Evidence Synthesis in Healthcare

Prof. Lord Ara Darzi: Head of Division of Surgery, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London. He holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery at Imperial College London and the Institute of Cancer Research. He is also an honorary consultant surgeon at St Mary's Hospital, and the Royal Marsden Hospitals. Between 2007-2009 he held the post of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lords) at the Department of Health. Professor Darzi and his team are internationally respected for their innovative work in the advancement of minimal invasive surgery and in the development and use of allied technologies including surgical robots and image-guided surgery. This work has received international recognition including the Hamdan Award for Medical Research Excellence in 2004. Professor Darzi was knighted by the Queen as a Knight Commander of the most excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) in December 2002. Mr. Thanos Athanasiou: Reader in Surgery at Imperial College London and Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Hammersmith and St Mary's Hospitals.

Mr Thanos Athanasiou specializes in Complex Aortic Surgery, Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG), Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery and Robotic Assisted Cardiothoracic Surgery. His institutional responsibility is to lead academic cardiac surgery. He is currently supervising eight MD/ PhD students and has published more than 220 peer reviewed research journal articles. He is a senior author of a textbook in surgical research and methodology, titled 'Key Topics in Surgical Research and Methodology'. He has given several invited lectures in national and international forums in the field of technology in cardiac surgery, healthcare delivery and quality of care. His specialty research interest includes bio-inspired robotic systems and their application in cardiothoracic surgery, outcomes research in cardiac surgery, surgical education and regenerative cardiovascular strategies.