A case report John Pepper, Martin Goddard, Raad Mohiaddin and Tom Treasure called Histology of a Marfan aorta 4.5 years after personalized external aortic root support has just been published by The European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. This paper presents histological evidence showing that following implantation the ExoVasc® support becomes fully incorporated into the wall of the aorta, and that the inner layers of the supported aorta heal to form a structure similar to that found in healthy patients.
Year: 2014
Tal Golesworthy speaks at University of Minnesota’s Patient Innovation Forum
Today, Tal Golesworthy spoke at the Patient Innovation Forum, jointly hosted by the Carlson School Medical Industry Leadership Institute and Supply Chain and Operations department of the University of Minnesota. The Forum brought together patient innovators, social network pioneers, and strategic decision makers from the healthcare industry to discuss the implications of patient innovation on the industry. It offered perspectives from user innovators and healthcare thought leaders, hosts discussions around the implications of user innovation for the healthcare industry, and provides opportunities for networking. Find out more about the Forum.
Tal Golesworthy announced as one of the 50 most innovative people in healthcare
Tal Golesworthy was named one of the 50 most innovative people in healthcare by Health Service Journal.
HSJ invited readers to name those they thought the judges should consider then a panel of expert judges were asked review the long list and add suggestions of their own. The judges worked around some broad criteria: significance, or how big the problem solved has been; impact, or what difference the innovation has made and to what extent it has worked to change things; and support, or how the innovation has fostered and led to other innovation and how it has given inspiration to others.
Alastair McLellan, Editor of HSJ said “Our list is diverse, encompassing everything from top-flight clinicians at the leading edge of their research fields through to frontline staff, patients, managers and simply free-thinking spirits, from within and outside the NHS, who have brought their imagination and creativity to bear. It shows how, for all the NHS can be at times big, unwieldy and bureaucratic, it should be applauded for still allowing space for innovation and ‘blue sky’ thinking.” Read more about the list on the HSJ website.
HSJ is the only title to cover all aspects of publicly funded healthcare, providing news, analysis, best practice information and advice from the most powerful people in health, for the most powerful people in health.
The HSJ audience is formed of healthcare leaders from both clinical and non-clinical backgrounds and both public and private sectors.
Tal Golesworthy speaks at European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery Annual Meeting
Tal Golesworthy presented a paper at the 28th Annual EACTS Meeting, which took place in Milan between 11 and 15 October 2014. The subject of Tal’s paper was Success from the patient point of view.
He was also interviewed by Joel Dunning with Professor Tom Treasure about PEARS. You can watch the interview below.
The PEARS project on BBC Radio 4
Tal Golesworthy and Professor Tom Treasure appeared in a documentary broadcast on BBC Radio 4 called Patients doing it for themselves. The programme was presented by Vivienne Parry and produced by Julian Siddle.
You can listen to edited extracts from the documentary featuring Tal’s and Tom’s contributions. You can also listen to the entire programme.
Listen to extracts:
https://soundcloud.com/exstentltd/patients-doing-it-for-themselves-excerpts
https://soundcloud.com/exstentltd/patients-doing-it-for-themselves
Tal Golesworthy and Professor John Pepper’s presentation at 8th Medical Innovations Summit 2014 now available online
In April, Tal Golesworthy and Professor John Pepper spoke at the Royal Society of Medicine’s 8th Medical Innovations Summit 2014 in London. The pair’s presentation was filmed and is now available to watch on this page of the Royal Society of Medicine’s website. (The page shows both the video of Tal Golesworthy and Professor Pepper speaking and the slides that accompanied the presentation as it happened. You are advised not to watch the video in full screen because this prevents you from seeing the slides, which are integral to the presentation.) • Watch Tal Golesworthy and Professor John Pepper’s presentation on the Royal Society of Medicine website.
New article published in Heart’s Online First
An article by Tom Treasure, J J M Takkenberg and John Pepper called Surgical management of aortic root disease in Marfan syndrome and other congenital disorders associated with aortic root aneurysms has just been published in Online First on the Heart website. Online First articles have been peer reviewed, accepted for publication, and are published online before being assigned to an issue of the cardiology journal Heart.
Tal Golesworthy and the PEARS project is featured in Die Zeit
Tal Golesworthy and the PEARS project have been featured in Die Zeit, the German weekly publication in an article called Der Mann, der sich selbst reparierte.
Tal Golesworthy celebrates the tenth anniversary of receiving his ExoVasc® Personalised External Aortic Root Support
On Saturday 24 May 2014, Tal Golesworthy celebrated the tenth anniversary of receiving his ExoVasc® Personalised External Aortic Root Support with a party at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, the hospital where his ExoVasc® was implanted.
The party was attended by many ExoVasc® patients as well as some of the medical professionals involved in the PEARS project and members of the support team. It concluded with a toast to health by Peter Gibson, CEO of Exstent Ltd.

Tal Golesworthy’s TEDx talk features in Netflix’s Best of TEDx list
Tal Golesworthy’s TEDx talk features in Netflix‘s Best of TEDx list. The list of 13 talks is described as featuring “local voices that reverberate globally” and celebrating “the best of TEDx and its mantra of ‘ideas worth spreading’.”