Professor Marc Ruel is the Pitfield Chair and Head of the Division of Cardiac Surgery, University of Ottawa, Canada, where his team have enabled a large growth in the Division’s size, scope, focus on innovation, and top quality outcomes. As a surgeon, Ruel has pioneered and delivered numerous international courses on minimally invasive cardiac operations, including minimally invasive multivessel coronary bypass and non-sternotomy valve surgery, which he teaches in Ottawa and abroad to surgeons from all continents. Ruel has authored over 350 scientific publications and leads numerous endeavours in clinical and translational research. Ruel is the President-Elect of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, the Canadian Director for the Society of Thoracic Surgeons and past-Chair of the American Heart Association’s Council on Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia. He serves as associate editor for the journal Circulation and recently as program chair for the ISMICS.