12 Countries · One Vessel

Global Faculty

A keynote from the world's leading aortic authority, a global faculty of surgeons and physicians, and the patient voices this symposium was built for.

Keynote Speaker

Professor John A. Elefteriades, MD, PhD

Professor John A. Elefteriades, MD, PhD
Keynote Speaker

Professor John A. Elefteriades, MD, PhD

William W.L. Glenn Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Director at the Aortic Institute, Yale School of Medicine & Yale Aortic Institute, USA

Fifty years at the edge of the aorta: 10,000+ cardiac surgeries, the 1999 landmark identification of the genetic mutations behind familial thoracic aortic aneurysms, and recognition as Expertscape's #1 aortic specialist worldwide (2020). Editor-in-Chief of the journal AORTA, with 350+ publications, 10 books, and 26,397+ citations.

Global Faculty “Twelve countries. One vessel. One mission.”
Leading Specialists From Around The World

Global Faculty

Professor Hans-Joachim Schäfers, MD

Professor Hans-Joachim Schäfers, MD

Director, Professor of Surgery, Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar, Germany
  • 42+ years in practice; 803+ publications
  • First surgeon to systematise global aortic valve repair
  • 1,500+ aortic valve repairs; trained hundreds of surgeons worldwide
  • Pioneer of pulmonary endarterectomy (CTEPH); European lung transplant pioneer
Professor Sabine Wipper, MD

Professor Sabine Wipper, MD

Head, Department of Vascular Surgery
University Tirol Hospital Innsbruck, Austria
  • Pioneer of endovascular access to the ascending aorta and aortic arch
  • Expert in minimally invasive aortic repair
  • 2013 Lecture Prize; 2015 Presidents Cup, International Vascular Workshop
Professor Martin Czerny, MD, PhD, MBA, FEBVS, FACS

Professor Martin Czerny, MD, PhD, MBA, FEBVS, FACS

Full Professor & Medical Director, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery
University Hospital Freiburg & University Heart Center Freiburg-Bad Krozingen, Germany
  • 28+ year career; established Freiburg as a leading German aortic centre
  • 609+ scientific publications
  • Lead co-author, EACTS/ESVS Expert Consensus Document
  • Innovator in hybrid aortic arch, thoraco-abdominal endovascular, and frozen elephant trunk repair
Professor Aung Ye Oo, MD, FRCSEd (CTh)

Professor Aung Ye Oo, MD, FRCSEd (CTh)

Clinical Lead, Aorto-Vascular Surgery, Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery
Barts Health NHS Trust & QMUL, UK
  • 20+ years in cardiac and aortic surgery
  • Founder & Chair, UK Aortic Surgery Network (UKAS)
  • Leading UK expert in complex thoraco-abdominal aortic repair
Professor Tristan D. Yan, MD, PhD, FRACS

Professor Tristan D. Yan, MD, PhD, FRACS

Professor of Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery
Macquarie University; Head, Robotic & Minimally Invasive Surgery, Royal Prince Alfred & Sydney Adventist, Australia
  • 30+ years in aortic and minimally invasive cardiothoracic surgery
  • 300+ publications; h-index 49; 8,400+ citations
  • Founder & Chairman, CORE Group International — 14,000+ patients, 37 centres, 11 countries
  • Founding Editor-in-Chief, Annals of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Professor Kenji Minatoya, MD, PhD

Professor Kenji Minatoya, MD, PhD

Professor and Chairman, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine
Kyoto University, Japan
  • Founding Investigator, Japan Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection (JRAD)
  • JRAD data spans 1,217+ Type A dissection patients (2011–2016)
  • Surgical expertise in thoraco-abdominal replacement, valve-sparing root repair, aortic arch and TEVAR
Professor Takeshi Shimamoto

Professor Takeshi Shimamoto

Co-Investigator, Japan Aortic Dissection Registry
Japan
  • JRAD study expertise
  • Contributes to Japanese national leadership in aortic surgery research
Professor Sun Lizhong, MD

Professor Sun Lizhong, MD

Director, Beijing Aortic Disease Center
Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, China
  • 40+ year career; founded the Beijing Aortic Disease Center
  • Developed the Stent-Elephant Trunk (SET) procedure (2004)
  • Developed the SUN'S Procedure (2002) — a tetrafurcate graft stented trunk technique
  • 7,438+ citations; frontier leader in Chinese aortic surgery
Professor Dinh Nguyen Hoang

Professor Dinh Nguyen Hoang

Regional Aortic Dissection Coordinator
Southeast Asia
  • Coordinates the regional acute aortic dissection care network
  • Works to integrate fragmented healthcare systems into a unified aortic response
  • Leads capacity-building and mentorship for local surgeons across the region
Professor Bashi V. Velayudhan, MD, MCh, FACS, FIACS

Professor Bashi V. Velayudhan, MD, MCh, FACS, FIACS

Director & Senior Consultant, Institute of Cardiac & Advanced Aortic Diseases
SIMS Hospital, Chennai, India
  • 36–48 year career; established SIMS as a premier Indian cardiac aortic centre
  • 15,000+ cardiac surgeries; 1,000+ complex aortic aneurysm operations
  • Pioneer of beating-heart bypass surgery in India, with a >99.5% success rate
  • 50+ international publications; 150+ international presentations
Professor Zohair Y. Al-Halees, MD, FRCSC, FACS, FACC, FAHA

Professor Zohair Y. Al-Halees, MD, FRCSC, FACS, FACC, FAHA

Consultant Cardiac Surgeon
King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (KFSHRC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 48+ year career; Middle East cardiac surgery pioneer
  • 25,000+ cardiac surgeries; established KFSHRC as a regional centre of excellence
  • World's largest Ross procedure series in children; 10-year freedom from reoperation of 95%
  • 2026 American College of Cardiology Lifetime Achievement Award
Professor Said Abdelaziz, MD

Professor Said Abdelaziz, MD

Head, Emergency Cardiac Surgery Unit
Kasr Al-Ainy Hospital, Cairo University, Egypt
  • Specialist in acute type A aortic dissection management
  • Regional centre of excellence for thoracic aortic surgery in Egypt
  • Capacity-building and training for Egyptian surgeons in advanced aortic management
Professor Anil Apaydin, MD

Professor Anil Apaydin, MD

Cardiac Surgeon
Turkey
  • Specialty: chronic type B aortic dissection management
  • Surgical expertise in left thoracotomy, left heart bypass and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA)
  • Clinical focus on long-term type B dissection and complication prevention
Professor Andreas Martens, MD, PhD

Professor Andreas Martens, MD, PhD

Director, Department of Cardiac Surgery
Klinikum Oldenburg & Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Germany
  • Specialty in valve-sparing aortic root replacement — the David procedure
  • 677+ David procedures performed (1993–2019); trained 24 surgeons
  • 227+ publications, 4,718+ citations
  • Established Oldenburg as Germany's leading David procedure centre
Professor Himanshu J. Patel, MD, FACS

Professor Himanshu J. Patel, MD, FACS

Joe D. Morris Collegiate Professor & Section Head, Adult Cardiac Surgery
University of Michigan, USA
  • Co-leader, International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection (IRAD)
  • IRAD spans 11,000+ dissection patients across 25+ international centres
  • Landmark IRAD publications in JTCVS and Circulation on Type A and B outcomes
Professor Timothy Pennel, MD, PhD, FC Cardio (SA)

Professor Timothy Pennel, MD, PhD, FC Cardio (SA)

Chris Barnard Chair of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Head, Heart and Lung Transplantation
University of Cape Town, South Africa
  • 22+ year career establishing UCT as an African cardiac excellence centre
  • Established Africa's first public-sector lung transplant programme (2017)
  • 1,230+ valve repair patients with long-term follow-up data
  • Vice President, Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of South Africa
Professor Ismail El-Hamamsy, MD, PhD, FRCSC

Professor Ismail El-Hamamsy, MD, PhD, FRCSC

Randall B. Griepp Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery, System Director Aortic Surgery
Mount Sinai Health System (formerly Montreal Heart Institute), USA
  • Founded the Montreal Heart Institute Aortic & Connective Tissue Clinics
  • 1,000+ Ross procedures and valve-sparing operations
  • Pioneer of the Living Valve Strategy — native valve preservation avoiding anticoagulation
  • 200+ peer-reviewed publications in The Lancet, JACC and Circulation
Professor Davide Pacini, MD, PhD

Professor Davide Pacini, MD, PhD

Full Professor of Cardiac Surgery, Director, Cardiac Surgery Residency Program
University of Bologna (Alma Mater Studiorum) & S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, Italy
  • 300+ scientific papers; expert in cerebral perfusion during aortic arch surgery
  • 2009 Hans Borst Award for European vascular surgery
  • Chair, Vascular Domain, European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery (EACTS)
  • 1,800+ cardiac and vascular procedures as primary surgeon
Professor Nimesh Desai, MD, FRCSC

Professor Nimesh Desai, MD, FRCSC

Co-Director, Penn Thoracic Aortic Surgery Program
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, USA
  • Co-Chair, STS Aortic Surgery Task Force — guidelines development
  • Research in Type B dissection outcomes, intramural haematoma and dissection classification
  • Multiple JTCVS publications on complex dissections
Professor Colin Bicknell, MD, FRCS

Professor Colin Bicknell, MD, FRCS

Consultant Vascular Surgeon, Head of Speciality, Imperial Vascular Unit, Professor in Vascular Surgery
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust & Imperial College London, UK
  • Clinical lead, National Vascular Registry (England)
  • Council member, Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland
  • Past-president, British Society of Endovascular Therapy (BSET)
  • Led the EARNEST trial (NIHR-funded) on early stenting outcomes in Type B dissection
Professor Stephan Haulon, MD, PhD

Professor Stephan Haulon, MD, PhD

Chairman, Aortic Center, Professor of Vascular Surgery
Hospital Marie Lannelongue, Paris-Saclay University (formerly Lille University), France
  • Expert in fenestrated and branched endovascular repair (FBEVAR)
  • Co-Director, Paris Vascular Insights and Critical Issues Aortic Endografting (CIAE)
  • Pioneer of physician-modified FBEVAR (PM-FBEVAR) for zone 0 aortic arch repair
Professor Massimiliano Meineri, MD

Professor Massimiliano Meineri, MD

Perioperative Cardiac Anesthesia Specialist
Germany
  • Specialist in perioperative cardiac anaesthesia in the acute aortic setting
  • Member, Board of Directors, European Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care
Mr Graham Cooper, MD, FRCS (CTh)

Mr Graham Cooper, MD, FRCS (CTh)

National Clinical Advisor, Acute Aortic Dissection
NHS England, UK
  • National advisor on aortic dissection emergency care pathways
  • Expertise in NHS policy and system improvement
Ms Justine Sharpe

Ms Justine Sharpe

Safety and Learning Lead
NHS Resolution, London, UK
  • Expert in claims and legal data analysis in aortic dissection
  • Research revealing system failures behind diagnostic delays
  • Advocacy for policy accountability and system improvement
Dr Eva Göncz, MD

Dr Eva Göncz, MD

Consultant Emergency Medicine Physician
Charité — Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
  • Lead author, landmark study on the incidence of acute Type A aortic dissection in the ED (Scientific Reports, 2020)
  • Study covered 631 dissections across 12,790,577 ED patients (2006–2016, Berlin)
  • Featured educator with the EUSEM Academy
Professor Matthew Reed

Professor Matthew Reed, MA, MB BChir, MRCS, FRCEM, MD

RCEM Professor of Emergency Medicine; Consultant in Emergency Medicine
University of Edinburgh & Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh; Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), United Kingdom
  • Research Director of EMERGE, the UK's largest recruiter of emergency-medicine research participants
  • Chair of the RCEM Research Committee, shaping national emergency-medicine research infrastructure and grant strategy
  • 150+ peer-reviewed papers; over £8.5M in research grant funding secured
  • Led work on diagnostic strategies for suspected acute aortic syndrome in the ED — systematic review, meta-analysis and decision-analytic modelling
Dr Katherine Von Klemperer

Dr Katherine Von Klemperer, MBBS, MRCP

Consultant Cardiologist — Adult Congenital Heart Disease, Maternal Cardiology, Aortopathy & Congenital Echocardiography
St Bartholomew's Hospital / Barts Health NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom
  • Lead author on national guidance for women at risk of aortic dissection during pregnancy — a critical, under-recognised area of aortic care
  • Works across Adult Congenital, Aortic and Maternal Cardiology MDTs for patients with complex lifelong cardiac conditions
  • Cardiology representative in regional aortopathy and pregnancy care pathways, bridging obstetrics and cardiology
  • Leads advanced congenital echocardiography services; Governance Lead for the Adult Congenital Heart Disease group
Dr Deepa Gopalan

Dr Deepa Gopalan, MBBS, MRCP, FRCR

Consultant Cardiovascular/Cardiothoracic Radiologist; Head of Specialty, Non-Invasive Cardiac Imaging; Senior Clinical Lecturer
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, United Kingdom
  • Head of Specialty for non-invasive cardiac imaging at one of the UK's leading cardiovascular imaging services
  • Educational Lead for the British Society of Cardiovascular Imaging, shaping national training standards
  • 100+ peer-reviewed papers; expertise in pulmonary hypertension, vasculitis and cross-sectional cardiovascular imaging
  • Internationally recognised authority on CT and multimodality imaging of the aorta and pulmonary vasculature
Professor Regent Lee

Professor Regent Lee, MBBS, MS (Vasc Surg), DPhil (Oxon), FRCS

Associate Professor of Vascular Surgery; UKRI Future Leaders Fellow; Honorary Consultant Vascular Surgeon
Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford; Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
  • Founder and lead of the Oxford Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (OxAAA) Study on aneurysm growth and rupture-risk prediction
  • UKRI Future Leaders Fellow for work on blood and imaging biomarkers in aortic aneurysm management
  • Leads international consortia (AICT, NetZeroAICT) advancing AI science for CT imaging of the vasculature
  • Pioneered deep-learning pipelines for automated arterial segmentation and geometric prediction of aneurysm growth
Mr Morad Sallam, MBBCh, MD, MSc, FRCS

Mr Morad Sallam, MBBCh, MD, MSc, FRCS

Consultant Vascular and Endovascular Surgeon
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
  • Clinical Lead and Head of Service for Vascular Surgery, and Honorary Senior Lecturer at King's College London
  • Specialist expertise in aortic infection, thoracoabdominal aneurysms, aortic dissection, redo aortic surgery, and complex open/endovascular aortic repair
  • Contributes to multidisciplinary aortic care, surgical education, and advanced vascular training nationally and internationally
Dr Reiner M. Waeschle, MD, PhD, MaHM

Dr Reiner M. Waeschle, MD, PhD, MaHM

Senior Physician, Head Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia, Head Research Group
University Medical Centre Goettingen, Georg-August-University, Germany
  • Leads cardiothoracic and vascular anaesthesia services
  • Heads an active clinical research group in perioperative aortic care
Danielle Blackie

Danielle Blackie

Lead Perfusionist, Complex Aortic Service
St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, United Kingdom
  • Leads perfusion services for one of the UK's leading complex aortic surgery programmes
  • Specialist in brain, spinal cord and organ protection during dissection repair
Dr Elena Cervi

Dr Elena Cervi, MD, PhD

Consultant Cardiologist (Aortopathy & Cardiomyopathy), Centre for Inherited Cardiovascular Diseases
Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Institute of Cardiovascular Science, UCL, United Kingdom
  • Leads aortopathy care for children and young people with Marfan, Loeys-Dietz and related heritable thoracic aortic disease
  • Contributor to European guidance (ERN VASCERN / AEPC) on aortic disease in children with FBN1 (Marfan) variants
  • Member of the Montalcino Aortic Consortium, advancing international evidence in heritable aortic disease
  • Research on aortic biomechanics, 3D shape analysis and imaging surveillance as early markers of dilatation in Marfan syndrome
Professor Santi Trimarchi

Professor Santi Trimarchi, MD, PhD, FCCP

Full Professor of Vascular Surgery; Director, Unit of Vascular Surgery; Co-Principal Investigator, IRAD
University of Milan; Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
  • Co-Principal Investigator of IRAD, the world's largest and most influential aortic dissection registry
  • Among the most-cited authors in acute aortic syndrome, shaping global understanding of type B dissection, IMH and penetrating aortic ulcer
  • European Principal Investigator for the GORE GREAT registry and co-investigator across multiple international aortic trials
  • Co-directs the Beta Lab for endovascular aortic biomechanics; supervises an international aortic-disease PhD programme
Professor Arun Pherwani

Professor Arun Pherwani, MS, MPhil, FRCS

Consultant Vascular Surgeon; Honorary Professor; Clinical Lead, National Vascular Registry (NVR)
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (Royal Stoke); Keele University School of Medicine, United Kingdom
  • Clinical Lead for the National Vascular Registry and Joint Clinical Lead for the NCIP for vascular surgery in NHS England
  • Member of NHS England's Steering Group on Acute Aortic Dissection, directly shaping national pathway and outcomes work
  • UK representative on VASCUNET and the International Consortium of Vascular Registries, leading international benchmarking
  • Pioneered national collection of aortic device data, producing the first national reports on aortic devices and revision procedures
Professor Mark Field

Professor Mark Field, BMedSci, BM BS, DPhil (Oxon), FRCS (C-Th)

Consultant Cardiac & Aortic Surgeon; Honorary Professor of Aortic Surgery; Lead Aortic Surgeon
Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital; University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
  • Lead aortic surgeon at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, the UK's largest aortic centre (250+ aortic procedures a year)
  • Drove the UK's first thoracic aortic on-call dissection rota (Liverpool, 2007), improving quality outcomes and survival
  • Led UK volume–outcome analysis of acute aortic dissection using NICOR data, informing the case for regionalised care
  • Principal figure behind the TADCT-funded Global AortaBank; cited ~2,800+ across type A dissection and arch surgery
Session 8 · Psychology & Recovery “We repaired the aorta. We left the person behind.”
Patient Voice & Advocacy

The people this symposium is for

Survivors and advocates speaking on recovery, identity, and the long road after dissection.

Catherine Fowler

Catherine Fowler

Chair, Psychology & Recovery

Patient Advocate, The Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust — Turning harm into change — championing the patient voice in every system-level conversation about aortic care.

Martin Hilton

Martin Hilton

Recovery Story

UK Survivor Advocate — Reclaiming Life — a patient's story of recovery, identity and resilience after dissection.

Stuart Arnold

Stuart Arnold

Psychology & Recovery

UK Survivor Advocate — Living With Fear — speaking openly about trauma, hypervigilance and PTSD after survival.

← Meet the Founder