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Prof Sir Magdi Yacoub honoured with BHF red plaque
Globally-renowned surgeon Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub has been honoured with a BHF Lifetime Achievement Award plaque at Harefield Hospital. The plaque celebrates his extraordinary contribution to pioneering cardiovascular science and innovation, most famously in heart transplantation and congenital heart disease surgery.
Sir Magdi’s career has spanned a remarkable seven decades, including more than 20 years serving as BHF Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Imperial College London.
As a Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Harefield and Royal Brompton Hospitals for over 30 years, Sir Magdi established the world’s largest heart and lung transplantation programme, overseeing more than 2,500 transplant operations.
Our Clinical Director Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan and Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub
Sir Magdi, now aged 90, is still working at Harefield after nearly 60 years, leading the research programme at the Magdi Yacoub Institute, where his main interest is developing new biological heart valves that can grow in the body. This is particularly important for children with congenital heart defects, who may need several operations to replace valves before they reach adulthood, as current valves do not grow with their bodies.
Like the famous blue plaques which mark buildings where notable people once lived or worked, our heart-themed red plaque was unveiled at Harefield Hospital, where Sir Magdi founded the heart transplantation centre.
During his career Sir Magdi helped to make heart transplantation a safe and successful procedure. What was then considered groundbreaking surgery is today more routine, with around 200 heart or heart–lung transplants carried out in the UK each year.
Pioneering breakthroughs
Sir Magdi developed innovative procedures to treat complex congenital heart conditions, including pioneering the lifesaving arterial switch operation for babies born with a condition called transposition of the great arteries, in which two of the major blood vessels carrying blood away from the heart are the wrong way round.
Alongside this, he led on research to improve treatments for heart disease, including growing new heart valves, helping damaged heart muscle repair itself, developing new heart support devices and using wireless sensors to monitor the heart.
Sir Magdi’s global impact has been recognised with numerous honours, including a knighthood for services to medicine and surgery in 1992 and the Order of Merit in 2014. He was awarded Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1998 and Fellowship of The Royal Society in 1999. In addition, he was elected as a member of the Académie des Sciences in 2005, in 2006 he was awarded the European Society of Cardiology’s Gold Medal, and he received the Order of the Nile, one of Egypt’s highest honours, in 2011.
Family, friends and colleagues of Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub
Among his many breakthroughs, Sir Magdi operated on Europe’s longest surviving heart transplant patient and performed the UK’s first ‘piggyback transplant’, where a donor heart is attached to the patient’s own failing heart, allowing it the chance to recover.
His former patients have described gaining not just new hearts, but new futures - living lives they once thought would be impossible. And his influence extends far beyond the operating theatre, as he has trained generations of doctors and scientists in the UK and all over the world.
Emotional moment
During last year’s BHF Heart Hero Awards, 90-year-old Sir Magdi was honoured with our first Lifetime Achievement Award by our Chief Scientific and Medical Officer, Professor Bryan Williams - an emotional and historic moment. The award was extra special as Sir Magdi was surprised with a number of former patients who were in the audience and led a standing ovation.
Since retiring, Sir Magdi has dedicated his time to improving global health equity, opening the Aswan Heart Centre in southern Egypt – his homeland – in 2009. His work continues into 2026, when he plans to open a new global heart centre in Cairo and a dedicated heart centre in Rwanda.
Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub, Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, and Dr Richard Grocott-Mason, Chief Executive of Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals
Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub said: “I have always been driven by one thought - how can I help someone with no other hope? There is nothing more extraordinary than seeing someone on the brink of death come back to life.
“When transplantation began, we faced enormous scepticism. Now, nothing brings me more joy than seeing a patient I helped return decades later with their children and grandchildren.
“Being a BHF Professor for two decades has meant a great deal to me. I’ve always admired the research the BHF funds, and I’m proud to have served the charity for so long. Supporting research is truly an investment in humanity.”
Extraordinary career
Our clinical director, Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, said: “Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub has devoted his life to the human heart, so it is my greatest honour to unveil this plaque in recognition of his extraordinary career. His pioneering cardiovascular science has truly transformed heart surgery for the modern age.
“When Sir Magdi entered the field, heart surgery was seen as dangerously experimental, yet he persisted. He was able to improve valve and congenital heart surgery and, with the support of BHF funding, help turn transplantation into an established and life-changing treatment.
"Beyond his incredible contributions to cardiovascular science, surgery and medicine, Sir Magdi’s impact continues to be felt around the world also through his humanitarian work.
“This tribute honours not only a one-of-a-kind surgeon, but a paragon of compassionate medicine who has inspired so many to pursue careers in science and medicine – including me. His legacy is proof that the greatest scientific achievements are measured in lives saved and hope restored.”