Professor Wael Awad

Professor Awad graduated from Charing Cross & Westminster Medical School, Imperial College, University of London, in 1988. Having been interested in Cardiothoracic Surgery from an early stage, he targeted the leading surgeons in this field and worked alongside them. He trained with Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub, Professor Peter Goldstraw and Mr John Wright, three of the leading and pioneering surgeons in the UK. He has worked at the most prestigious teaching hospitals in London, including the Royal Brompton, The London Chest, Guy’s, St Thomas’ and St Bartholomew’s. He was awarded a British Heart Foundation grant to undertake research on ischaemic preconditioning in the immature myocardium and was awarded a Doctor of Medicine Degree from the University of London in 1999. He was appointed Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust in 2003, where he practices adult cardiac surgery and Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), Visiting Professor at the University of South Wales and Senior Clinical Lecturer at University College London (UCL). He is Lead Surgeon for the Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation, and the Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS) for Heart Failure, Programmes. His other specialist interests include sutureless aortic valve replacement, surgery of the thoracic aorta, total arterial revascularisation in coronary artery bypass surgery, redo cardiac surgery, mitral valve repair, surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation and MCS. He works in collaboration with local teams abroad and helps train cardiac surgeons locally and abroad. He is regularly invited to lecture and demonstrate new techniques and has given numerous lectures at conferences and specialist programmes in Europe, Japan, the USA, South Africa and the Middle East. He is a Clinical Supervisor for education and training in cardiothoracic surgery at Barts Health NHS Trust and a member of the Specialty Advisory Committee and Specialty Training Committee nationally. He runs an annual symposium on Heart Failure and Mechanical Circulatory support. He has published widely in Circulation, JAMA, the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the Annals of Thoracic Surgery and the European Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery. He has been interviewed and filmed by the BBC and Abu Dhabi channels on various cardiac surgical topics. He has been commended by Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health (2017), for outstanding patient care. Professor Awad's contributions to the specialty have earned him a position in the Marquis Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare, among the world's most respected works of reference recognising those whose achievements place them at the forefront of an evolving healthcare system.

Aortic surgery  Complex heart surgery