Dr. Martin Andreas has been appointed university professor in the area of cardiac surgery at the Medical University of Graz starting on 1 March 2025. He will also become the head of the Division of Cardiac Surgery at University Hospital Graz. The internationally renowned cardiac surgeon has impressive scientific and clinical expertise that he will draw upon to advance minimally invasive cardiac surgery. His goal: Perform heart operations in a gentler, safer and more efficient manner and sustainably improve clinical teaching through the use of virtual and augmented reality.
Martin Andreas was born in Vienna in 1983 and graduated with a degree in medicine from the Medical University of Vienna. In addition to his specialist training in cardiac surgery and the medical specialty vascular surgery, he obtained a PhD in vascular biology with a thesis entitled "Effect of Heme Oxygenase-1 Induction on Ischemia-Reperfusion-Injury in Skeletal Muscle."
International research stays at renowned institutions including Stanford University and University Hospital Zurich expanded his specialist knowledge. In 2016 he founded the "Applied Research in Cardiac Surgery" research group, which develops innovative approaches to cardiac surgery. As a managing senior physician at the MedUni Wien Department of Cardiac Surgery, he was in charge of the heart valve surgery and hybrid OP program.
Martin Andreas focuses on the development of minimally invasive cardiac surgery techniques. He is particularly interested in:
At the Christian Doppler Lab for Microinvasive Cardiac Surgery, which he has led since 2023, he has established innovative procedures that clearly ease the burden on patients and shorten recovery times.
Martin Andreas' scientific excellence has been honored with multiple awards including the Aortic Root and Valve Repair Fellowship from the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS), the Hans and Blanca Moser Award for Cardiovascular Research and the Khünl-Brady Award from the Austrian Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Vascular Surgery.
At the Medical University of Graz, Martin Andreas would like to continue to expand cardiovascular research, establish innovative and gentler therapies in clinical practice and enrich the education and professional development of junior medical practitioners with new teaching methods. The use of virtual and augmented reality should make it possible to experience complex clinical situations and obtain a deeper understanding of surgical procedures.
"Cardiac surgery is at a turning point. With new technologies and minimally invasive procedures, we can help patients in a gentler manner and with greater efficiency. Med Uni Graz provides an innovative environment to help shape these developments," says Martin Andreas.
