Arup Achari, MD

Growing up in a large farming family in Iowa, Dr. Daniel Freet did manual labor with his five siblings, managing fields and working with pigs and cows. I liked it because we had to do it all together as a group; it was a social thing.Today, he still enjoys a collaborative environment in the Surgical Department at UTHealth Houston. Together, we take care of a lot of trauma patients, and for many of them, there are several follow up surgeries and appointments. You get to know their families and share in the process.Freet knew he wanted to be a doctor when he was a child. Staying up late to watch the television show MASH with his father, he was inspired by the Hawkeye Pierce character. After getting a degree in anthropology at the University of Iowa, he stayed at the university’s medical school. But I knew I couldnt handle the cold up there any longer, so I applied for every residency program in Texas, he said, choosing UT.In his spare time, Freet fosters dogs and has a few dogs of his own. Im lucky. Im doing exactly what I wanted to do with my life.Dr. Freet was recently listed as a 2021 Top Doctor by Houstonia Magazine for plastic and reconstructive surgery.

Anthony L. Estrera, MD, is a board-certified and fellowship-trained cardiothoracic surgeon specializing in diseases of the aorta with a focus on thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms and aortic dissection. Estrera is also a professor and chair and Hazim J. Safi, MD, Distinguished Chair of the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular surgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. He is a faculty member of many interacting medical facilities at UTHealth. He is also chief of cardiac surgery and director of the cardiovascular intensive care unit at the Heart and Vascular Institute, Memorial Hermann Hospital – Texas Medical Center. Estrera has been integral in building the department and the cardiovascular surgical service at UTHealth Houston. He has authored and co-authored 35 book chapters and over 150 publications and peer-reviewed medical journals. His studies have led to refinements in surgical techniques for treating thoracic aortic aneurysms and aortic dissection. He has lectured and conducted workshops worldwide, which have provided integral training for cardiovascular surgeons. He is a fellow of The American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Association for Thoracic Surgeons, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Michael E. DeBakey International Surgical Society, the Cardiothoracic Surgery Network, the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association, and the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Estrera is married and has three children.