Royal Papworth Hospital
Adult Cardiac
Member Since: 2005
Biography:
Francis Wells is a Cardiothoracic surgeon based in Papworth Hospital, part of the University of Cambridge group of specialist hospitals. Trained in London, Cambridge and the University of Alabama in Birmingham Alabama where he was senior research fellow to Professor John Kirklin, a founding father of modern cardiac surgical practice. His specialist area of interest has been heart valve reconstruction, cardiopulmonary transplantation and the surgical management of intra-thoracic malignancy.
He began his mitral repair programme in 1985 and has completed several thousand repairs with a 98% repair rate. He ran several mitral repair master class programmes from 1992 - 2006, hosting such luminaries as Professor Alain Carpentier, Dr. Tyrone David, Dr. Randolph Chitwood, Professor Alfieri and Manuel Antunes where he was the surgeon and the visiting Professor, the master. This instructional format was novel at the time with the visiting professor acting as the master in the audience with Dr. Wells carrying out the surgery.
He also performed the first live mitral surgery in the UK to a national TV audience with live feed via Twitter, the response being so great from the population at large that for a short while Twitter could not cope with the demand.
In parallel with his clinical practice Francis has had a lifelong interest in the arts and a specific interest in the Renaissance, having studied in depth the work of Leonardo da Vinci. This work led recently to the publication of his book The Heart of Leonardo.
He has sponsored several artists in residence within his clinical practice and this has led to several pieces which have appeared in major exhibitions including the Royal Academy summer show. Himself a recipient of the Sir Hugh Casson prize for drawing, Francis enjoys drawing, painting and playing the piano.
What Does the AATS Mean to You:
It is the foundation stone of all things in cardiothoracic surgery.
My First Experience with AATS:
My first experience was in 1983 when I first presented as a junior trainee my work on Profound Hypothermic arrest for Complex paeditric cardiac surgery with Christopher Lincoln. The discussant was the ferocious but brilliant Brian barrett-Boyes. Following my presentation was the now fabled Carpentier honoured guest lecture, "The French Correction". This was the foundation of my life in mitral valve reconstruction.
Why I became an AATS member:
I was invited to and of course jumped at the honour and became a member on the 12th April 2005.
The most impactful presentation I have seen at an AATS meeting:
The French Correction by Alain Carpentier
The first presentation I gave is:
The Cerebral effects of profound hypothermic arrest in neonates
The first paper I had published is:
GAMMA as a neurotransmitter in the Adult Rat Brain. Journal of Anatomy 1974
I plan on becoming more involved in the organization through:
I am on the cuspo of retirement so that won't happen now sadly
The biggest impact my mentor had on my career is:
Instilling the confidence to persist in the specialty despite being rather nervous at first and giving me excellent advice."
My career in CT Surgery was inspired by:
Watching Christian Barnard announce the very first human to human heart transplant in 1967 with my mother who had just asked me what I wanted to do with my life. I replied "to be an artist". Mother quite rightly scoffed at the idea and at that moment Chris Barnard popped up on our little black and white TV in a fuzzy image with the announcement. So I said, "alright I will be a heart surgeon then", to which mother replied, yes that will do!.
A significant case/patient interaction that impacted my career is:
Not long after beginning my career as a consultant surgeon at Papworth I was called with a potential heart donor. It was a young woman with post-partum ARDS. I flew by helicopter the 150 miles to her bedside in the ICU. I feltt sure that she was salvageable and arranged for her emergency transfer to out ICU. We instituted ECMO (this was in 1985) and I had the idea of using pronong to dissipate the pulmonary oedema, (probably the first one to do this). I had completed my Masters in Surgery with Dr John Kirklin in Alabama and my work was on CPB as a model for ARDS and had used it in the animal model. After 3 months she was weaned from the ventilator and I have a photo of her holdoing her daughter Kate for the very first time still with a tracheostomy tube in place. That little girl went on to become purely by chance a friend of my son at University.
The biggest impact my mentor had on my career is:
Instilling the confidence to persist in the specialty despite being rather nervous at first and giving me excellent advice.
The topic most important to advancing the field of CT Surgery is:
The encouragement of bright young people and a deep understanding of the anatomy, physiology and molecular biology of the intrathoracic organs
The most pressing issues impacting CT surgery are:
Adequate data in supporting managment changes and not to celebrate fame and fortune through pursuing the 'fashion' of the day
Advice for Trainees:
Work hard and get up early and ALWAYS know your basic science