Dr. Alain G. Cribier
In Memory of Alain G. Cribier
He was arguably the ‘father’ of modern-era structural heart disease. He was a caring physician, a humble humanitarian, a creative iconoclast, and an intuitive transcatheter operator, vital character and professional attributes, which led to the remarkable discovery of TAVR. His two most endearing qualities were passion and perseverance, which drove his pursuit of an unimaginable vision: the successful transcatheter treatment of critical aortic stenosis in an awake patient on a beating heart. Most important to me, he was a dear and loyal friend, and I shall miss him desperately. (Martin Bert Leon) Dr. Cribier has been wildly celebrated and will be wildly missed, but his legacy will go on and on as long as people have aortic valves which get sick. His passing leaves a large hole in our firmament. (David R. Holmes)
Father of TAVR
Alain G. Cribier (France) was a Professor of Medicine and Director of Cardiology at Charles Nicolle Hospital, University of Rouen, France, and a pioneer in the treatment of heart valve disease. He performed the first-in-man TAVR procedure on April 16, 2002, marking a paradigm shift in managing structural heart disease. With over 1,500 journal articles, he received numerous accolades, including the ESC Gold Medal (2016), the Lefoulon-Delalande Foundation Scientific Grand Prize (2017) and the “Master of the Masters” Award at TCTAP (2023). He was also an accomplished pianist. Despite his musical talents, he chose to pursue a career in medicine, inspired by figures like physician-musician Albert Schweitzer. A memorable moment was when he served as the first proctor for our TAVR program in 2010. During the procedure, we couldn’t pass the wire through the stenotic aortic valve retrogradely, which was an extremely rare case. And then, he taught us how to approach it using the antegrade technique, a method he had also employed in his first TAVR procedure. Dr. Cribier passed away on February 16, 2024, leaving behind a lasting legacy of medical innovation.
Honestly, I can’t think of anyone who has made a larger contribution to the interventional cardiology over the past 20 years. Through your pioneering work on the development of TAVR, you have added both years to life, and life to years for so many of our older patients with severe aortic stenosis, and through this, you have ushered in a new era of structural cardiology which has only just begun. (David Joel Cohen)
We are in the room where the first TAVI in the world was performed. Alain G. Cribier is known for his human qualities, his humor, his technical excellence, his passion and his sense of innovation. For us, Alain is a genius who has marked cardiology. (Helene Eltchaninoff) You have been an inspiration for all of us as a leader of the field, and we all owe you so much. Without you, the field of TAVR wouldn’t be where it is today. This is a very prestigious award, and I cannot think of anyone better who deserves this award for what he has done for the field of TAVR. (Eberhard Grube)
He was arguably the ‘father’ of modern-era structural heart disease. He was a caring physician, a humble humanitarian, a creative iconoclast, and an intuitive transcatheter operator, vital character and professional attributes, which led to the remarkable discovery of TAVR. His two most endearing qualities were passion and perseverance, which drove his pursuit of an unimaginable vision: the successful transcatheter treatment of critical aortic stenosis in an awake patient on a beating heart. Most important to me, he was a dear and loyal friend, and I shall miss him desperately. (Martin Bert Leon) Dr. Cribier has been wildly celebrated and will be wildly missed, but his legacy will go on and on as long as people have aortic valves which get sick. His passing leaves a large hole in our firmament. (David R. Holmes)
Father of TAVR
Alain G. Cribier (France) was a Professor of Medicine and Director of Cardiology at Charles Nicolle Hospital, University of Rouen, France, and a pioneer in the treatment of heart valve disease. He performed the first-in-man TAVR procedure on April 16, 2002, marking a paradigm shift in managing structural heart disease. With over 1,500 journal articles, he received numerous accolades, including the ESC Gold Medal (2016), the Lefoulon-Delalande Foundation Scientific Grand Prize (2017) and the “Master of the Masters” Award at TCTAP (2023). He was also an accomplished pianist. Despite his musical talents, he chose to pursue a career in medicine, inspired by figures like physician-musician Albert Schweitzer. A memorable moment was when he served as the first proctor for our TAVR program in 2010. During the procedure, we couldn’t pass the wire through the stenotic aortic valve retrogradely, which was an extremely rare case. And then, he taught us how to approach it using the antegrade technique, a method he had also employed in his first TAVR procedure. Dr. Cribier passed away on February 16, 2024, leaving behind a lasting legacy of medical innovation.
Honestly, I can’t think of anyone who has made a larger contribution to the interventional cardiology over the past 20 years. Through your pioneering work on the development of TAVR, you have added both years to life, and life to years for so many of our older patients with severe aortic stenosis, and through this, you have ushered in a new era of structural cardiology which has only just begun. (David Joel Cohen)
We are in the room where the first TAVI in the world was performed. Alain G. Cribier is known for his human qualities, his humor, his technical excellence, his passion and his sense of innovation. For us, Alain is a genius who has marked cardiology. (Helene Eltchaninoff) You have been an inspiration for all of us as a leader of the field, and we all owe you so much. Without you, the field of TAVR wouldn’t be where it is today. This is a very prestigious award, and I cannot think of anyone better who deserves this award for what he has done for the field of TAVR. (Eberhard Grube)