Associate Professor Kyriakos Anastasiadis, MD, DSc, FETCS, FCCP, FESC, is a Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Head of the Cardiothoracic Department at AHEPA Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. He completed his cardiothoracic training in Greece and worked as a cardiothoracic surgeon at Oxford Heart Centre, John Radcliffe Hospital in the U.K. He is specialized in heart failure surgery in the field of mechanical circulatory support (LVAD, ECMO). His innovative work on stem cell application combined with mechanical circulatory support in ischemic cardiomyopathy received global scientific attention. He has also performed extensive research on the use of minimal extracorporeal circulation (MECC) in cardiac procedures collaborating with European centres in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. He is the editor of 4 books and has published numerous scientific publications in peer reviewed journals. He is the Secretary General of Hellenic Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons and a Fellow of the European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons, the American College of Chest Physicians and the European Society of Cardiology.Professor Stephen Westaby, BSc (Biochem), PhD (Bio Eng), FRCS, MS, FETCS, FESC, FACC, FICA (Hon), is Consultant Cardiac Surgeon at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK. He introduced specialist aortic, heart failure and congenital heart surgery and was the first to train surgical care practitioners in Europe. Moreover, he initiated laboratory and then clinical mechanical circulatory support programs with new approaches to the management of advanced heart failure at Oxford Heart Centre. He achieved the world’s longest survivor with any type of artificial heart. He assembled a team of motor engineers to develop a British miniature artificial heart. This group is now known as Calon CardioTechnology, based in the Institute of Life Sciences, University of Swansea. The first device was awarded the UK Trade and Investment’s Award for Best Breakthrough Medical Technology in 2011. He has published more than 300 peer review medical and scientific publications and is author or editor of 14 books. He was designated a Pioneer of Cardiology by the American Heart Association and has received numerous international awards.Assistant Professor Polychronis Antonitsis, MD, DSc, is a Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon in the Cardiothoracic Department at AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece. He completed his training in cardiothoracic surgery in Greece and at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford in U.K. His clinical practice focuses on mechanical circulatory support in patients with heart failure and on the use of minimal extracorporeal circulation (MECC). He has done laboratory and clinical research on the application of stem cells in heart disease. He is the author and editor of one book on minimal extracorporeal circulation and has published several papers in peer reviewed journals. He is a member of the European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery.
