Thomas C. Crawford, MD
ChairmanIn January of 2022, Dr. Thomas Crawford was named the new Chairman of ForHearts Worldwide. A long-standing member of our Board of Directors, he becomes just the third chairman in the history of the organization. Dr. Crawford is a Clinical Associate Professor with the University of Michigan Health, Frankel Cardiovascular Center. As a cardiac electrophysiologist, he specializes in the areas of atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, and cardiac sarcoidosis. Over a decade ago, through a project he and his University of Michigan team developed called My Heart Your Heart, Dr. Crawford began focusing on the issue of access to pacemakers for patients in low-income countries. That led him to connect with then Heartbeat International Foundation Chairman, Dr. Benedict S. Maniscalco, with the goal of aligning the two programs and learning from one another. Dr. Crawford previously served as a member of our Board of Directors, as Vice Chairman, and Medical Director. As Medical Director, Dr. Crawford developed extensive policies overseeing the credentialing of our Heart Centers and ensuring compliance with reporting standards on pacemaker performance and usage to our device donors. He also fostered relationships with like-minded organizations such as the Heart Rhythm Society and the American College of Cardiology to connect physicians with Heartbeat International Foundation. As Chairman, Dr. Crawford plans to continue building relationships and, perhaps, broaden our scope of work to include non-pacemaker functions such as the provision of stents and valves for the hearts. “The excitement is that there’s a critical number of folks here who already want to make this work,” says Dr. Crawford. “I’m excited to work with them. It’s a shared passion that we have.”
