Sir Magdi Yacoub on pioneering heart transplant surgery

The Life Scientific

BBC

Technology, Personal Journals, Society & Culture, Science

4.6 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

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Summary

What does it take to earn the nickname, ‘The Leonardo da Vinci of heart surgery’?

That's the moniker given to today's guest - a man who pioneered high-profile and often controversial procedures, but also helped drive huge medical progress; carrying out around 2,000 heart transplants and 400 dual heart-lung transplants during his 60-year career.

Sir Magdi Yacoub is Emeritus Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Imperial College London, and Director of Research at Harefield Hospital’s Magdi Yacoub Institute. Inspired by a surgeon father and impacted by the tragic early death of his aunt from a heart condition, his medical career includes various surgical firsts alongside numerous research projects, to further our understanding of and ability to treat heart disease. He headed up the teams that discovered it is possible to reverse heart failure, and that successfully grew part of a human heart valve from stem cells for the first time.

But it hasn't always been plain sailing. At times, his work – such as early, unsuccessful transplant attempts, or using a baboon as a life-support system for a baby – attracted serious public criticism.

Speaking to Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Sir Magdi reflects on the highs and lows of his cardio career, and offers his advice to the next generation of surgeons and researchers hoping to make their mark in heart medicine.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili Produced by Lucy Taylor

Transcript

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0:44.4	My guest today is quite simply one of the world's best known and most prolific heart
0:49.6	surgeons, a man who pioneered high profileprofile and often controversial procedures,
0:55.0	but who's helped drive huge medical progress.
0:58.1	Sir Magdiakoub is Emeritus Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery,
1:02.6	so that's Heart and Lungs, at Imperial College London,
1:06.0	and Director of Research at Harefield Hospital's Magdiakoub Institute.
1:13.3	Inspired by a surgeon father and impacted by the tragic early death of his aunt from a heart condition, so Magdi's medical career has
1:18.2	deeply personal roots. And alongside surgery, he's led numerous research projects to further our
1:23.8	understanding of and ability to treat heart disease. Over a career spanning more
1:29.3	than six decades, Magde's carried out around 2,000 heart transplants, earning him the moniker
1:35.1	the Leonardo da Vinci of heart surgery. But at times, his work, such as early unsuccessful
1:41.5	transplant attempts, attracted serious public criticism, not an easy
1:45.8	thing for anyone to weather. Today, of course, the transplant landscape is very different, thanks
1:51.0	in no small part to Magdi himself. And as he puts it, science progresses by imaginative
	...

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