Bob Bonser Aortic Surgery Prize for Researcher
Aortic Dissection Awareness UK & Ireland congratulates our friend & colleague Dr. Riccardo Abbasciano on being awarded the Bob Bonser Aortic Surgery Prize for his presentation about our DECIDE-TAD research programme at the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery (SCTS) Annual Meeting 2025 in Edinburgh. We are very proud!
Dr. Abbasciano is a trainee academic cardiac surgeon, currently based at the Hammersmith Hospital, London. For the academic 50% of his role, he is principal researcher in the national patient charity's strategic national research partnership with the University of Leicester - the DECIDE-TAD programme. This programme, funded by a 5-year NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research (PGfAR), is investigating the potential for cascade family screening in non-syndromic Thoracic Aortic Disease as a means of preventing life-threatening Aortic Dissection.
Dr. Abbasciano with the Chair and members of the national patient charity
Welcoming news of the SCTS award, Mrs Lisa Skinner, one of the patient charity members of the DECIDE-TAD programme team who works with Riccardo, said:
"I am delighted to see Riccardo receive this recognition of his continued dedication and ardent enthusiasm for helping those affected by Thoracic Aortic Disease to access cascade screening and genetic testing. His impassioned commitment to engage with and include all members of our community has led to him becoming a much-loved member of our charity family, in particular by our Patient & Public Involvement in Research team and our research volunteers."
Mr. Geoff Tsang, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Southampton General Hospital and the national patient charity's Medical Advisor (Cardiac Surgery) said:
"Congratulations to Riccardo and the team. This work will have a big clinical impact and save many lives in the future."
Bob Bonser, after whom the prize is named, was a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. He took up his post in 1990 and within two years of his appointment had developed the Birmingham heart and lung transplant unit. As director of the unit he established one of the most prolific clinical research programmes in the UK. In parallel with this, he established an internationally renowned aortic surgical programme, also underpinned by intensive research activity. Bob’s reputation in the international aortic surgical fraternity was a reflection of his extraordinary hard work and his highly regarded ability. Bob died on 29 October 2012, aged just 59, after a period of illness which sadly shortened his prodigious career in cardiac and cardiothoracic transplant surgery.
Previous winners of the prestigious Bob Bonser Aortic Surgery Prize include Miss Ana Lopez-Marco, now Consultant Cardiac and Aortic Surgeon at Barts Heart Centre; and Mr Ettorino Di Tommaso, now a Cardiac Surgeon at the Bristol Heart Institute.
All of the patients and relatives at Aortic Dissection Awareness UK & Ireland send heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Abbasciano and best wishes for his future career as an academic cardiac surgeon.
