Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub FRS, OM, one of the world’s most respected cardiac surgeons, attended talks on the Egyptian Genome Project at Expo 2020 Dubai on Monday (31 January).
Born in Egypt and trained in London, Sir Magdi is Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London.
He is also the Founder and Director of Research at the Harefield Heart Science Centre (Magdi Yacoub Institute), overseeing more than 60 scientists and students in the areas of tissue engineering, myocardial regeneration, stem cell biology, end stage heart failure and transplant immunology. Sir Magdi outlined some of the most important health issues facing the world today.
Research led by Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub include tissue engineering heart valves, myocardial regeneration, novel left ventricular assist devices and wireless sensors with collaborations within Imperial College, nationally and internationally. He has also supervised over 20 higher degree (PhD/MD) students and authored or co-authored more than 1,400 published papers and numerous book chapters on topics including Transplantation, Paediatric Cardiac Surgery, Aortic valve surgery.
Expo 2020 is bringing together the brightest minds, visionaries and innovators of our planet to work towards a better future, and with Expo 2020 Dubai’s Health and Wellness Week currently taking place, what do you believe are our current greatest challenges in health? - “Being a heart surgeon, I believe, and I have very solid evidence, that heart disease, and specifically heart failure, is a major problem.
“In a short period of time, one-third of the world’s population will have heart failure, which will interfere with their quality of life and longevity. There will be people dying.
“And it has massive economic repercussions because if you’re not healthy, you can’t be productive; you don’t have quality of life; and then you die. I care about people, but the country also suffers.
“Heart failure is a huge pandemic in the world. It is ongoing and almost silent.
“People are dying; people are suffering; economies are going down – because of heart failure. Genomics provides answers to the future – in predicting, protecting, preventing, diagnosing and treating heart failure and what type of heart failure you have.”
The Egyptian Genome Project covered a lot of subjects, from ethical issues to the latest drugs that correct genome mutation – what do you think has been the greatest breakthrough with the project so far and what is the next stage? - “This is the first time we are coming together as a group – that is a great breakthrough.
“Now, it is a coordinated method of addressing the topic of the genome. Up until now, many communities outside the West did not study genomics in their own community.
“You can find a gene that is causing disease, which you think is normal but what constitutes ‘normal’ in the US might not constitute ‘normal’ in our [regional] environment. We have to work to benefit our local populations and also contribute to world science.
Expo is also all about inspiration. Having made incredible contributions to cardiac surgery, could you tell us what inspires you? - “Firstly, I am a humanist. Studying things for the sake of studying is very interesting but I want to apply it to the community. Secondly, I love innovation. I want to discover new things that will generate happiness. I want to make an impact on society. I want to do more.”
What’s your best advice for a healthy heart? - “Be happy and start to exercise. Even at my age, I jump out of bed and start walking, which is good. Exercise is fantastic. And diet, of course, is incredibly important for a healthy diet – olive oil is fantastic but animal fat is a disaster. Lifestyle modification is very, very important – and this should be linked to genomics because the interactions between genes and environment shape our health.”
How important do you think social wellness is for general health and wellbeing? - “Happy social integration is massively important. Broken heart syndrome [also called stress cardiomyopathy or takotsubo cardiomyopathy] is a real condition.
“It can happen when someone loses someone very dear to them, which can cause a rapid weakening of the heart muscle. In Japan, it is called ‘takotsubo’, which is the name of an octopus trapping pot with a wide bottom and narrow neck, which looks like the shape of the distressed left ventricle of the heart seen in broken heart syndrome.
“My advice is that you can grieve but don’t wait too long. Always look to future happiness, look to your children, your grandchildren and to the world – there are so many things to celebrate on this planet.”
Sir Dr Magdi Yacoub FRS, OM was speaking at the Egyptian Reference Genome Project event held at DP World Pavilion, Expo 2020 Dubai. The event probed advances in knowledge of the genetic causes of diseases – a first step in the journey to realising personalized medicine, and key to uncovering therapeutic opportunities for diseases previously thought to be unapproachable.
By: Delroy Constantine-Simms and Sonia Dixon
