Dr. Thierry Mesana

Dr. Thierry Mesana is a professor of cardiac surgery at the University of Ottawa. He is the past president and chief executive officer of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, having served in those roles from 2014 to 2024.

A native of France, Dr. Mesana 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. He received his PhD in biophysics and biomechanics at the same university after extensive experimental work on artificial hearts and ventricular assist devices.

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 introduced a number of advanced techniques and greatly expanded the cardiac surgery program. He was a 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. In this role through 2012, he led significant changes in the Division of Cardiac Surgery. Under his leadership, the Heart 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 Heart Institute marked the milestone of its 500th heart transplant. Just as importantly, Dr. Mesana has been instrumental in fostering collaboration across scientific and clinical boundaries, always with the goal of enhancing patient care.

Dr. Mesana became president and chief executive office of the Heart Institute in 2014 and remained in this role until March 2024. Dr. Mesana is certified by the European Board of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the French College of Cardiothoracic Surgery. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

He has authored over 300 scientific publications and has been an invited lecturer in many national and international symposia.