Thierry Mesana, MD, PhD, FRCSC

Dr. Mesana is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Recognized as one of the leading heart valve surgeons in the world, he received his medical degree in 1985, from the Université de la Méditerranée, in Marseilles and his PhD in biophysics and biomechanics in 1990.

In 1991, Dr. Mesana was, at the time, the youngest cardiac surgeon in France to receive a full professorship. He then became the Chair of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at La Timone University Hospital, the largest hospital in Marseilles, where he greatly expanded their cardiac surgery program, doubling its size in a 10-year period.

Dr. Mesana was appointed Chief of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute in 2001. Under his leadership, the Institute’s surgical program became a leading Canadian and International program and his valve repair program has become recognized as one of the best in the world. His emphasis on repairing failing heart valves helped to establish this approach as a gold standard for treatment. During his tenure at the Institute, he marked the milestone of the organization’s 500th heart transplant.

Dr. Mesana has fostered an international collaboration with the Qingdao Hospital to build the “Qingdao-Ottawa Heart Institute” which will be the first Chinese hospital officially affiliated and co-branded to a Canadian institution.

He is member of numerous national and international societies such as, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, the European Society for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. He has received several national and international awards, has authored and co-authored over 300 scientific publications, and has given over 100 lectures as Guest Visiting Professor in Canada, the United-States, Europe, Japan and China.