Sir Magdi Habib Yacoub is an Egyptian cardiothoracic surgeon, one of the world’s most respected cardiac surgeons born 16 November 1935 in Belbes, Sharqia, of a Christian Orthodox family. He studied medicine at Cairo University and qualified as a doctor in 1957. At the age of four, he witnessed the death of his aunt due to heart disease. Her death, in her early 20s, inspired him to specialize in heart surgery
1962: He moved to London and worked as Rotating Senior Surgical Registrar, National Heart and Chest Hospitals, London.
1968: He moved to USA and worked Instructor and Assistant Professor, University of Chicago (USA)
1969-2001: Cardiac Surgeon, National Heart Hospital-Royal Brompton and Harefield National Health Service (NHS) Trust, London
1973: Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, Harefield National Health Service (NHS) Trust, London
1973: He became a visiting professor in University of Nigeriaand performed the first open heart surgery in Nigeriain 1974
1986-2006: Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the British Heart Foundation
1986 – Present Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College Faculty of Medicine
2001- Present Founder and Director of Research of the Magdi Yacoub Research Institute, Harefield
2009- Present He established the Aswan Heart Center for surgeries and researches
Yacoub’s achievements:
•Establishing heart transplantation in the UK.
•Establishing the Heart Science Centre, London.
•Establishing Aswan Heart Center for surgeries and researches in 2009.
•Establishing the Chain of Hope Charity which provides Cardiothoracic Surgical care to the developing world.
• Performed many surgeries to children around the world who were born with a congenital defect in the major blood vessels and saved their lives.
•Supervised more than 18 PhDs in cardiac surgery and published more than 1000 scientific articles.
•Establishing cardiovascular surgery training and research programs in the Gulf region, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Jamaica.
Merits Dr. Magdi Yacoub received
1988 : Bradshaw Lecture, Royal College of Physicians
1992 : Order of Merit, UK.
1998 Texas Heart Institute Ray C. Fish Award for Scientific Achievement in Cardiovascular
1999 : Lifetime outstanding achievement award in recognition of contribution to medicine, Secretary of State for Health (UK).
2001 : The Cleveland Clinic Foundation Heart Failure Summit : Kaufman Awardee.
2003 : Golden Hippocrates International Award for Excellence in Cardiac Surgery (Moscow)
2003 : WHO Prize for Humanitarian Services.
2004 : International Society for Heart & Lung Transplantation Lifetime Achievement Award
2006: European Society of Cardiology Gold Medal.
2007: Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Lifetime Achievement Award.
2007: Honorary citizenships of the city of Bergamo, Italy.
2007: Medal of Merit, President, International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences.
2011: Order of the Nile for science and humanity.
2012: American College of Cardiology Legend of Cardiovascular Medicine.
2014:Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center Humanities and Culture “Ola Ghabbour”Award.
2012 Yacoub was knighted in the 1992 New Year Honours and awarded the Order of Merit by HM The Queen in the 2014 New Year Honours.
Hanah Clark Surgery
Having retired from performing surgery for the National Health Service in 2001 at the age of 65, Yacoub continues to act as a high-profile consultant and ambassador for the benefits of transplant surgery. He continues to operate on children through his charity, Chain of Hope.
In 2006 he briefly came out of retirement to advise on a complicated procedure which required removing a transplant heart from a patient whose own heart had recovered. The patient’s original heart had not been removed during transplant surgery nearly a decade earlier in the hope it might recover.
Dr. Magdy Yacoub and stem cells
In April 2007, it was reported that a British medical research team led by Yacoub had grown part of a human heart valve , from stem cells; a first
