Bio

Philipp Bonhoeffer grew up in Germany, trained in medicine in Italy in Milan and specialised in Cardiology in Pavia.  He learned pediatric cardiac catheterization under the guidance of Dr. Mario Carminati. In 1996 he became the Director of the catheterisation laboratory at the Necker Hospital in Paris, France. In 2001 he moved to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London where he later became the Head of Cardiology and Professor of Cardiology at the Institute of Child Health at University College of London.

​

Early in his career he showed interest in the strategic organisation of cardiology in developing countries, specifically in East Africa, where his interest in cardiovascular research led to the design of a cost effective catheter for the treatment of mitral stenosis (Multi-Track System).

​

In 1999 he began a research program with the aim of replacing the pulmonary valve (Melody) without  open heart surgery. He performed the world’s first human trans-catheter heart valve implantation in France in September 2000. In 2004 he founded with Carlos Ruiz the Transcatheter Valve Symposium which joined EuroPCR in 2007. In 2003 he was the winner of the ETHICA award at EuroPCR shared with Prof. Alain Cribier. He was awarded the Grand Scientific Prize of Lefoulon-Delalande de L’Institut de France which was shared with Prof. Francis Fontan in 2006. In association with Medtronic he developed a valve for patients with pulmonary regurgitation in the absence of a surgically placed conduit. In 2009 he performed a ‘first in man’ procedure with this new device in the UK with a regulatory approval on compassionate grounds.

​

Throughout his career Philipp Bonhoeffer has followed his interests outside medicine. Since childhood he is an active musician playing the violin and the viola. He has keen interest in violinmaking. Since 2010 Philipp Bonhoeffer has expanded his interest into the world of violins and has started building violins under the guidance and in associating with the violinmaker Stefan Peter Greiner.