Final Ionescu Fellowships 2021 Carol Tan

Final Ionescu Fellowships 2021

Carol Tan, SCTS Education Secretary

The Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery in Great Britain & Ireland (SCTS) invited applications for the final round of Fellowships sponsored by Mr Marian Ionescu. As a surgeon, educator and trainer, Mr Ionescu has seen the value of helping the development of trainees, consultants and the teams in which they work. The broad range of the fellowships was aimed benefit all members of the SCTS: Consultants, Surgeons in training, Nurses, Allied Health Professionals and Medical Students. The applications were advertised in the SCTS website as well as by flyers to all the members. The deadline was the 15th August 2021. All applications were scored to the SCTS Scoring Matrix, by a panel of SCTS Officers and the scores were averaged to rank the candidates. We can confirm that all applications were duly considered and recommended by section leads and relevant teams due to the spread of experience and variation in the specialty. The recommendations were finalised by unanimous decision by the scoring teams for various streams and were submitted to the President and Mr Ionescu for approval.

Although it is with sadness that this is the final round of fellowships by Mr Ionescu, SCTS and its membership has greatly benefited from his benevolence over the last decade with contributions enabling the Ionescu University, Ionescu Fellowships and the Perspectives in Cardiothoracic Surgery. No words can express the heartfelt gratitude SCTS Education owe him with his contributions directly reaching hundreds of our wider cardiothoracic surgical community and indirectly hundreds of thousands of the patients we care for.

Ionescu Consultant Team Fellowship: 1 award, £15,000 Mr Sri Rathinam, Consultant Thoracic Surgeon, University Hospital of Leicester to visit Shanghai, Pisa and Paris, to focus on advanced uni-portal resection, robotic surgery and sub-lobar resections under Dr Gonzales Rivas, Prof Franca Melfi and Dr Dominic Gossot respectively.

Ionescu NTN Trainee Travelling Fellowship: 4 awards, £10,000 each Mr Ahmed Al-Adhami, Scottish NTN from Golden Jubilee National Hospital to visit Duke University under Prof Paul Schroder, to learn from Duke University experience in DCD heart procurement and implantation, use of the Organ Care System, use of the LUNGguard Cold Transport for procured lungs, longterm LVAD and total artificial heart implantation.

Ms Katie O’Sullivan, Irish Specialist Registrar currently in Royal Victoria Hospital to visit The Cleveland Clinic, to learn advance cardiac surgery including aortic and TEVAR under Prof E Rosellli.

Ms Caroline Toolan, Northwest NTN currently in Wythenshawe Hospital to complete a year’s fellowship at CedarSinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles within the Cardiac Surgery Programme led by Professor Chikwe, to develop expertise in operative management of both mitral and aortic valve disease.

Miss Jennifer Whiteley, NTN in Scotland in the Golden Jubilee National Hospital to visit Toronto General Hospital for a fellowship in Lung Transplantation under Prof S Khesavjee.

Ionescu NTN early years (ST1-4) travel award: 2 awards, £5,000 Miss Alina-Maria Budacan, NTN West Midlands currently in New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton. The fellowship is to Toronto General Hospital under Prof Keshavjee, to gain insight into patient pathways and compare our local practice with the Toronto practice to identify areas for improvement and increase organ donation in the UK and donor assessment and retrieval, recipient selection and operation, pre and postoperative care as well as the use of the Toronto XVIVO Lung Perfusion System.

Miss Georgia R. Layton, East Midlands NTN in Glenfield Hospital. The fellowship will be under Dr Andrew Civitello for an arranged observership in cardiac transplant and mechanical circulatory support at the Texas Heart Institute within Baylor St Luke’s Medical Centre, Houston, TX, USA.

Ionescu Trust Appointed Doctors Surgical Fellowships: 2 awards, £10,000 each Miss Maria Cannoletta, Senior Clinical Fellow, Royal Brompton Hospital for a fellowship under Mattia Glauber, to improve skills in cardiac minimally invasive surgery.

Dr Andreas Gkikas, Research Fellow in Thoracic Surgery, Glenfield Hospital and Research student UCL for a fellowship under Mr Antonopoulos & Professor Tomos in Athens and Mr Mark Jones in Belfast, to enhance understanding of cardiothoracic surgery.

Ionescu Trust Appointed Doctors small travel grants: 2 awards, £5,000 each Mr Benjamin Irene Omoregbee, Specialty Registrar (Trust Grade) Castle Hill Hospital to visit various centres including Blackpool under Mr Joe Zacharias, to focus on minimally invasive cardiac surgery.