Dr. Cantu is a Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Director of the Lung Service Line and Lung Transplant Program at the University of Kentucky.

After earning his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, he completed a general surgery residency and a cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at Duke University. He then joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania and later at the University of Kentucky.

His laboratory focuses on acute lung injury and primary graft dysfunction after lung transplantation, with an emphasis on prediction, mechanisms, and therapeutic discovery. His expertise in translational epidemiology includes candidate gene and genome-wide association testing, bioinformatics, RNA and protein quantification.

To advance this work, he established a multidisciplinary research collaborative group focused on lung injury, development, and repair.

Clinically, Dr. Cantu has developed decision tools to support objective donor and recipient risk assessment, advancing efforts to expand access to transplantation while reducing both waitlist and post-transplant mortality.

His sustained national leadership includes roles with Gift of Life, UNOS, ISHLT, ASTS, and the FDA. Throughout his faculty career at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Kentucky, his work has been continuously supported through extramural funding from the RWJF, NIH, ASTS, and STS