Professor Giuseppe Santarpino, PhD, is the Chief Surgeon at Città di Lecce Hospital GVM Care & Research and also serves as an Associate Professor at both Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro and Paracelsus Medical University in Nuremberg. He was PI in multiple international clinical trials, with research focusing on minimally invasive surgery, stentless and sutureless valves, REDO procedures, surgical and percutaneous aortic valve replacement.

 

We are pleased to present a Q&A interview with Dr. Giuseppe Santarpino, Editor-in-Chief of The Heart Surgery Forum.

 

1. Could you share with us your research area and the most significant achievements in recent years?

In recent years I have been very interested in research in the field of cardiac valve surgery. Precisely in this field, the treatment of valvular diseases, the commercialization of sutureless and transcatheter prostheses have represented a real revolution that has occurred very rapidly over the last few years after many years of almost immobility in this field.

 

2. What do you consider to be the most significant milestone or turning point in your research career?

In my years of work in Germany, starting from the end of 2008, we started a common and spontaneous work with cardiologists for the treatment of valvular heart disease, deciding together on an approach tailored to the patient, choosing the technique and technologies most suitable for him. The real turning point is having immediately understood and been a pioneer in the field of the so-called “heart team”.

 

3. Could you highlight one or two of your most impactful research projects or publications? What made them stand out?

One of my most re-cited publications was a matched comparison of the use of sutureless versus transcatheter prostheses. The results obtained are still today a matter of debate since in the context of “real world” registries, the long-term surgical results increasingly seem to favor surgery compared to the initially published trials.

 

4. How do you maintain a continuous drive to innovate in the research process? How do you cope with failures or setbacks in your research?

The important thing is to always question what is observed and especially what is suggested by everyone, especially if not based on strong scientific publications. The example is the use of mechanical prostheses, judged by many to be no longer to be implanted for the quality of life, and instead indicated for use by the guidelines in specific age groups.

 

5. How useful is international cooperation in driving academic progress? What are your experiences with relevant collaborations?

It is essential, especially in the field of clinical and surgical research, to develop a network that involves many nations and surgeons, not only to enroll more patients more quickly but also to have rapid feedback on possible technical and clinical problems, making the research more generalizable and the outcome safer for patients.

 

6. How has interdisciplinary collaboration played a role in your research? Could you share any successful examples?

It is exactly what we were saying before about the concept of the “Heart Team” but not only that. Being also interested in translational research, communication with biologists and researchers speaking a common language, allows me to do research that goes from the department to the laboratory and vice versa.

 

7. How do you envision the future of your research field in the next 5–10 years?

I think there will still be many innovations but I do not exclude surprises. An excellent and honest work of interdisciplinary discussion, precisely a "forum" like ours, will have to have the sincerity to also take steps back from what has been discovered so far if the results are not those expected. I am very much in favor of research with so-called "negative" results that do not agree with the research hypothesis, for me they are the most impactful works.

 

8. What kinds of connections or goals would you like to achieve through the journal's global network of scholars?

The creation of a continuous “Heart Surgery Forum”. The publication of opinions to discuss together, even live or with unconventional connections for a printed magazine, which can lead to the common development of international trials that impact the treatment guidelines of the pathologies.

 

9. What trends or challenges do you foresee in the future of academia?

In the surgical and interventional field I believe that the much-hyped world of artificial intelligence can have an impact but I believe more that the aspect of the operators' manual skills is central to the success of the procedures for which increasingly, alongside excellent theoretical preparation, a system of simulators will have to be developed that allow operators to safely arrive to work on "real" patients.

 

10. What is your view on the role of academic journals in disseminating knowledge and advancing research?

They will be increasingly important if they prove to be both traditional and innovative: rigorous in the judgment of scientific and ethical methods, modern and “social” in the dissemination of the results obtained.

 

11. What opportunities and challenges does Open Access (OA) to scholarly publishing present to scholars and journals?

It is truly a great step forward for cultural diffusion and for the good of patients but it requires enormous scientific and ethical rigor as well as attention in the possible inference of sponsors

 

12. In your opinion, what are the essential characteristics of a successful academic journal?

The publication of only large, international research with immediate impact and clinical use to demonstrate the reproducibility of the experiments brought to publication in a research setting. Do not publish many articles that paradoxically can only create confusion in readers having everything and its opposite available. What should be published more and more are the working hypotheses to discuss together. This is the reason why I wanted to become Editor-in-Chief of the Forum.

 

13. What do you believe are the main challenges facing academic publishing today?

They are the same as all types of publishing today. Probably the same international research institutions that finance the most deserving research even in a competitive way, will have to think about maintaining these costs in order to guarantee the independence and survival of the journals themselves.

 

14. How has your experience as an editorial board member influenced your perspective on academic publishing?

When you start working for a magazine you understand even better how much work there is behind it and how many people have to work there to have good quality.

 

15. What qualities do you think editorial board members need?

There are 2 qualities: knowledge of a highly sectorized scientific field but you need to be extremely authoritative in that field. The second is ethical commitment.

 

16. As an editorial board member, what aspects of submitted manuscripts do you value the most (e.g., innovation, data quality, writing quality)?

Immediate clinical impact and a study design based on a deep bibliographic knowledge of the topic covered.

 

17. Could you share your perspective on the current strengths and positioning of the HSF journal? Additionally, what are your thoughts on its potential directions and opportunities for future development?

For now, but there will be further news, I have developed two specifics: the so-called "resident corner" or the possibility only for residents and non-specialists to publish case reports so as to bring young researchers closer to the journal. The second is the possibility of publishing research hypotheses to be questioned, allowing other authors to comment, improve and create a research protocol together. A sort of "brain storming" published on Heart Surgery Forum.

 

18. How do you balance your research, clinical work, and journal editorial work?

It is an investment that involves private life and one's free time. Sacrifice is needed because the activity of editor and research must never take away time from an excellent clinical work activity for patients. It should be added that in my case as a university professor there is also the work of teaching.

 

19. What are your interests and hobbies outside of your academic work? How do you approach living a balanced and fulfilling life?

I am a husband and father of 3 children, I try to spend as much time with them as possible. When there is a chance we try to take a trip all together or go to a football match at the stadium.

 

20. What practical advice would you offer to early-career researchers facing challenges at the start of their academic journey?

Choose a job and research field in which they feel fulfilled and have pleasure and fun. This is because, subsequently, once the choice is made, most of the time of their life will be spent on that theme and activity; it would be really bad if there was no fun in all that time!

 

Related Papers:
[1] Limb Remote Ischemic Preconditioning Applied During Sevoflurane Anesthesia Does Not Protect the Lungs in Patients Undergoing Adult Heart Valve Surgery

https://journal.hsforum.com/index.php/HSF/article/view/4139

[2] Predictive Role of Preoperative Controlled Nutritional Status Score on Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation after Heart Valve Surgery

https://journal.hsforum.com/index.php/HSF/article/view/7973

[3] Association between Left Ventricular Longitudinal Strain (GLS) and Prognosis of the Patients Undergoing Heart Valve Surgery with Preserved Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction

https://journal.hsforum.com/index.php/HSF/article/view/5921

[4] Tricuspid Regurgitation in Ostium Secundum Atrial Septal Defects: Repair or Not?

https://journal.hsforum.com/index.php/HSF/article/view/2859

[5] Monocyte to Lymphocyte Ratio, A Novel Predictor of Acute Kidney Injury After Cardiac Valve Surgery

https://journal.hsforum.com/index.php/HSF/article/view/5111

[6] J-Shaped Upper Mini-Sternotomy Versus Full Sternotomy for Aortic Valve Replacement: A Comparative Study

https://journal.hsforum.com/index.php/HSF/article/view/2815