Professor Zohair Y. Al Halees, is a distinguished Senior Cardiac Surgeon at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center – Riyadh, KSA.

Dr. Al Halees held many positions within the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSHRC) and was instrumental together with late Professor Dr. Carlos Duran in establishing the department of cardiovascular diseases in 1987. He was appointed Chairman of the department in 1996 after Dr. Duran left. Under his leadership, this evolved into the King Faisal Heart Institute in 2002, which he directed till 2005 and now known as the Heart Centre.

Dr. Al Halees is a recipient of many fellowships and is a member of many associations and societies in the world. Aside from being a founding member, he was elected the President of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery (WSPCHS) from year 2020 - 2022, an International Society with the vision that every child born anywhere in the world with a congenital heart defect should have access to appropriate medical and surgical care.

President of Shizuoka Children’s Hospital,Consultant surgeon of the department of cardiovascular surgery in Shizuoka Children’s Hospital in Japan

Holding professorships at Kyoto University and Hamamatsu University, as well as part-time positions at Shimane and Yamanashi Universities, he have contributed significantly to the academic and clinical training of future surgeons. His leadership roles include serving as the former Vice-Director of the Japanese Society of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, Chief Director of the Congenital Heart Surgeons Society Japan, and President of the Councils of Designated Teaching Institutions for Thoracic Surgery.

On the international stage, Dr. Kisaburo Sakamoto recognized as the founding president of the Asian Association for Pediatric and Cardiology Heart Surgery (AAPCHS) and has been an active member of several prestigious organizations, including the American Association of Thoracic Surgery, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgeons.

Dr. Woong-Han KIM is a Professor at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine. He is also the Director of the JW Lee Center for Global Medicine at Seoul National University and was the Chairman of The Korean Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery from January 2020 to December 2021.

Dr. KIM holds various esteemed positions, including Planning Director at the National Academy of Medicine of Korea. He is a member of numerous prestigious societies such as The Society of Thoracic Surgery, The European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, and The Association of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons of Asia.

His affiliations extend to several Korean medical societies, including The Korean Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, The Korean Society of Critical Care Medicine, The Korean Pediatric Heart Association, and The Korean Society of Circulation. Dr. KIM has a significant impact on the field of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, both in Korea and internationally.

Dr. Sivakumar Sivalingam is a highly esteemed Senior Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Clinical Director of Pediatric Surgery in the Department of Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery. He also serves as a Professor Adjunct at the Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya Medical Centre.

Dr. Sivalingam’s expertise extends to complex pediatric cardiac surgery, pediatric heart valve repair, and adult congenital heart surgery, with a notable specialization in performing heart surgery on low-birth-weight babies. His professional journey is marked by significant contributions to various medical associations, including serving as the Deputy Chairman and member of the IJN Research Committee.

In addition to his clinical and academic roles, Dr. Sivalingam is an active member of the National Heart Association of Malaysia (NHAM).His dedication to the field of cardiothoracic surgery, particularly in pediatric care, underscores his reputation as a leading figure in both national and international medical communities.

Assoc. Prof. Prem Venugopal is the Director of Congenital Cardiac Surgery at the Queensland Children's Hospital, Brisbane. After his basic cardiothoracic training at CMC Vellore, he pursued congenital cardiac surgical training at the Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, London. He was appointed as Consultant Congenital Cardiac Surgeon at the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. He moved to Australia in 2015, where he is currently employed.

His subspecialty interests include complex neonatal surgery, hybrid procedures, minimally invasive congenital cardiac surgery, and innovative approaches to ECMO. He heads the Queensland Heart Valve Bank. He has over 50 peer-reviewed publications.

He is passionate about equity of healthcare provision across the globe, especially in economically challenged communities. He has been involved in supporting and developing sustainable pediatric cardiac surgery programs in various centers in India and elsewhere.

Dr. Alkhaldi is a distinguished Senior Cardiac Surgeon and Director of the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Department at Prince Sultan Cardiac Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He established and currently the Director of a unique program for “Advanced pulmonary artery reconstruction”, which helped hundreds of patients with serious pulmonary artery disorders such as PA/VSD/MAPCA, disconnected branch PA with severe hypoplasia, and peripheral pulmonary artery stenosis in bi- and uni-ventricular hearts.

Dr. Alkhaldi described a novel clinically oriented classification of pulmonary artery stenosis, which is the most widely quoted and used in the literatures nowadays. His pulmonary artery reconstruction program was also expanded to include patients with Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension.

Dr. Alkhaldi had a long career in academia and training, which extended from cardiac surgery residency program director to the General Director of Postgraduate Medical Education at the largest medical training institution in Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Prashob Porayette is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. He is the Medical Director of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease program at the University of Iowa, one of the 53 Adult Congenital Heart Association-accredited centers in the United States.

After completing his MBBS training at BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad, he pursued his Pediatric cardiology training at Boston Children’s Hospital and SickKids Hospital, Toronto. He is passionate about non-invasive cardiac imaging in children and adults with congenital heart disease.

Dr Jaspal Dua MBBS, MRCPCH, DCH, MRCPE, MD, CCT, FRCPE trained in Paediatric Cardiology and Adult Congenital Heart Disease in India and the UK.

Currently, he is the Lead Clinician for Transition Care and Consultant Cardiologist in Congenital Heart Disease in Liverpool & Manchester in UK. He Chairs the ACHD Working Group of European Association of Paeditric and Congenital Cardiology. He is the Associate Editor for: Cardiology in The Young; Frontiers in Pediatrics: Pediatric Cardiology; Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery.