Mr Ng graduated in 1993 from Trinity College, Dublin. He completed his basic surgical training in East Yorkshire. His cardiothoracic surgery training began in 2000 and was based entirely at Papworth Hospital with short stints in Norwich and Oxford. He undertook a two-year period of research in transplantation tolerance at the Transplantation Biology Research Centre of Harvard University from 2005 to 2007.
He was appointed as a locum consultant surgeon at Papworth in 2009 before becoming a substantive appointment in Feb 2011. He has experience in all aspects of adult cardiac surgery. Specialist interest includes high-risk surgery in the sick elderly population, aortic surgery specifically acute aortic dissection emergencies and pulmonary endarterectomy surgery. He is one of four surgeons in the national pulmonary endarterectomy programme at Papworth.
Mr De Silva returned to Papworth after practicing as a consultant in Oxford University Hospital for 4 years. He had previously spent 6 years training at Papworth, and so came back to a familiar environment in which he is able to pursue his clinical and research interests. Mr De Silva has considerable expertise in adult cardiac surgery, with a particular interest in minimal access surgery, aortic and aortic valve surgery, hybrid and off pump revascularization. He has a keen interest in education and training, having previously run the cardiothoracic training programme in Oxford. He has published widely, and has particular research interests in the inflammatory effects of cardiopulmonary bypass, the pathogenesis of nitric oxide in cardiovascular disease, and safety in cardiac surgery.
Mr. Abu-Omar undertook his training in cardiothoracic surgery at Papworth, Oxford and London. Prior to that, he spent 3 years completing a research project investigating cerebral injury following cardiac surgery, and obtaining a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) at the University of Oxford.
Mr. Abu-Omar performs the full range of adult cardiac operations. His areas of interest include minimally invasive surgery, mitral valve surgery, coronary revascularization and surgery for atrial fibrillation. He is also a member of the transplant team at Papworth.
His research interests include investigating the efficacy of surgery for atrial fibrillation, the investigation of end-organ injury following cardiac surgery and beating-heart surgery.
He has published widely and is currently the co-editor of two forthcoming textbooks. He also has a major interest in education and training.
Ayyaz Ali received his medical degree from the University of Leicester. He trained in cardiothoracic surgery at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, UK. He received further training in heart transplantation, lung transplantation and mechanical circulatory support devices for heart failure at two of the world’s largest thoracic transplant centers, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A) and Duke University Medical Center (Durham, North Carolina, U.S.A.). In addition to cardiac and transplant surgery, he has a strong background in both clinical and basic science research. He undertook research into the feasibility of heart transplantation from donors who suffer circulatory arrest at Stanford University in California. This work has been published in important medical journals and presented at numerous international meetings. Mr. Ali holds an appointment as an associate research scientist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, U.S.A, where he is actively researching mechanisms of recovery in the injured heart and lung with the use of artificial circulatory support devices.
Mr. Mahesh undertook his training in cardiothoracic surgery at Papworth Hospital and Harefield Hospital. He specialised in heart and lung transplantation, and implantation of ventricular assist devices, at the University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, USA, and at Papworth Hospital. Prior to that, he completed a research project investigating the role of autoantibodies in mediating acute and chronic rejection in heart transplant recipients, and obtained a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) at Imperial College, University of London. He trained in surgery in India's premier medical institution [All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi]. He completed a research project in treatment of vascular malformations. Working across many centres has given him the opportunity to broaden his expertise and amalgamate best practices from across these hospitals.
Mr. Mahesh performs the full range of adult cardiac operations. His areas of interest and expertise include mitral valve surgery, coronary revascularization, aortic surgery, minimally invasive surgery, surgery for atrial fibrillation, heart and lung transplantation and ventricular assist devices. He is a member of the transplant team at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, and is pioneering development of lung transplantation in Scotland.
His research interests include role of antibody mediated rejection in affecting outcomes following heart transplantation, and right ventricular function following heart transplantation and implantation of left ventricular assist devices.
He has published widely and these are available on pubmed. He also has a major interest in education and training.
Born in Kandy, Sri Lanka, Mrs Sudarshan qualified as a Doctor from Southampton. Whilst a large part of her Cardiothoracic Higher Surgical Training came from Papworth, the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne and Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne have played a significant part in shaping it. She was appointed as a Consultant Surgeon in Papworth in August 2006.
Mrs Sudarshan is the Clinical Lead for the Cardiothoracic Organ Retrieval Service of Papworth Hospital NHS Trust. She is an Assigned Educational Supervisor for three Specialist Registrars attached to the East of England Deanery from the National Training Programme in Cardiothoracic Surgery. She is the clinical supervisor for the Transplant Surgical Fellows. She is the Consultant Cardiac Surgical Lead for the Alert Team Nurses.
Mr Dunning was schooled in Edinburgh at George Watson’s College, and attended University in St Andrew’s and Manchester, qualifying BSc in 1981 and MB, ChB in 1984. Subsequently his general surgical training took place in Manchester and Leicester, with specialist Cardiothoracic training in Groby Road Hospital, Leicester, Papworth Hospital, Cambridgeshire, and The John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.
Mr Dunning was appointed to a Consultant Surgeon’s position at Papworth in 1994, and subsequently spent nearly four years as Clinical Director of the Cardiothoracic Surgical unit at The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, before returning to Papworth in September 2007.
His practice includes all areas of adult cardiothoracic surgery, with major interests in cardiopulmonary transplantation, mechanical circulatory support, pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary endarterectomy, and surgery of the thoracic aorta.
Mr Dunning established the National pulmonary endarterectomy programme in 1996.
Mr. Tsui has been a Consultant Surgeon at Papworth Hospital since 1998. His clinical interests include:
a. Aortic valve & aortic root surgery
b. Pulmonary Endarterectomy
c. Trans-catheter Heart Valve treatments (TAVI program)
d. Surgical treatment of end-stage heart diseases including:
i. Heart transplantation
ii. Ventricular Assist Devices (VADs)
e. Surgical treatment of end-stage lung diseases including:
i. Lung transplantation
ii. ECMO & Artificial lungs
Research Interests
1. Heart valve prostheses
2. Optimisation of donor multi-organ donors
3. Development of ventricular assist devices
4. Extra-corporeal re-conditioning of donor organs
Professional Profile
Mr Tsui is the Clinical Director of the Transplant Service and is the Clinical Lead for the Mechanical Circulatory Support Device Programme at Papworth. He is also the Regional Training Programme Director and Chairman of the Specialty Training Committee for Cardiothoracic Surgery at the East of England Deanery.
His national duties include:
1) Chairman of the Cardiothoracic Advisory Group (CTAG), at NHS Blood & Transplant
2) Member of the Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) forum, National Commissioning Group (NCG)
3) Examiner on the Intercollegiate Board for the FCRS (C-Th) exam
4) Specialist Advisor to the NICE Interventional Procedures Advisory Committee 2010-13
Clinical Outcomes
To view Mr Tsui's clinical outcomes, please click on this link. This will take you to the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery website which is not part of the Papworth Hospital website.
Education and Training
Bachelor of Arts 1985 University of Cambridge
Master of Arts 1987 University of Cambridge
Bachelor of Medicine &
Bachelor of Surgery 1988 University of Cambridge
F.R.C.S. (Eng.) 1992 Fellowship of Royal College of Surgeons of England
Doctor of Medicine 1995 University of Cambridge
F.R.C.S. (C-Th) 1997 Inter-collegiate Specialty Board in Cardiothoracic Surgery
Mr Tom Routledge is consultant thoracic surgeon and honorary lecturer at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals / King's College School of Medicine. He joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust as a consultant in 2007. Previously, he held the post of senior fellowship in thoracic surgery at the internationally renowned Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, where he worked for one year from 2006 to 2007.
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Registrar training scheme in cardiothoracic surgery, Papworth Hospital, Cambridge 2001-2006 (FRCS CTh)
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SHO surgical rotation training scheme- London 1998-2001 MRCS
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Merton College, University of Oxford 1994-1997 Clinical medicine course (BM BCh)
- Corpus Christi College, Cambridge 1991-1994 1st class degree in medical sciences (MA)
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FRCS gold medal 2007
Initially trained in London and the United States, Mr Wells has worked at Papworth Hospital as a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon since 1986. His specialist area of cardiac surgical interest is the management of all forms of heart valve disease, especially mitral valve reconstruction.
Mr Wells has the largest experience in the United Kingdom and among the largest in the world with over 3,000 cases completed achieving a near 100% repair rate for leaking mitral valves with mortality at less than 1.0% for first time procedures. His aim is to achieve a normally functioning valve. He also has an interest in aortic valve repair and surgery of the aorta.
In his thoracic practice, Mr Wells offers a full range of surgical procedures for lung cancer and all benign diseases in the chest. This includes hyperhydrosis, thoracic outlet syndrome and pectus deformities.
Stephen Large was appointed to Papworth Hospital in 1989 with a specialist interest in surgery for ventricular tachycardia. His early interest in medical student education led to a Cambridge University appointment as Associate Lecturer in the Department of Medicine and on to become clinical sub-dean for cardiac and thoracic services. He was awarded the diploma of Physician as Educator- RCP by the Royal College of Physicians in 2001 after becoming a fellow five years earlier. He ran the heart transplant service from appointment to the end of 2008 developing the national mechanical heart assist programme in 2001 through his particular interest in the failing human heart. His research interest lies in this area and his team are pursuing the possibilities of expanding the human donor heart pool through collaboration with the clinical transplant team in Cambridge, Stanford University, California and the Canadian Research Centre in Winnipeg. An additional fascination with management led him to achieve an MBA through the Open University in 2000 and to chair the Cardiac Directorate for five years until 2007. He now represents the speciality on the Interventional Advisory Committee of NICE, the HTA Interventional committee and is lead investigator of HTA observational study ETTAA (5 years from July 2013 value £1.7 million.
Gonville & Caius College, University of Cambridge (BA 1988, MA 1992)
Oxford University Medical School (BM BCh 1991)
Basic surgical and medical training 1992-1997 (MRCP 1995, FRCS(Eng.) 1995)
MRC Clinical Training Fellow, Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge 1998-2001 (PhD 2005)
East Anglian Cardiothoracic Surgery training programme 1997-2006 (FRCS(C-Th) 2005)
Fellowship in Thoracic Surgery & Lung Transplantation, Toronto General Hospital, University of Toronto 2005-2006
Senior Registrar, Papworth Hosp, Cambridge (1994 - 1997)
Mr. Farid qualified as a doctor from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He undertook training in cardiothoracic surgery at Papworth between 2012 - 2018, in addition to training in London, Sheffield, Manchester and Brussels in Belgium. Mr Farid was appointed as a Consultant Cardiac and Aortic Surgeon at Oxford University Hospitals in 2018 following completion of cardiothoracic specialist training. He then joined Royal Papworth Hospital as a consultant surgeon in 2021.
Mr Farid subspecialises in advanced aortic repairs along with complex aortic surgery and hybrid aortic surgery. Mr. Farid offers full range of cardiac surgery which includes coronary artery bypass grafting (using multiple arterial grafts), complex valvular surgery (aortic and mitral valve surgery), aortic root surgery, aortic aneurysm repair and redo surgeries. Mr Farid has consistently performed at a very high level, which is represented by his excellent surgeon-specific mortality and outcome results. Mr Farid remains a strong advocate for patient-focused care and robust clinical governance to maintain the highest standards in cardiac surgery.
Mr. Farid has keen interest in medical education and is also the RCS Tutor at the Royal Papworth Hospital. He was the Chair of the surgical training committee for cardiothoracic surgery at Oxford deanery. He is also chief editor of the book “Fighting COVID-19 On the Frontline”.
Miss Alia Noorani undertook training in cardiothoracic surgery at Papworth between 2011 - 2017
She was appointed to a consultant post at Kings in 2017
Mr John Taghavi was an NTN in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Papworth between 2011 - 2017, during this time he performed > 500 cardiac cases as primary surgeon. During his time in training he spent 18 months completing a research project at Stanford University, investigating the feasibility of cardiac donation after circulatory death, and obtaining an MD from the University of Leeds. Following this he undertook a post CCT fellowship in Pulmonary Endarterectomy surgery Papworth and was appointed as a substantive consultant at Royal Papworth Hospital in 2018.
Mr Taghavi performs the full range of adult cardiac operation. His areas of interest include pulmonary endarterectomy surgery, aortic valve surgery (including TAVI), aortic surgery and coronary revascularization surgery. He also has a major interest in education and training.
Ms Iyer was a trainee at Royal Papworth Hospital between 2013 - 2020
She was appointed as a locum consultant in cardiac surgery at Papworth in 2020 before then being appointed to a substantive consultant post in Manchester.
Mr Rafiq was a trainee at Royal Papworth Hospital between 2014 and 2020
He was appointed as a locum consultant cardiac surgeon in 2020 and then to a substantive post shortly thereafter.
Mr Ali obtained his medical qualification with distinction from the University of Cambridge in 2008 and went on to complete a PhD focusing on the immune response to transplanted organs, earning several prestigious research prizes along the way, including the Surgical Research Society: Patey Prize.
He undertook his specialist cardiothoracic surgical training at Royal Papworth Hospital and was appointed to a Locum consultant post in 2022, and substantive post in 2023.
Mr Ali also holds a Master’s in Medical Education and has several active roles in the field. He is a Fellow and Director of Studies for Clinical Medicine for Churchill College, University of Cambridge. He also holds various teaching and examining roles for the Clinical School of Medicine. In recognition to his dedication to student education he was appointed as the Clinical Subdean for Royal Papworth Hospital. In this crucial role, he leads the medical student education program, guiding and shaping the learning experiences of future doctors.
Mr Ali also actively contributes to the advancement of medical knowledge through his extensive research endeavours. With over 120 peer-reviewed publications to his name, he has made significant contributions to the field. His influence extends to editorial roles, where he serves as a valued member of the editorial board for the Journal of Thoracic Disease. One of his notable projects is his leadership role as Co-Lead on the EuroSCORE III project. This initiative is focused on developing the cardiac surgical risk calculator which already holds international significance.
In 2023, he was appointed as the Student Education Co-Lead for the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery. In this influential position, he leads the INSINC medical student committee, driving a dynamic program of activities aimed at enhancing medical student engagement with cardiothoracic surgery across the UK.
His commitment and dedication to training and education of staff and students was recognised with the prestigious Royal Papworth Learning and Development staff award in 2023, which he was also awarded in 2018.
Mr Simon Messer graduated from the University of Dundee medical school. He undertook cardiothoracic surgery specialist training at Royal Papworth Hospital from 2011 to 2020, where he played a key role in establishing the UK DCD Heart Transplant Programme. He was appointed as Consultant Cardiac and Transplant Surgeon at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital following the completion of his training.
Mr Aravinda Page graduated from Clare College, University of Cambridge. He joined the postgraduate training programme in cardiothoracic surgery at the Royal Papworth Hospital in 2011. He undertook some of the early pioneering research underpinning the DCD Heart Transplant Programme. Upon completing his training he was appointed as a substantive cardiac surgery and transplant consultant in 2023 at the Harefield Hospital in London.
Mr Ismail Vokshi graduated from St George's Hospital Medical School and he joined the cardiothoracic surgery programme at Royal Papworth Hospital in 2015. Upon completing his training he was appointed as a locum consultant in cardiac and aortic surgery at the New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton in 2024.
Mr John Hogan graduated from University of Galway medical school. He joined the cardiothoracic surgery programme at the Royal Papworth Hospital in 2018. Upon completing his training, he was appointed as a locum consultant in thoracic surgery in Dublin.