Professor David Wheatley
Professor David Wheatley, Emeritus British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiac Surgery has extensive clinical experience of surgery for valvular heart disease in different countries. His research interests in valve replacement devices date back to experience with homograft valves in South Africa, the National Heart Hospital in London under the pioneer of homograft valve use, Donald Ross, and in Glasgow in the early 1970s.
During his tenure of the Chair of Cardiac Surgery in Glasgow he contributed to design improvements in xenograft valves and developed and evaluated in laboratory and experimental implantation studies a three-leaflet polyurethane valve prosthesis.
Since retirement from the University and NHS commitments he has concentrated efforts on improving the durability and flow characteristics of synthetic leaflet heart valve prostheses. The aim is to achieve a design that will meet the needs of the large proportion of potential heart valve prosthesis recipients living in developing countries. For these patients, when the prospects of satisfactory valve repair are remote, there is currently no satisfactory prosthesis available. As these patients are characteristically young, they experience rapid degeneration of current bioprosthetic valves requiring early repeat surgery with its increased hazard, and they are unsuitable for mechanical prostheses because of the impracticality of anticoagulant of antiplatelet therapy.
Brief Curriculum Vitae
Date and Place of birth: 2 August 1941, Glascote, Tamworth. United Kingdom.
Emigrated to South Africa in 1948.
Education: South African College School (1952-58), Cape Town, South Africa
MB ChB (Cape Town) 1964; ChM (Cape Town) 1976; MD (Cape Town) 1979.
FRCS (Edinburgh) 1969; FRCS (Glasgow) 1980; FRCS (England) 1998, FRCP (Edinburgh) 1995
Internship at Groote Schuur Hospital and Red Cross Children’s Hospital, Cape Town 1965
General Surgical residency at Bridgeport Hospital, Connecticut, USA 1966-67
General Surgical training at St George’s Hospital, London, 1968-69
Registrar in Cardiac Surgery, Wentworth Hospital, Durban, South Africa 1970-71
Senior Registrar in Cardiac Surgery, National Heart Hospital, London, 1972-73
Senior Registrar in Cardio-thoracic Surgery, Mearnskirk Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland 1974-75
Post-training Clinical and Research Roles
Senior Lecturer in Cardiac Surgery, University of Edinburgh, and Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and Consultant Paediatric Cardiac Surgeon, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh (1976-1979)
British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiac Surgery, University of Glasgow, and Honorary Consultant Cardiac Surgeon to Greater Glasgow Health Board, from 1 June 1979 to 30 September 2006
Royal Colleges, Specialty Associations, Selected Advisory Bodies
President, Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Gt Britain and Ireland (1996-1998)
President, European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery (1998-1999)
Council Member, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (1986-1990, 1992-2002)
Examinations Committee and Chairman of Specialty Fellowship Board in Cardiothoracic Surgery, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (1995-2001)
Chairman, Specialist Advisory Committee in Cardiothoracic Surgery, Joint Committee on Higher Surgical Training and Chairman, Intercollegiate Board in Cardiothoracic Surgery
Registry of Experts, Medical Devices Agency (now MHRA), Cardiac Surgical Devices
Program Management Committee, Health Technology Devices Program, Department of Health
Clinical Practice
As Senior Lecturer in Edinburgh, and as Professor of Cardiac Surgery in Glasgow, my clinical work has included provision of a paediatric cardiac and adult coronary artery and valve surgery as well as planning and securing approval and funding for the Scottish Cardiac Transplant Unit, undertaking the first heart transplant on 1 January 1990.
Local, National and International Educational Roles
Besides the expected teaching and training of junior surgeons in Glasgow, I travelled to Cairo at least once a year for most of my tenure of the Glasgow Chair to assist in training young cardiac surgeons. I had a major role in the introduction of an examination in Cardio-thoracic surgery, initially for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and subsequently, as Chairman of the Intercollegiate Specialty Board in Cardio-thoracic Surgery, for all the UK and Ireland Colleges. I had a major role in the introduction of a Specialty Examination for the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery and held the position of Continuing Medical Education Editor on the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Cardio-thoracic Surgery until 2016.
I was the UK representative, as one of ten founder Council members in 1986 of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery, serving continuously on Council and in other roles, then President in 1998-99 (hosting the annual meeting in Glasgow in 1999). The Association has grown to over 4,000 members from around the world. Its aims are primarily educational and setting of standards for clinical surgery through its annual meeting, specialty courses, continuing medical education, journals and examinations.
Major Research Interests
Evaluation of pathophysiology of transplanted heart valves.
Pathophysiology of cardiopulmonary bypass and surgical influences on coronary surgery.
Outcome of surgery for valvular heart disease and coronary artery disease.
Design and Evaluation of prosthetic heart valves.
Recognition of aspects of this research include awards by the University of Cape Town of Master of Surgery and Doctor of Medicine. Other achievements include my Department’s work in prosthetic heart valves being recognized by the award of First Prize in the Design Section, and joint Second Prize for Technology Transfer in the British Technology Group’s Academic Enterprise Competition, 1988, for an improved pericardial heart valve. In 1996, my department was awarded a 3-year £335,000 MedLink Grant in which Glasgow (as lead partner) collaborated with Leeds University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Liverpool University’s Department of Clinical Engineering, together with an Industrial partner (Aortech Europe Limited). The Project entitled “An integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to the development of a new type of heart valve substitute for permanent clinical implantation” resulted in successful development and evaluation of a novel polymeric prosthetic heart valve which went on to commercial exploitation by Aortech Europe Limited.
Activities since retiring from operative cardiac surgery in 2006
I kept my Continuing Medical Educational role for the European Association until 2016 and also reviewed submitted papers for Specialty Journals. I held a special Professorship at the University of the Free State in South Africa for 5 years after retirement and visited Professor Francis Smit’s department in Bloemfontein regularly, participating in his research projects and examining theses of his trainees. I also have had an honorary research role at Strathclyde University assisting Professor Gourlay of the Bioengineering Department in experimental work on prosthetic heart valves.
Early in 2010, reflecting on my previous research efforts, and that of others, in the field of synthetic flexible-leaflet heart valve prostheses, I began work on a novel synthetic valve, convinced that design issues of current experimental valves (including my own) had contributed to their reputation for poor durability. The valve is intended to fill an important need in young patients, typically from developing countries, where mechanical valves are impractical because of their need for continuous medication, and where biological valves are unsuitable because rapid calcific degeneration requiring repeat, and more hazardous, valve replacement within a few years. The clinical need for such a valve became obvious to me as a result of my work in South Africa and in Egypt. I spent some two years in South Africa attempting to make these novel valves to acceptable standards. Fundamental problems with the conventional, widely used dip-molding process became apparent. I have since been engaged over the past 2 years (2016 and 2017) in finding a manufacturing solution which has now become practical.
I have a company (Wheatley Research Ltd) registered in England, whose purpose is to develop and evaluate the novel heart valve, commissioning engineering manufacture and maintaining intellectual property through patents in Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, India and the Russian Republic. In 2018 I was appointed Honorary Professor in the School of Science and Engineering at the University of Dundee. This appointment is intended to allow development of cardiovascular bioengineering in Dundee. It also allows a more detailed scientific evaluation of my novel heart valve with a view to ultimate commercialisation in collaboration with one of the major international medical device manufacturers.
Publications
Theses submitted to University of Cape Town:
Wheatley DJ: Fibroblast viability in the allograft heart valve leaflet. Ch.M. Thesis. 1976
Wheatley DJ: Surgery for coronary artery disease. MD Thesis. 1979
Books, Chapters and Scientific Papers
Books
Wheatley DJ (Editor). Surgery of Coronary Artery Disease, 2nd Edition. Arnold, London, 2003. (Awarded First prize, Surgery Section, British Medical Association Annual Medical Book Competition, 2004).
Wheatley DJ (Editor). Surgery of Coronary Artery Disease. Chapman and Hall, London, 1986.
Wheatley DJ. Techniques in Coronary Artery Surgery. Chapman and Hall, London, 1985.
Book Chapters
40 book chapters mainly on coronary and valve surgery.
Scientific Papers
180 peer reviewed articles in professional and scientific journals mainly covering my major research interests.