Robert J.M. Klautz, MD, PhD, is full professor and chair of the Department of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery at Leiden University Medical Center. Apart from that he is Member of the Supervisory Board of the ‘Westfries Gasthuis’ and ‘Waterland Ziekenhuis’, Chairman of the Consilium, member of the General Medical Council and Prinicpal Investigator of the Perigon trial.

More information about R.J.M. Klautz

Cardiothoracic Surgery

Cardiothoracic Surgery is a surgical specialty that deals with the surgical treatment of various forms of cardiac and thoracic diseases. In the Netherlands thoracic diseases include diseases of the lungs, intra-thoracic airways and chest wall, but not the oesophagus. This chair is linked to the chief position and therefore has a broad spectrum. It includes the design and promotion of new surgical treatment modalities, evaluation of existing surgical procedures, and improve the outcome of these procedures. Important research lines in which I am involved include the surgical treatment of heart failure, improve the outcome of (reconstructive) valve disease.

Academic Career

Robert J.M. Klautz absolved Medical School and his doctoral research at Leiden University. The title of his doctoral thesis (1995) reads ‘Myocardial contractility in the immature heart and in experimental congenital heart disease’. The majority of this research has been conducted as a research fellow at the Cardiovascular research institute of the University of California, San Francisco.

Subsequently, professor Klautz further specialised in cardiothoracic surgery at the Erasmus University and Medical Center Rotterdam. In 2002 he moved to Leiden where in 2008 he was appointed Professor in cardiothoracic surgery at the Leiden University Medical Center. The title of his inaugural lecture was ‘Beter worden door beter meten’.

For more than 25 years professor Klautz has carried out research in the field of cardio-thoracic surgery, focusing on surgical treatment of heart failure and reconstructive valve surgery. He has been principal investigator for international clinical trials and is currently the principal investigator for the Perigon trial. 

Prizes and honourable appointments

• Research fellowship AHA and Dutch Heart Association
• Research fellowship Ghisela Thier Foundation
• Member of the Society of Thoracic  Surgeons (STS) and American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS)