Dr. Magliato is one of the few female cardiothoracic surgeons in the world. She founded and directed a Multidisciplinary Women’s Health Center to address the cardiac needs of female patients at Providence Saint John’s Medical Center in Santa Monica, CA, where she is currently on staff. Prior to joining Saint John’s Medical Center, Dr. Magliato was a heart/lung transplant surgeon and Director of the Mechanical Assist Device/Artificial Heart Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Dr. Magliato received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry at Union College in Schenectady, New York where she graduated with Cum Laude honors. She served on the Union College Board of Trustees for 12 years after which she received an Emeritus board member status. After earning her medical degree with Alpha Omega Alpha honors from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Magliato completed an internship and residency in general surgery at Akron General Medical Center. Further postgraduate training included a research fellowship in thoracic organ transplantation at the University of Michigan Medical Center (Ann Arbor) and a cardiothoracic surgery residency at Loyola University Medical Center (Chicago). Dr Magliato also completed a fellowship in heart transplantation, lung transplantation, and ventricular assist devices at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. In 2006, she earned an Executive MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. 

Dr. Magliato’s areas of expertise include congestive heart failure, heart transplantation, lung transplantation, heart disease in women and artificial heart technology. She has served as a consultant to a wide array of biomedical technology companies including start-up ventures, privately held companies and mature public companies. She holds a patent on a cardiac diagnostic medical device that is under development by her company, Cordex Systems Inc., where she serves as Founder, CEO and CMO. In October of 2017, Dr. Magliato was recognized by Goldman Sachs as one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs in the US.

 Dr. Magliato has served as either principal investigator or co-investigator for many clinical trials, including overseeing the Jarvik Artificial Heart trial for the US and has contributed numerous articles and abstracts to the medical literature. Additionally, she has a keen interest in promoting cardiac health for women and is the Past President of the Board of the Greater LA County American Heart Association where she was the first woman to ever hold this position. She was promoted to the American Heart Association Western States Affiliate Board, which is the largest of their 7 affiliate boards, and assumed the role of President in 2019. Dr. Magliato also currently serves as a national spokesperson for the American Heart Association.

Dr. Magliato is the recipient of many national and regional awards including the Women’s Leadership Exchange 2003 Compass Award and, in 2006, was initiated into the American College of Surgeons. In 2008, Dr. Magliato was honored at the American Red Cross gala, along with the cast of Grey’s Anatomy, and received their “Spirit of Humanitarianism” award. In 2010, she and Kate White, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, were awarded the Exceptional Women award in Boston. In 2012, Dr. Magliato was named “One of the Most Inspirational Alumni” of UCLA Anderson School of Management as part of their 75th anniversary celebration. In 2013, Dr. Magliato received The Distinguished Alumni Award from Case Western Reserve University. This, their highest award, was also presented to the 16th Surgeon General of the United States. In 2016, she received the Women’s Day Magazine/AHA Red Dress Award along with Vivek Murthy, the Surgeon General of the United States, which recognized her work in promoting women’s health. Previous recipients include President Bill Clinton, Former First Lady Laura Bush, Barbara Walters and Sanjay Gupta, MD. In 2018, Case Western Reserve University presented Dr. Magliato with the Professional Achievement Award to recognize her career accomplishments and professional leadership. Most recently, in November of 2020, Dr. Magliato was awarded the Alumni Gold Medal by Union College in recognition of her many years of dedicated service to the college.

Dr. Magliato has been highlighted by the media as an expert in heart disease and has been seen on NBC’s iVillage and Home & Family, ABC News, CBS News and NBC News as well as being featured on WebMD and EverydayHealth.com. She has been featured in many newspaper and magazine articles including Cosmopolitan, Reader’s Digest and Woman’s Day magazines. She also appeared on The Martha Stewart Show, The Doctors Show, The Dr. Oz Show and HBO’s Emmy winning series, The John Oliver Show. Dr. Magliato was interviewed by Barbara Walters for a 20/20 segment about heart disease that included President Bill Clinton, David Letterman, Robin Williams, Charlie Rose and Regis Philbin. Additionally, she has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey network and hosted a SoulPancake segment produced by Rainn Wilson and Oprah Winfrey. Dr. Magliato recently worked with Queen Latifah on a heart failure Public Service Announcement and with Hall of Fame quarterback, Joe Montana, on an exercise campaign entitled Breakaway from Heart DiseaseTM. She has worked on character development with actresses Brooke Smith, Mary McDonnell and Kim Raver, all of who have played cardiac surgeons on Grey’s Anatomy. Dr. Magliato has been featured in several documentaries including Lifetime’s “Everywoman” and the National Geographic Explorer series “The Moment of Death”.

 Dr. Magliato’s memoir “HEART MATTERS” was published by Random House Publishing in February 2010 and received a starred review by Publisher’s Weekly and a 4 out of 4-star review in People Magazine. In April 2016, “HEART MATTERS” made the New York Times Best Seller List for both print and eBook versions. Her book was optioned by Universal Studios in 2014 and made into a scripted medical drama, “HEARTBEAT”, by NBC for the 2016 television season. Dr. Magliato is an Executive Producer and was played by Melissa George. She was also a Co-Executive producer on the scripted TNT series, “PROOF”.

With hundreds of speaking engagements throughout the world, she is a sought-after lecturer and has been an invited speaker on a multitude of topics to both professional and lay audiences.  Her lecture on women’s leadership entitled “Leading with Your Heart” was recently presented at the Maria Shriver Women’s Conference in Los Angeles, hosted by actresses Geena Davis, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling and attended by more than 1000 girls from 90 middle schools and high schools throughout Los Angeles. 

Born in Upstate NY on an apple farm, Dr. Magliato lives in Pacific Palisades, California, with her husband, Nick Nissen MD, who is also a surgeon and is the Surgical Director of Liver Transplantation and Director of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. They have two sons, ages sixteen and eighteen.