Hutan Ashrafian is an academic, cardiothoracic surgeon, robotic surgeon, bariatric surgeon, computational biologist, immunologist, entrepreneur, historian, writer,

martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the pres ...

and philosopher. He is the current chief scientific officer of Preemptive Health and Medicine at

Flagship Pioneering Flagship Pioneering is an American life sciences venture capital company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that invests in biotechnology, life sciences, health and sustainability companies. Portfolio companies include Moderna, Indigo Agriculture, ...

. Ashrafian

thoracotomy A thoracotomy is a surgical procedure that involves cutting open the chest wall to gain access into the pleural cavity, It is mostly performed by specialist cardiothoracic surgeons, although emergency physicians or paramedics occasionally also ...

surgical procedure Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

, and the Ashrafian sign

aortic regurgitation Aortic regurgitation (AR), also known as aortic insufficiency (AI), is the leaking of the aortic valve of the heart that causes blood to flow in the reverse direction during ventricular diastole, from the aorta into the left ventricle. As a conse ...

are named after him. He introduced the AIonAI law for

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

Early life and education

Ashrafian attended the

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and then

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, where he completed Bachelor of Science in

immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

and cell pathology and subsequently a medical degree (MD) in 2000. Following London-based surgical training in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery,

robotic surgery Robot-assisted surgery or robotic surgery are any types of surgical procedures that are performed using robotic systems. Robotically assisted surgery was developed to try to overcome the limitations of pre-existing minimally-invasive surgical ...

general surgery General surgery is a Surgical specialties, surgical specialty that focuses on alimentary canal and Abdomen, abdominal contents including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, Appendix (anatomy ...

with specialist training in

bariatric surgery Bariatric surgery (also known as metabolic surgery or weight loss surgery) is a surgical procedure used to manage obesity and obesity-related conditions. Long term weight loss with bariatric surgery may be achieved through alteration of gut ho ...

, in 2015, he finished his

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predec ...

PhD in

computational biology Computational biology refers to the use of techniques in computer science, data analysis, mathematical modeling and Computer simulation, computational simulations to understand biological systems and relationships. An intersection of computer sci ...

and surgery from

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

and was appointed

National Institute for Health and Care Research The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the British government's major funder of clinical, public health, social care and translational research. With a budget of over £1.2 billion in 2020–21, its mission is to "impr ...

clinical lecturer. Ashrafian also holds a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

from

Warwick Business School Warwick Business School (WBS) is the business school of the University of Warwick and an academic department within the Faculty of Social Sciences. It was established in 1967 as the School of Industrial and Business Studies. The business school ...

, graduated in 2017.

Career

Ashrafian was appointed as Chief Scientific Adviser at the Institute of Global Health Innovation,

in 2017. In 2017, he co-founded Oxford Medical Products along with Jan Czenurska to treat overweight and obesity with a novel hydrogel. In September 2020, during the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic, he became the chief medical officer of

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products including electronic cigarettes. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, E ...

where he developed a plant-based

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and fun ...

with its subsidiary KBP, and served there until August 2021. In August 2021, he was appointed as the chief scientific officer of Flagship Pioneering. Ashrafian is Professor of Research Impact at

Leeds University Business School Leeds University Business School is a business school in the University of Leeds, in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The school is accredited by AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS. Location Leeds University Business School is housed in several buildin ...

and also Senior Research Fellow at Imperial College London. He has worked on documentaries for

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and

Smithsonian Channel The Smithsonian Channel is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its media networks division under MTV Entertainment Group. It offers video content inspired by the Smithsonian Institution's museums, research facil ...

Research

Ashrafian's research is focused on a wide programme ranging from

life science Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, organisation, metabolism, growth, adaptation, respon ...

s, philosophy of science and

ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...

and art. In the life sciences these focus on mechanistic and clinical therapeutic solutions in

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

, cancer,

metabolic syndrome Metabolic syndrome is a clustering of at least three of the following five medical conditions: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high serum triglycerides, and low serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Metabolic syndro ...

, gut microbiome dysfunction, and musculoskeletal dysfunction. In a research published in 2014, he concluded that social networking programs can help reduce the obesity. Philosophical contributions include those in areas of

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

, the Simulation Argument,

temporal paradox A temporal paradox, time paradox, or time travel paradox, is a paradox, an apparent contradiction, or logical contradiction associated with the idea of time travel or other foreknowledge of the future. While the notion of time travel to the futu ...

es in

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...

and artificial intelligence interactions (AIonAI law) and

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior. ...

, AI and politics and the

Turing Test The Turing test, originally called the imitation game by Alan Turing in 1949,. Turing wrote about the ‘imitation game’ centrally and extensively throughout his 1950 text, but apparently retired the term thereafter. He referred to ‘ iste ...

. In

field, Ashrafian is one of the authors of STARD-AI protocol, a reporting guideline for artificial intelligence, and QUADAS-AI, a quality assessment tool for artificial intelligence. He is considered one of the leading researchers in artificial intelligence. In ancient history his work includes books on contextualizing historical events and figures such as

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

and

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

with accurate timelines and scientific explanations of occurrences. This extends in separating myth from legend in

classical Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archa ...

and Homeric poetry and explaining the medical diseases prominent historical characters such as the Pharaohs

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen, (; ), was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the late Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. Born Tutankhaten, he instituted the restoration of the traditional polytheistic form of an ...

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eig ...

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

and

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

's multiple marriages and behaviour which have subsequently featured in documentaries where Ashrafian is interviewed. His 2012 work on the

Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XVIII, alternatively 18th Dynasty or Dynasty 18) is classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. The Eighteenth Dynasty ...

, theorized that the Pharaoh

had temporal

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

that led to his early demise. The book he co-authored with his student Francesco Maria Galassi, named ''Julius Caesar's Disease: A New Diagnosis''. was reviewed by Spyros Retsas of the

British Society for the History of Medicine The British Society for the History of Medicine (BSHM) is an umbrella organisation of History of medicine societies throughout the United Kingdom, with particular representation to the International Society for the History of Medicine. It has gro ...

and '' Neurological Sciences''. In art, he has worked on identifying diseases, and previously unrecognized anatomical and pathological features in over 60 famous artworks that includes those in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, and

ancient art Ancient art refers to the many types of art produced by the Advanced culture, advanced cultures of History of society, ancient societies with different Writing system, forms of writing, such as those of Ancient China, China, Ancient India, India ...

. This includes the work of

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

, where he identified a hernia in da Vinci's famous image, the ''

Vitruvian Man The ''Vitruvian Man'' (; ) is a drawing by the Italian Renaissance artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, dated to . Inspired by the writings of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, the drawing depicts a nude man in two superimposed positions ...

''.

Awards and recognition

* RCS Arris and Gale award * Hunterian Prize *

Research Fellowship

Bibliography

Books

* Ashrafian, Hutan (2014). ''Warrior Origins: The Historical and Legendary Links Between Bodhidharma, Shaolin Kung-Fu, Karate and Ninjutsu'' * Ashrafian, Hutan (2015). ''Surgical Philosophy: Concepts of Modern Surgery Paralleled to Sun Tzu's 'Art of War * Galassi, Francesco Maria; Ashrafian, Hutan (2016). ''Julius Caesar's Disease: A New Diagnosis'' * Ashrafian, Hutan (2016). ''The Diary of Hannibal Barca: ''A Chronological Retrospect Centered on Polybius' Histories III'' * Ashrafian, Hutan; Ahmed, Kamran; Khan, Muhammad Shamim; Athanasiou, Thanos (2016). ''The Pocket Guide to Neoplasm'' * Ashrafian, Hutan (2017). ''The Diary of Alexander the Great: A Chronological Retrospect Centred On Arrian's Anabasis Alexandri'' * Ashrafian, Hutan (2017). ''The Diary of Xenophon's Anabasis: A Chronological Retrospect'' * Ashrafian, Hutan (2017). ''Advances in Artificial Intelligence and Application'' * Ashrafian, Hutan (2018). ''Surgical Eponyms: For General Surgery FRCS, MRCS, European and American Board Exams'' * Ashrafian, Hutan (2018). ''The Diary of Homer's Odyssey: A Chronological Retrospect'' * Ashrafian, Hutan (2019). ''The Diary of Homer's Iliad: A Chronological Retrospect'' * Ashrafian, Hutan (2019). ''The Diary of Jason and the Argonauts: A Chronological Retrospect of Apollonius Rhodius' Argonuatica'' * Lidströmer, Niklas; Ashrafian, Hutan (2022). ''Artificial Intelligence in Medicine''

Selected publications

* Ashrafian, Hutan et al. (2020). International evaluation of an AI system for breast cancer screening * Ashrafian, Hutan et al. (2011). Understanding the role of gut microbiome–host metabolic signal disruption in health and disease * Ashrafian, Hutan et al. (2011). Metabolic surgery profoundly influences gut microbial–host metabolic cross-talk * Ashrafian, Hutan et al. (2010).

Emotional intelligence Emotional intelligence (EI), also known as emotional quotient (EQ), is the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions. High emotional intelligence includes emotional recognition of emotions of the self and others, using ...

in medicine: a systematic review through the context of the ACGME competencies * Ashrafian, Hutan et al. (2012). Technologies for global health

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashrafian, Hutan British historians 21st-century British writers Alumni of Imperial College London