René Prêtre

René Prêtre (born 1957) is a Swiss pediatric heart surgeon at the University Hospital of Lausanne. He has performed thousands of surgeries on children's hearts.

Early life and education Prêtre was born into a family of farmers in the countryside of Canton Jura, as one of seven siblings. His father was a farmer and a Jurassian independence activist who was summoned five times before a judge. His grandfather was a watchmaker. Between 1988 and 1990 he followed up on his studies at New York University, where he specialized in cardiovascular surgery. In 1997 he joined the University Hospital in Zurich and by 2002 he was hired as Professor for pediatric cardiovascular surgery at the University of Zurich. The same month he was appointed as a professor at the University of Lausanne. Through the CURCCCP, he was appointed as a professor at the University of Geneva in 2016.

Surgery Before specializing in heart surgeries, Prêtre performed surgeries on victims of gunshots and stabbings at Bellevue Hospital in New York. he annually travels for a few weeks to Mozambique and Cambodia to perform heart surgeries.

2020 Prix des Arts, des Lettres et des Sciences of the Canton of Jura

The planet 162937 Prêtre is named after him.

Book 2016 memoir, Et au centre bat le coeur: chroniques d'un chirurgien cardiaque pédiatrique