Specialties & ConditionsHeart Center Cardiovascular Perfusionists
Cardiovascular Perfusionists
What Is a Perfusionist?
When your child needs open heart surgery, many parents do not realize that an unsung clinical specialist is required to support the life functions of the patient while the surgeon is operating on the heart. This specialist is known as a Perfusionist. A Perfusionist is a person, qualified by academic and clinical education, to operate the extracorporeal circulation equipment (for example, the heart/lung machine) during any medical situation where it is necessary to support or replace your child’s cardiopulmonary, circulatory, or respiratory function.
Under the supervision of an attending physician, a perfusionist is responsible for the selection of the appropriate equipment and techniques necessary for life support or supplementation of the cardiopulmonary and circulatory system of your child, including the safe monitoring, analysis, and treatment of physiologic conditions. All of Lurie Children’s perfusionists achieve a high standard of care by maintaining Board certification by the American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion and licensure by the State of Illinois.
Our Experienced Cardiac Perfusionists
Offering more than 100 years of collective pediatric perfusion experience, our Heart Center perfusionists are:
Bradley Kulat, CCP, LP, FP
Mr. Kulat has served as a perfusionist at Lurie Children’s for 36 years and is highly involved in the perfusion community. He has served as a past President of the American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion (ABCP) and has served on the ABCP Board of Directors for 12 years. Mr. Kulat is also an Executive Director for the Accreditation Committee for Perfusion Education (AC-PE), and serves on the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP), as a perfusion education program site inspector. He has also co-founded a non-for-profit local perfusion educational organization, The Chicagoland Perfusion Foundation, where he serves as its President. Mr. Kulat has presented lectures at numerous national and international conferences regarding his team’s published experience in bypass circuit miniaturization, pediatric perfusion techniques, pediatric VAD applications, and in minimizing exposure to banked blood during congenital cardiac surgery. Mr. Kulat has achieved the status of Fellow of Pediatric Perfusion by the American Society of Extracorporeal Technology (AmSECT) and Fellow of the American Academy of Cardiovascular Perfusion (AACP)
Steve Moss, CCP, LP
Clinical Perfusionist, Mission Ambassador, International Pediatric Surgery Group
Steven graduated from Penn State School of Perfusion in 2000 and has worked in both adult and pediatric CV Surgery throughout his career. After working at University of Virginia and University of Chicago, Steve joined the Lurie Children's perfusion team at the beginning of 2006 to work exclusively with children. An Illinois native, Steve is heavily involved in local perfusion communities, serving on the boards of multiple perfusion societies and foundations. Steven enjoys training the next generation of perfusionists and has been a clinical preceptor to almost 100 perfusion students from many different training programs around the world. He has volunteered his time participating in eleven international pediatric heart surgery mission trips globally.
David M. Durdov, CCP, LP, FPP
Mr. Durdov is a pediatric perfusionist at Lurie Children’s with 30 years of experience in Cardiovascular Perfusion. He actively serves the perfusion community by his involvement as Senior Director for the Illinois State Perfusion Society. Mr. Durdov is also actively involved in Perfusion Education, serving as an Assistant Professor and Clinical Coordinator for the Cardiovascular Perfusion Program at Rush University in Chicago Illinois. He has lectured at multiple Perfusion meetings over the years and is a recipient of AmSECT’s Fellowship of Pediatric Perfusion (FPP) distinction given to Pediatric Perfusionists of merit.
David Engel, CCP, LP, FPP
Bringing over 15 years of experience as a perfusionist specializing in congenital heart surgery, mechanical, assist devices and ECMO, David joined the Lurie Children's perfusion team in 2024. David received a master’s degree in Perfusion from the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 2010 following his undergraduate education at Marquette University. Specializing as a pediatric perfusionist, David was awarded the title of Fellow of Pediatric Perfusion from AmSECT in 2020. Professionally, David’s clinical interests include congenital heart surgery with special interests in neonatal surgery as well as mechanical circulatory support and ECMO.
Cassandra Poulos, CCP, LP
Cassandra graduated with her Master’s in Perfusion from Rush University in 2020 and worked in adult perfusion for several years at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She moved into pediatrics at Lurie Children’s at the beginning of 2025 and found a passion for neonatal and pediatric surgery. A Chicago native, Cassandra has been heavily involved in local perfusion communities, serving on the board of both the Illinois State Perfusion Society and the Chicagoland Perfusion Foundation, both giving talks as a student and helping coordinate meetings. Cassandra is also passionate in training the next generation of perfusionists and acts as the coordinator for students in the perfusion department and prospective students shadowing. Additionally, Cassandra lectures and teaches clinical simulation in the Perfusion program at Rush University.
Diego Torres, BS
Perfusion Assistant
Diego is a perfusion assistant with over five years of experience in blood management, cell salvage, and intraoperative support for cardiac, vascular, neurosurgical, and other complex procedures. He works closely with perfusionists to support favorable patient outcomes. Diego holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago and brings strong foundation in science combined with hands-on clinical expertise.