Born from Belgian parents in Canada and educated in Belgium, I had my surgical training in Belgium, South Africa, Canada and the UK. I had a staff position in Cliniques St-Luc, Belgium in 1996 and in 2003, I began working at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. In 2020, I took my current position as Chief of Cardiac Surgery in the Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC.
Over a large academic career, I developed key findings in the field of Single Ventricle outcomes, Tetralogy of Fallot, Pulmonary atresia, VSD and MAPCAS, Aortic valve repair, aortic arch repair and VADs. My most important contribution has been the creation of the Australia and New Zealand Fontan Registry, which lifted the veil on long-term expectations after the Fontan surgery and opened avenues to improve these outcomes. I currently work on the optimization of the Fontan circuit and try to find solutions for the growing issue of AV valve failure in patients born with single ventricles.
In 2016, I was appointed Professor of the Department of Pediatrics at The University of Melbourne, Australia, and in 2021, Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics of the Georges Washington University (tenured).