From 1986 – 1993 Medical School, University of Hamburg. Residency at the Department of Cardiac- and Thoracic Vascular Surgery, University of Luebeck, Germany (Director: Prof. Hans-H. Sievers). MD degree in 1996. Registrar and Research Fellow at Harefield Hospital, England, under the supervision of Prof. Sir Magdi Yacoub from 1998 – 1999. PhD degree, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London in 2004. German „Habilitation“ in 2005. Associate Professor, University of Sydney in 2008. Since 2009 Senior Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, Cardiac Surgery, Leipzig Heart Centre (LHC). Currently: Co-Director LHC and Clinical Lead for Minimally Invasive Surgery and VMO/Professor, Dept. of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia. Surgical foci: Minimally invasive cardiac surgery, valve reconstruction and preserving techniques, aortic surgery, Maze procedures, “anaortic” complete arterial OPCAB/MICS-CABG techniques and complex cases.