Editor-in-Chief 2020-2025

Matthias Siepe graduated in 2002 as a medical doctor at the Freiburg University and started his surgical residency in the local Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery. After research fellowships in Paris (Prof. Menasché) and Berne (Prof. Carrel), he completed his training for adult cardiac surgery in 2009, for congenital surgery in 2012 and for vascular surgery in 2014. Currently, he is Co-Chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at the Freiburg University Heart Centre and Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Medicine. His areas of interest are minimally invasive heart valve surgery, complex aortic surgery, congenital surgery and surgical options for heart failure. From 2016 to 2020, he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Interactive Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery. Since October 2020 he is the Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery.

Past President 2016-17

Member 2015-19

Immediate Past President 2022-2023

Friedhelm Beyersdorf received his medical degree at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany in 1981. His work was driven by a research stay at the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he worked with Gerald Buckberg on crucial work on blood cardioplegia of the heart, which is now the standard cardioplegia at most cardiac surgery centres. He was appointed full professor at the Clinical Centre of the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Germany in 1994 for cardiovascular surgery. Friedhelm has been a member of the Council of the European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgery (EACTS) since 2002 and was elected Editor-in-Chief from 2010 to 2020. Between 2009 and 2011 Friedhelm was President of the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (DGTHG). In 2013, he was appointed "Membre correspondant étranger de l'Académie nationale de Médecine". In 2000, he was awarded the title of Professor honoris causa by the University of Marilia (Brazil) and in 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate (Dr. h. c.) by the National University of Laos (Ventiane). Friedhelm holds more than 700 publications and patents.

Domain Chair 2016-19

Chair 2016-19

Past President 2021-2022

Mark Hazekamp is currently chief of the congenital cardiothoracic surgery programme of University Medical Centers of Leiden and Amsterdam in the Netherlands and a professor at Leiden University. After graduating from Leiden medical school in 1982 he spent several years in general surgery in Spain and the Netherlands before training as a cardiothoracic surgeon in Leiden. He has a special interest in arterial switch, double switch, Ross and Nikaidoh operations promoting long-term follow-up studies in the field of congenital heart surgery. More basic research interest is focused on homograft valve tissue engineering and on 4D flow MRI to study circulatory energy loss after surgical procedures. Organizational work has focused on public reporting of surgical outcomes and quality improvement programs in the field of congenital heart surgery.

Domain Chair 2018-2021

Eric Dominic Roessner graduated in 1999 as a medical doctor at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. After graduation he moved to the University Medical Center in Mannheim, Germany and started his surgical training. In 2005 he took the German board for general surgery. Subsequently he started his training in advanced abdominal surgery with a focus on upper GI surgery. He interrupted his training in 2007 and started his Thoracic surgery training. In 2009 2010 he changed to start a senior fellowship in the Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK. In 2010 he returned to Mannheim and was appointed as a Consultant Surgeon for Thoracic and General Surgery. In 2014 he took the European Boards of Thoracic Surgery and completed his GI training in 2017 and took the German Boards for Advanced Abdominal Surgery. His academic activities in the field of tissue engineering lead to his appointment as an assistant professor in 2014, in 2018 he was appointed as a full professor now focusing in the field of hybrid operating technologies. In 2019 he was appointed as the head of Thoracic Surgery in the University Hospital Mainz, Germany, and became the Speaker of the Steering Committee of the Department of Cardio- Thoracic Surgery. He clinical focus is the minimal invasive treatment (uniportal VATS) of lung cancer, thoracic sarcoma and tumours of the mediastinum with a focus on robotic surgery.

Member 2021-2024

Treasurer 2014-17

Ex-Officio 2014-17

Secretary General 2008-17

Ex-Officio 2008-17

Ex-Officio 2008-17

Ex-Officio 2008-17

Ex-Officio 2008-17

Ex-Officio 2008-17

Ex-Officio 2008-17

Domain Chair 2020-2023

Chair 2020-2023

Member 2020-2023

Konstantinos Tsagakis graduated in 1998 as a medical doctor at the University of Vienna, Austria. After his basic medical practice, he moved 2001 to Germany as resident in cardiac surgery in Heart Center North Rhein Westphalia in Bad Oeynhausen and since 2004 in West German Heart and Vascular Center of the University Hospital of Essen. In 2009 he performed the board exams for cardiac surgery and he continued as staff surgeon in Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in Essen. His specialization focused on open and endovascular thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic repair and reconstructive aortic valve surgery. He habilitated as private lecturer in medical University of Duisburg-Essen in 2018. Currently, he is the Section Head of Aortic Surgery in the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the University Hospital of Essen.

Councillor-at-large 2022-2025

Chair 2022-2025

Dr Rafael Sádaba graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the University of the Basque Country (Bilbao, Spain) and completed his basic and advanced training in Cardio-Thoracic Surgery at the Leeds General Infirmary and East Yorkshire Hospitals in the UK, and the Sir Charles Gardner Hospital in Perth (Australia). During his training, he was awarded a Master’s Degree in Science by the University of Leeds. Subsequently he was awarded a PhD degree by the Public University of Navarra for his work on degenerative aortic valve disease. Dr Sádaba is currently working in the Dept of Cardiac Surgery at the "Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra" in Pamplona (Spain), where he is Coordinator of Cardiovascular Research and Innovation, and Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Navarra. He is the former Secretary of the European Board of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. Dr Sádaba is a Fellow in Cardio-Thoracic Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. As member of the European Society for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, he holds leadership positions in this association as Council member, Chair of the Education Committee and Chair of the Francis Fontan Fund. He is also member of the Spanish Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the Heart Valve Society, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. He is Associated Editor of the journal “Interactive Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery” and lead clinician in the “Translational Cardiology Research Group” at NavarraBiomed Foundation. His research interests have focused on the surgical pathology of the aortic valve and myocardial regeneration therapy.

President 2022-2023

Chair 2016-2019

Secretary General 2017-2021

Ex-Officio 2017-2021

Ex-Officio 2017-2021

Ex-Officio 2017-2021

Ex-Officio 2017-2021

Councillor 2015-2018

Member 2019-2021

Domain Chair 2018-2021

Chair 2018-2021

Member 2020-2023

Resident Representative 2020-2023

Member 2022-2025

Alicja Zientara graduated in 2010 as a medical doctor at Hannover Medical School, Germany, with a doctoral degree (Dr. med.) in 2012. From 2011 until 2018, Alicja spent her residency in cardiac surgery at the University hospital and Triemli hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, including rotations in vascular surgery and intensive care. Since 2018, she continues her education as a senior clinical fellow at the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospital in London, UK. Her area of interest includes off-pump coronary artery bypass graft, minimal invasive surgery and interventional heart valve procedures. Alicja contributed from 2016-2018 as the chairwoman of the Young Swiss Cardiac Surgeons Club (YSCSC) and since 2018 as a member of the EACTS residents committee to foster and support young surgeons.

International Councillor 2018-2021

Richard L. Prager, M.D. is the Richard and Norma Sarns Professor of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Michigan and recently completed 2 ½ years as Interim Department Chair. Dr. Prager received his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1967 and his medical degree in 1971 from State University of New York Downstate. His general surgery and thoracic surgery residencies were at the University of Michigan from 1971-1978, including a research year in the thoracic surgical laboratories. Dr. Prager began his cardiac and thoracic surgical career at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery returning to Ann Arbor in 1983 to join the Cardiac and Thoracic Surgical Group at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital. Dr. Prager was the Medical Director of the HCFA Demonstration Project at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and the Head of the Section of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery. In 1999, he moved to the University of Michigan as Professor of Surgery and Head of the Section of Adult Cardiac Surgery. Dr. Prager leads the Michigan Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons Quality Collaborative initiative and was an Inaugural Director of the University of Michigan’s Frankel Cardiovascular Center. He is the Past President of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons and Past President of the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association. Dr. Prager is committed to the education of residents and fellows in Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery and is the former program director of the Thoracic Surgery Residency and Integrated Thoracic Residency at the University of Michigan, and held this position between 2009-20015. Dr. Prager’s ongoing interests are focused clinically in adult cardiac surgery and utilizing outcomes in all areas of adult cardiac surgery to create the platform for opportunities for improvement.

Secretary General 2022-2025

Member 2020-2023

Patrick Myers is a consultant cardiac surgeon at CHUV - Lausanne University Hospitals in Switzerland and appointed Privat Docent at the Geneva University Medical School. After finishing medical school in Geneva, Patrick completed his cardiovascular surgery residency at the Geneva University Hospitals. He served as senior fellow in adult cardiac surgery at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and then as fellow in cardiac surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital. He was appointed instructor in surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital & Harvard Medical School, before returning as attending surgeon in adult and congenital cardiac surgery in Geneva, Switzerland, where he was named associate of the chief of cardiac surgery. Since 2017, he has focused on adult cardiac surgery in his private practice in adult cardiac surgery in Geneva and serves as consultant cardiac surgeon at CHUV Lausanne. He serves as secretary of the European Board for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. His areas of interest are multiple arterial coronary artery bypass grafting, evolving transcatheter techniques to treat structural heart disease, HOCM and critical appraisal of clinical trials and their discussions on social media.

Honorary Treasurer 2021-2024