Hello from Milan! We are with Dr. Francesco Maisano, a world-renowned expert in cardiac surgery and minimally invasive transcatheter heart valve treatment. We are going to discuss today's innovations in cardiac surgery that are changing the lives of patients with severe mitral valve and tricuspid valve disease. We will talk about percutaneous transcatheter mitral valve and tricuspid valve repair and replacement. We will discuss which procedure fits best with which patients. How to select patients with heart disease for the best treatment method for them? How to ensure the best prognosis in heart disease therapy? Professor Maisano, I hope, will also share with us his amazing professional life story. His quest to ease the complications of a heart attack in his father, a skilled general surgeon, led Dr. Francesco Maisano on an amazing path of innovation in cardiac surgery. Let me first give you some highlights of the professional career of Professor Francesco Maisano. Dr. Francesco Maisano is Chief of Cardiac Surgery and Director of the Heart Valve Center at San Raffaele Research Hospital in Milan. He was previously Head of Cardiovascular Surgery at the Zurich University Hospital. Dr. Francesco Maisano was a full professor of cardiac surgery at the University of Zurich. Dr. Francesco Maisano obtained his MD from the University of Rome in Italy. He did a Postgraduate Fellowship at the University of Alabama Birmingham, in the United States. Clinical and research interests of Dr. Francesco Maisano include diagnosis and minimally invasive surgical and percutaneous treatment of mitral valve and tricuspid valve problems. Dr. Francesco Maisano pioneered several new methods of minimally invasive valvular heart disease therapy. He holds dozens of patents in transcatheter heart valve therapy.

Dr. Francesco Maisano has leadership and membership roles in many heart disease treatment-related professional societies. This includes Board membership in the Swiss society of Cardiac Surgery (SGHC), the American Association of Thoracic Surgery (AATS), European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgery (EACTS).

Dr. Francesco Maisano is also a member of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI), the International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (ISMICS), and many other professional societies.

Dr. Francesco Maisano received a European Society of Cardiology Silver Medal for Innovation in 2018 and a Lifetime Achievement in Research and Teaching in the Field of Interventional Cardiology, Israel Cardiology Innovation, 2018. Dr. Francesco Maisano has authored and co-authored over 600 peer-reviewed publications in international medical journals. He presented numerous talks at international conferences on cardiovascular surgery research and treatment. Dr. Francesco Maisano, hello and welcome!

Thank you very much for this introduction with a lot of things, but you know, at the end of the day, all this is a collection of medals on the field, but the real majors are the ones that we still have to conquer now, not to think so. I think it absolutely is true, but it shows you're very illustrious career.