Founded in 1964, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is a not-for-profit professional organization representing surgeons, researchers, and allied health care professionals who are dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcomes for surgeries of the heart, lungs, and esophagus, as well as other surgical procedures within the chest.

STS is the largest cardiothoracic surgery organization in the world with more than 7,700 members in 102 countries.

The STS Mission

Mission

Improve the lives of patients with cardiothoracic diseases

Values

Leadership, quality, professionalism, innovation, collaboration, and diversity, equity, and inclusion

Key Services

Quality, Research, and Analytics

STS offers an array of resources and services to help hospitals and CT surgeons assess and benchmark their performance to improve quality, safety, and patient outcomes. 

The STS National Database is the gold standard for CT surgery clinical outcomes registries, with nationally recognized quality performance measures for adult cardiac, general thoracic, congenital heart surgery, and mechanical circulatory support.

Research and analytics services are available to physicians, researchers, payers, and industry to use for quality improvement initiatives, comparative effectiveness research, post-market surveillance, clinical trials, and basic and translational research.

Education

STS offers education throughout the year through in-person and online courses, and digital resources, including Annual Meeting Online, webinars, podcasts, videos, and the STS Cardiothoracic Surgery E-Book. Programs are designed for all cardiothoracic sub-specialties and career stages.

The STS Annual Meeting is one of the largest cardiothoracic surgery meetings in the world. STS 2025 – the Society’s 61st Annual Meeting – will be held January 25-27 in Los Angeles, California.

Research

The Annals of Thoracic Surgery is an international, peer-reviewed journal that provides original research in cardiothoracic surgery patient care, clinical practice, research, education, and policy. With an impact factor of 5.102, The Annals is the most-cited journal in cardiothoracic surgery. Annals Short Reports is a fully open access companion journal. 

Advocacy

STS is the only professional organization with a dedicated team in Washington, DC, that advocates exclusively on policy and regulatory issues that affect cardiothoracic surgeons and their patients. STS-PAC is the only political action committee that exclusively represents cardiothoracic surgeons.

The Thoracic Surgery Foundation

The Thoracic Surgery Foundation is dedicated to improving patient care by investing in groundbreaking research, embracing innovation, supporting global humanitarian outreach, and promoting excellence in education for cardiothoracic surgeons at all career stages.

Locations

STS is headquartered in Chicago, with an additional office in Washington, DC.

633 N Saint Clair St, Suite 2100
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: 312-202-5800

20 F St NW, Suite 310 C
Washington, DC  20001-1230
Phone: 202-787-1230