Aybala Tongut, M.D., is an assistant professor of pediatrics and surgery at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences and is acting as a surgical director for the ECMO Program at Children’s National.

Born and raised in Turkey, Dr. Tongut pursued her passion for children’s health and cardiac surgery at the Uludag University, Faculty of Medicine, in Turkey where she received her M.D. in 2003. She continued her studies as a resident at the University of Istanbul in 2011, becoming skilled in cardiovascular surgery before subspecializing on operating and fixing of congenital heart defects at Kartal Koşuyolu Educational and Research Hospital in 2016.

In 2019, Dr. Tongut accepted an opportunity to move to the United States to expand and improve upon her practice under the renowned pioneer of congenital cardiac surgery, Richard Jonas, M.D. She completed a 3-year fellowship program at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C., before becoming an attending pediatric cardiac surgeon and joining the Cardiac surgery team led by Yves d’Udekem, M.D., in 2022.