William Gerald Austen, always known as Jerry, was a giant of American cardiothoracic surgery, a past president of the American College of Surgeons, the author of over 500 peer assessed academic publications and a much-loved friend to all who knew him. He was born in Akron, Ohio, to Bertha Marie

Amarendra Sengupta was born in Calcutta, India, on 10 January 1933 and qualified MB, BS at the University of Calcutta in 1956. After holding junior appointments at the Christian Medical College in Vellore he came to England in 1958 to obtain further general surgical training in Swindon and Northampt

Manuel Macedo was Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery in Lisbon and an internationally respected thoracic surgeon. He was born in the Azores in 1922. He studied medicine at the medical school of Lisbon University, and graduated in 1946, after which he spent a year as honorary assistant to Löffler at