Dr. Thierry Mesana is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and Professor of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Ottawa. He is recognized as one of the leading heart valve surgeons in the world. He received his medical degree at the Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France, where he trained in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, and received his PhD in biophysics and biomechanics at the same university. He served as Chair of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at La Timone University Hospital, the largest hospital in Marseilles, where he introduced advanced techniques and greatly expanded the cardiac surgery program. He was Visiting Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1996 to 1997. Dr. Mesana was appointed Chief of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute in 2001. Under his leadership, the Institute’s 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. In addition, he has encouraged the development of minimally invasive surgical procedures for coronary bypass grafting and complex cardiac arrhythmias, and during his tenure, the Institute marked the milestone of its 500th heart transplant. He is certified by the European Board of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the French College of Cardiothoracic Surgery, and he’s a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.