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Professor Massimo Caputo

Last updated: 9 Jan 2025

GMC: 4077976
Areas of Practice: Adult Cardiac and Congenital
Region: South West
Hospitals: Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Cardiac surgery, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, University of Bristol, Translational Health Science and Professor of Cardiac Surgery

Massimo Caputo:  British Heart Foundation (BHF) Professor of Congenital Heart Surgery.

He established one of the UK’s largest paediatric academic cardiac surgery unit, comprising internationally renowned teams developing innovative surgical procedures and new health technologies, and providing an evidence base to improve short-term complications and long-term outcomes in adult and paediatric patients.

He has created an environment at the Bristol Heart Institute (BHI) where clinicians, basic scientists and clinical research methodologists thrive and interact productively to produce world-leading research. Under his leadership, the congenital heart unit in Bristol has achieved recognition for attracting promising individuals and supporting them to develop careers in clinical academic and basic science.

Professor Caputo has 350 publications, H-index 47, >£10m research awards as Principal Investigator (PI) and >£5m as co-PI. He has been successfully translating cardiac surgery innovations for congenital heart disease (CHD) from basic science discoveries into ‘first-in-man’ studies and into established clinical practice. He has led multiple clinical trials, which have changed clinical practice, most prominently in the areas of warm vs cold cardioplegia and normothermic and normoxic cardiopulmonary bypass, the optimal use of blood transfusion and less invasive and hybrid valve technologies. Under the prestigious Sir Jules Thorn Award for Biochemical Research, he has been investigating the potential of stem cells reconstruction and regenerative medicine to improve long term outcome and quality of life in children born with CHD undergoing heart surgery. He has demonstrated the capacity of stem cell tissue engineering strategy to create living tissue matrix with the potential to grow, remodel and repair the heart.  To achieve this, he has brought together basic and clinical cardiovascular scientists as well as forging strong partnerships with both industry and other research centres in the UK and abroad.

Supported by the NIHR-BRC, he implemented Outcome Monitoring After Cardiac Surgery (OMACp); routine capture of trial-quality data about in-hospital serious acute event (SAE, including, blood loss, acute kidney injury, lung dysfunction, neurological complications) and long-term follow-up in all consenting paediatric patients, alongside collection of blood, urine, pericardial fluid and tissue samples during surgery (up to date >1000 paediatric cardiac surgery patients, and their mothers). He has recruited three other centres (Leicester, GOSH and Dublin) and obtained ethics to start consenting participants during the foetal period. 

He has been instrumental in driving the development of the current BRC and active in creating crosslinks across the organisation increasing interdigitation of activities of his group with those of Population Health, Surgical Innovation and Perinatal and Reproductive Health to give a clear cut added value. As indication of his international reputation, Professor Caputo has been invited over the years to set up congenital cardiac surgery units in several developing countries (Syria, Palestine, Trinidad & Tobago) and as Director he was invited in 2014-15 to reorganise the Congenital Heart Surgery Department at the RUSH University Medical Center in Chicago (he remains Visiting Professor

Training Attended

University of Naples, Italy

University of Bristol, UK

University of Leiden, The Netherlands

Qualifications & Accreditations

MD, MCh, FRCS

AWARDS, HONOURS & DISTINCTION

 

2024                Visiting Consultant Cardiac Surgeon/Honorary Professor

                        Starship Children Hospital, Health New Zealand, Te Whatu Ora, Auckland, NZ and University of Auckland

2024                Honorary Professor in Cardiac Surgery

                        Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Surgery

                        University of Auckland, New Zealand

2023                Winner of Best Medicine Radio 4

(https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/illac3rh6iw8txh03oefa/Ep-6-audiogram-Nabil.mp4?rlkey=lhtghciw6nrd1oz73bvqr7bef&dl=0)

2023                Winner of BHF Heart Hero Award

(https://bristol.ac.uk/news/2023/december/bhf-hearthero-award.html)

2023                Member of the National Cardiac Research Improvement Initiative (NCRII)

2022                Professional Expert Advisor for National Institute for Health and Care excellence (NICE)

2022                Mentor of the AATS Marc de Leval Fellowship Program (https://www.aats.org/aatsimis/AATSWeb/Foundation/Programs/Programs/Marc_R._de_Leval/Marc_R._de_Leval_Fellowship.aspx?_zs=WtpcF1&_zl=ua0h6)

2021                Member of the CVD-Covid-UK Consortium Team of the Year Award, HDR UK Annual Award.

2021                Research Advisory Committee (Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Research Foundation, India)

2020                Elected Member (UK and Ireland Society of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery Innovation Committee)

2019                Who Cares Wins Health Award Nomination

2018                Silver Clinical Excellence Award (National Clinical Excellence Award Scheme, UK)

2018                Visiting Professor Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Unit, University of Al Najaar Nablus, Palestine.

2017                BHF Chair in Congenital Heart Surgery

2015                Lead for Cardiac Surgery (Bristol Cardiovascular)

2015                Lead Specialist for Congenital Heart Disease (UK and Ireland Society of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery Research Committee)

2015                Active Membership the American Association for Thoracic Surgery

2015                Bronze Clinical Excellence Award (National Clinical Excellence Award Scheme UK)

2015                Sir Jules Thorn Award for Biochemical Research (£1.5M).

2015                Honorary Cardiac Surgeon for the International Children’s Heart Foundation.

2014                Professor of Surgery and Chief of Paediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery, Rush University Medical Centre, Chicago, US.

2008-2017       Theme Leader for Congenital Heart Surgery, Bristol NIHR-BRU-BRC in Cardiovascular Medicine.

2012                John Parker Medal, Annual Meeting of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery Great Britain and Ireland, Manchester.

2011                John Parker Medal, Annual Meeting of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery Great Britain and Ireland, London.

2011                Honorary Member, Syrian British Medical Society.

2008                Chief Surgeon for the charity “Al-Dir Charity Hospital” to establish the congenital cardiac surgical program at the Homs University, Syria.

2006                Honorary Cardiac Surgeon for the charity “Cardiostart” to perform adult and paediatric cardiac surgery in Peru.

2005                Member of the BRI Team winner of the “Hospital Doctor Award 2005” (for Surgery) for the work on beating heart coronary surgery.

2004                Visiting Professor Paediatric Cardiac Unit, University of West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago.

2004                Garfield Weston Senior Lecturer Fellowship (2004-2009)

2004                Travelling Fellowship to work at the Paediatric Cardiac Surgical Unit, University of Leiden, The Netherlands.

1999-               Visiting Teacher at the annual “International Heart School J.W.Kirklin”, Bergamo, Italy.

1998                Travelling Fellowship to work at the Dept. of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery for a month, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

1998                Distinction (60/60 cum laude), Specialist in Cardiac Surgery, University of Naples, Italy.

1992                MD, Distinction (110/110 cum laude), Final Examination, University of Naples, Italy.

1991                Winner of ERASMUS/ECTS European Community Grant, University of Manchester, UK.

1990                Winner of ERASMUS/ECTS European Community Grant, University of Bristol, UK.

1989                Winner of ERASMUS European Community Grant, Universite’ Catolique de Louven, Belgium.

Additional Information

Web Site: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/bhi/people/massimo-caputo/overview.html

Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7508-0891

Scopus h index: 46

https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?hl=en&user=27dISL0AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

Google Scholar h index : 55

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=27dISL0AAAAJ

 

 

Adult Cardiac Surgery

Congenital Surgery

SCTS Committees

This consultant is or was a member of the following committees, click on any committee to see more information:

CommitteeOfficeTerm of Office
Academic & ResearchCongenital Cardiac Surgery Representative2021 - 2024
Academic & ResearchCongenital Cardiac Surgery Lead2017 - 2021
Congenital Cardiac SurgeryUnit Representative2021 - 2024
Congenital Cardiac SurgeryMember-
InnovationMember2021 - 2024

Addresses

Hospital

Bristol Royal Hospital for Children
Professor of Congenital Heart Surgery
Upper Maudlin Street
Bristol
Somerset
BS2 8HW
United Kingdom

Secretary Email: m.caputo@bristol.ac.uk

Personal Email: m.caputo@bristol.ac.uk
Personal Landline: 01173423145
Personal Mobile: +447711870757

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