Andrew Owens is a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at the Trust and is an Honorary Reader in cardiac surgery at Newcastle University.
His clinical interests include surgery of the aorta, aortic valve and minimal access cardiothoracic surgery, including transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI); he is also a TAVI proctor. He studied medicine at Queen’s University, Belfast and obtained cardiothoracic training in Newcastle upon Tyne, Middlesbrough and Papworth Hospital, Cambridge where he focussed on cardiothoracic transplantation.
He undertook a period of research funded by a Royal College of Surgeons of England Fellowship in the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney, Australia, where he still holds an honorary faculty position, and subsequently obtained his higher degree from Newcastle University.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of England and in Ireland, has held research fellowships from the National Heart Foundation of Australia and Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, was winner of the McCormack Medal in cardiothoracic surgery and awarded a Hunterian Professorship by the Royal College of Surgeons of England. His research interests are focussed on cardiac regeneration, fibrosis and the signalling mechanisms underlying thoracic aortic aneurysms. Recent research funding includes project grants from the British Heart Foundation and Heart Research UK and he has active collaborations with scientists in Durham University and Harvard Medical School.
Special interests
- Aortic surgery
- Minimal access thoracic surgery
- Thoracic trauma
- Research