Member 2020-2023

Samuel Heuts graduated in 2014 as a medical doctor at the faculty of Medicine of Maastricht University in Maastricht, the Netherlands. He subsequently started a PhD-course, which was completed in 2019, entitled: The Potential of Pre-operative Planning in Cardiothoracic Surgery. After his PhD he started his cardiothoracic surgical training a Maastricht Univeristy Medical Center, which is currently still going on. His main research interests comprise valve surgery, minimally invasive surgery and aortic diseases.

Member 2020-2023

Chair 2020-2023

Michele De Bonis is Associate Professor of Cardiac Surgery, Chief of Cardiac Surgery-Innovation and Research and Director of the Postgraduate School in Cardiac Surgery at “Vita-Salute” San Raffaele University and Hospital, Milan, Italy. After his MD degree, he obtained the “Full registration” at the General Medical Council (UK) and the USMLE Certification (USA). As a postgraduate Fellow he attended several Cardiac Surgery Departments in Belgium and Germany (OLV, Brugmann University, German Heart Institute). He completed his full training in cardiac surgery both in Rome and at St. George’s Hospital (London). Since the year 2000 he has been working at San Raffaele University Hospital as Head of “Heart failure and Mechanical Circulatory Support” before reaching a Director position. He has been Visiting Professor at Plymouth NHS Trust (UK) and at the Cape Town University, South Africa. He is the Chairman of the Task Force on mitral and tricuspid surgery of the EACTS Adult Domain. He has been Chairman of the ESC Working-Group on Cardiovascular Surgery and he is currently member of the ESC Council on Valvular Heart Disease, “European Liaison” of the AHA Council on Cardiovascular Surgery and “Core Leader” of the Mitral Valvular Research Network of the Heart Valve Society. He is a Fellow of ESC (FESC) and AHA (FAHA). He is the inventor of an original trans-catheter device for the percutaneous treatment of tricuspid regurgitation (Star-Tric, patent 102017000052909). He has a major interest in postgraduate education at the EACTS Academy and he has been a TF member of the ESC EACTS Guidelines on Valvular Heart Disease, Endocarditis, Cardiovascular Diseases in Pregnancy and of the ESC Committee for “Raising Awareness on Mitral Regurgitation”. He is member of the EACTS, ESC, AHA, Italian Society of Cardiac Surgery and Heart Valve Society. He is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Cardiology and member of the Editorial board of several international journals.

Member 2020-2023

Davide Carino graduated cum laude as Medical Doctor at the Perugia University and then stared the residency program in cardiac surgery at the Bologna university. During the residency he spent 6 months at the Aortic Institute at Yale doing a research fellowship under the mentorship of Dr. J.A. Elefteriades. Afterwards in 2018 he was selected by the Francis Fontan Foundation as recipient of the awards for a clinical fellowship at Hospital Clinic in Barcelona where he spent the whole 2019. Since December 2019 he works as staff surgeon in the cardiac surgery department of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan. His main interest are aortic surgery and surgical and trans-catheter treatment of mitral and tricuspid valve diseases.

Member 2020-2023

Nikolaos Bonaros is an academic cardiac surgeon affiliated to the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria. His clinical and academic interests focus on minimally invasive and endoscopic valve and coronary surgery and structural valve interventions. His scientific interests extend from clinical research on valvular heart and coronary artery disease to basic research on ischemic heart failure. He has a Master’s Degree on Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery and Innovation form the University of Pisa, and on Health Economics and Policy from the London School of Economics.

Member 2020-2023

Dr. Girdauskas completed a medical degree from 1996 to 2002 at the Kaunas Medical University in Kaunas. He worked as an assistant doctor at the Heart Center Leipzig and was a consultant in the central clinic in Bad Berka. He received his doctorate at the University of Leipzig with the title "Results of the surgical treatment of acute type A dissection in the heart center Leipzig and was recognised for his work for the "Analysis of aortic changes in patients with bicuspid aortic valve and associated diseases". In 2016 he became the senior consultant and deputy director of the clinic (cardiac surgery) at the Heart Center Hamburg of the University Clinic Hamburg-Eppendorf. Since March 2017, Dr.Girdauskas has been a professor and head of the programme (minimally invasive) of heart valve reconstruction and treatment of patients with aortopathies.

Member 2020-2021