID] 17557922.
2006
Properties of mouse connexin 30.2 and human connexin 31.9 hemichannels: implications for atrioventricular conduction in the heart.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103(25):9726-31 [PMID] 16772377.
2003
Features of elastic tissue staining and its arrangement in the wall of human basilar artery.
Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania). 39(10):946-50 [PMID] 14578635.

Grants

Jul 2023 ACTIVE
Mechanistic modeling of the innate immune responses of the human lung to understand the inter-individual heterogeneity of COVID-19 pneumonia
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NHLBI

Education

Surgical Internship
2003-2004 · Prienai Hospital – Lithuania
Medical School
1997-2003 · Lithuanian University of Health Science

Contact Details

Phones:
Business:
(352) 265-5470
Emails:
Administrative Specialist II:
Addresses:
Business Street:
PO Box 100129
GAINESVILLE FL 32610