Joel completed medical school at Oxford University and obtained his PhD at Manchester University, helping NICE in the UK as a systematic reviewer to create national guidelines in emergency medicine. He transitioned into cardiothoracic surgery after that, creating projects in evidence-based surgery with the ICVTS during his training, and was an associate editor for the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EJCTS) for six years. He has coauthored eighteen international guidelines and is the first author on nine of them. In addition, Joel created the cardiothoracic advanced life support course, which holds 600 courses worldwide per year. He has led heart surgery humanitarian missions to Ghana since 2019 and runs Pace4life, a charity that implanted 200 reconditioned pacemakers last year. Today, Joel is a cardiothoracic surgeon at James Cook University Hospital in the UK. He specializes in minimally invasive thoracic surgery and teaches teams in robotic thoracic surgery.
Selected publications from PubMed
A Network Meta-Analysis of Drainage Systems and Suction Strategies After Lung Cancer Surgery.
Geenen L, Verkoulen KCHA, Laven IEWG, Daemen JHT, van Roozendaal LM, Franssen CJ, Franssen AJPM, Degens JHRJ, Hulsewé KWE, Vissers YLJ, Dunning J, Brunelli A, de Loos ER
Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2026 Apr 1;68(4) pii: ezag127. doi: 10.1093/ejcts/ezag127.
A Scoping Review on Genetic Mutations and Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms Associated with Pectus Excavatum.
Barman S, Momin L, Islam R, Shing MS, Ranjan R, Waterhouse B, Dunning J
J Multidiscip Healthc. 2026;19:592241 doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S592241.
Genetic Associations with Pectus Excavatum: A Systematic Review.
Ranjan R, Imtiaz N, Waterhouse B, Paul I, Brunswicker A, Dunning J
Curr Issues Mol Biol. 2026 Jan 22;48(1) doi: 10.3390/cimb48010122.
Expert Opinion: Intensive Care Unit Resternotomy Should Be Practiced in All Facilities That Perform Cardiac Surgery.
Ley SJ, Dunning J
Semin Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2026 Summer;38(2):126-132 doi: 10.1053/j.semtcvs.2025.08.003.
Developing a Systematic Approach for the Implementation of Medical Extended Reality Learning Modules in Cardiothoracic Health Care: Recommendations From an International Expert Group.
Mahtab EAF, Max SA, Braun J, Regeer MV, Kaufman B, Dunning J, Bibleraaj B, Andreas M, Rodríguez Lecoq R, Klinceva M, Rosalia R, Lorusso R, Bruining N, Egorova AD
JACC Adv. 2025 Mar;4(3):101633 doi: 10.1016/j.jacadv.2025.101633.
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