Who We Are
The Rwandan Heart Care and Research Foundation will be the first NGO hospital offering cardiovascular healthcare services free of charge to the people of Rwanda and its regions. Our mission is to offer high quality care to all without any form of discrimination.
Board Members
Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub OM
Vice Chair of the Board
Founder, Chain of Hope
Medical Director, Aswan Heart Centre
Radegonde Ndejuru
Chair of the Board
Public Health Consultant
Engineer Samih Sawiris
Board Member
Businessman and Philanthropist
Professor William Wijns MD, PhD
Vice-Chair of the Board
Science Foundation Ireland Research Professor of Interventional Cardiology
National University of Ireland Galway
David Kamanda
Treasurer of the Board
Health Economist
Dr Matthias Angres
Board Member
Consultant Anaesthetist
Director, Robin Aid
Julia Backhaus
Board Member
Associate Professor in Architecture,
University College London
Founding Director, Flux Architects
Mr Hany Azer
Board Member
Civil Engineer
Professor Karen Sliwa-Hahne
Board Member
Professor of Cardiology
Director, Cape Heart Institute, Cape Town
Dr Emmanuel Rusingiza Kamanzi
Board Member
Consultant Pediatric Cardiologist
University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK)
Professor Thor Sundt
Board Member
Chief of Cardiac Surgery,
Massachusetts General Hospital
Director of Corrigan Minehan Heart Center
Edward D. Churchill Professor of Surgery, Harvard University
Dr Gloria Mukeshimana
Board Member
Consultant Adult Cardiologist, King Faisal Hospital Kigali
Lisa Yacoub
Project Co-ordinator
Manager, Chain of Hope
Director, Bridge of Hope UK
Dr Gavin Wright
Board member (Ex-officio)
Consultant Cardiac Anaesthetist
Chairman, Chain of Hope UK
Zeina Tawakol
Advisor to the Board
Executive Director, Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation
Training Board Sub-Committee
Prof John Deanfield
Professor of Cardiology, UCL
Consultant Cardiologist, Barts Heart Centre
Director, National Institute of Cardiovascular Outcomes
Senior Advisor to Public Health England (PHE)
Dr David Bradley MD
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Michigan
Director of Clinical Operations & Director of Electrophysiology, Michigan Congenital Heart Center
Dr Ahmed Afifi MD, FRCS(CTh), FACC
Consultant Cardiac Surgeon
Head of Cardiac Surgery Department,
Aswan Heart Centre
Senior Lecturer, National Heart Institute – Egypt
Dr Ahmed El Guindy
Consultant Cardiologist
Director of Cardiology, Aswan Heart Centre
Honorary Senior Lecturer, National Heart & Lung Institute – Imperial College.
Visiting Assistant Professor,
American University of Cairo
Hatem Hosny, FRCS (CTh), FEBCTS (Congenital), FEBCTS (Adult)
Consultant Cardiac Surgeon and
Lead of Data Analytics Team,
Aswan Heart Centre
Mahmoud Abdelhay
Director of Nursing
Aswan Heart Centre
We all have the right to... healthcare for ourselves and our families...
(Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)