Dr Cable was exposed to heart surgery early in life, having a close cousin born with a heart birth defect. He saw firsthand how surgery allowed his cousin to have a normal life despite the congenital heart defect.During medical school, he was drawn to both cardiology and surgery, making cardiovascular surgery seem a natural goal. He participated in basic science research under an American Heart Association Medical Student Fellowship from 1991-1992, publishing three papers and presenting eight abstracts. Dr Cable was at the Mayo Clinic – Rochester from 1993-2003, training in surgery and cardiovascular surgery. He spent two years performing basic science research, focusing on making bypass grafts better with gene therapy. He received numerous honors and awards, and was asked to give two invited international talks. Dr Cable remains the only person at the Mayo Clinic to receive both the Nygaard Travel Award for Basic Science Research as well as Nygaard Travel Award for Clinical Research. After the Mayo Clinic, Dr Cable then entered private practice. He continued to serve as an invited editor for the Annals of Thoracic Surgery. To date, he continues to participate in research trials. His practice focused on both cardiovascular and thoracic surgery. As endovascular stents became available, he became quite involved in endovascular treatment of aneurysms and dissections. Dr Cable has a patent for a novel endovascular stent for the treatment of ascending thoracic aortic dissections, and is actively attempting to bring the device to market. Dr Cable enjoys the art and science of surgery, and enjoys helping patients and families get better. He has been active in open heart surgery, minimally invasive valve surgery, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), atrial fibrillation surgery, Robotic cardiac surgery, and endovascular stents (EVAR/TEVAR).