Captions: Left photo: Johannes Bonatti, professor of cardiothoracic surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and director of robotic cardiac surgery at the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute. Right photo: Ghulam Abbas (right), Society of Robotic Surgery president, presents Johannes Bonatti (left), professor of cardiothoracic surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, with the 2025 Society of Robotic Surgery Lifetime Achievement Award/Pioneer Robotic Cardiac Surgeon.
At this year’s Society of Robotic Surgery (SRS)—a multidisciplinary, global association that gathers robotic surgeons from all specialties—annual meeting, Johannes Bonatti, professor of cardiothoracic surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and world-renowned expert in robotic cardiac surgery, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award/Pioneer Robotic Cardiac Surgeon.
During the award presentation, SRS President Ghulam Abbas recognized Bonatti’s unwavering dedication to robotic cardiac surgery, highlighting Bonatti’s advocacy for robotics as the future of minimally invasive heart surgery.
Bonatti also serves as director of robotic cardiac surgery at the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute. With more than 25 years of experience in robotic cardiac surgery, he has pioneered numerous groundbreaking procedures, including the world’s first quadruple robotic totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass (TECAB) and the first simultaneous hybrid coronary intervention combining TECAB and stenting.
Bonatti has established robotic cardiac surgery programs at leading institutions in Austria, the United States and the United Arab Emirates, while also training surgical teams around the world. He is also a former president of the Minimally Invasive Robotic Association and of the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery, has authored 315 publications, and delivered more than 400 national and international talks.