Retired Alberta Health Services Program Director Dr. Dennis Modry

Based in Edmonton, Canada, Dr. Dennis Modry spent over 30 years in leadership roles at Alberta Health Services, including more than two decades as the director of the Alberta Health Services heart and lung transplantation program. Dr. Dennis Modry also served as the director of the organization’s cardiovascular intensive care unit. He retired from his pioneering career in medicine in 2016.

Throughout his career, Dr. Modry innovated the field of transplantation and intensive care medicine. He launched and operated Western Canada’s first heart and lung transplantation program, performed several groundbreaking surgical procedures (such as the first double lung transplantation and the first combined heart and lung transplantation), and spent time as the president of the Alberta Medical Association Section of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery. He received numerous accolades for his work and published his findings in multiple peer-reviewed medical journals, while also serving on the editorial board for the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation.

Dr. Modry earned his medical degree from the University of Alberta, followed by extensive training in general surgery, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, and critical care at McGill University. He secured medical licenses in both the United States and Canada before finalizing his medical training at Stanford with a three-year transplantation immunology, heart and lung transplantation, and high-risk cardiovascular surgery program.