Paul Robert Vogt, Founder of EurAsia Heart Foundation: Transforming Cardiac Surgery Through Education and Charity

Edition – “Most inspirational business leaders making a mark 2026”

“There is no single ‘biggest challenge’ in my work. There have been many. But the most recurring and emotionally moving moments are those when a patient—whether a child or an adult—does not recover as expected after surgery.”

Cardiovascular disease remains the world’s most relentless health crisis, claiming nearly 20 million lives each year and accounting for almost one in three deaths globally. While advances in care have reduced mortality in high-income nations, the burden continues to fall disproportionately on low- and middle-income countries, where preventable and treatable heart conditions still cost millions of adults and children their lives. This stark inequity underscores an urgent need for expertise, access, and sustained humanitarian action.

Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Zurich, EurAsia Heart was created to respond to this global challenge. The Swiss foundation is dedicated to advancing cardiac surgery and cardiology, with a particular focus on treating congenital heart defects in children and acquired heart disease in adults across underserved regions. Since its inception, EurAsia Heart has operated in 16 countries, performed more than 6,000 life-saving surgeries, and treated over 36,000 patients, transforming outcomes where specialized cardiac care is often unavailable.

At the heart of this mission is Professor Paul Vogt, MD, Initiator and President of the Foundation Board. A globally respected Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery, Prof. Vogt is the founder of EurAsia Heart and a lifelong advocate for charity-driven medicine and education. Trained at the University of Zurich and certified by Swiss, German, Russian, and Ukrainian boards, he has held professorships in Germany and Russia and serves in leading clinical roles across Europe and Central Asia. His work is driven by a deeply personal commitment to address the reality that, in many developing and emerging countries, deaths from untreated heart disease—especially among children under five—exceed those caused by AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.

Through EurAsia Heart, Prof. Vogt has transformed decades of surgical excellence into a global humanitarian platform—one that bridges medical innovation with compassion, education, and access—ensuring that lifesaving cardiac care reaches those who need it most, regardless of geography or income.

Inception Story: The Beginning of Prof. Paul Vogt’s Medical Journey

From the very beginning, Professor Paul Vogt’s path was defined by absolute clarity of purpose. Medicine was never one option among many—it was the only calling he envisioned for himself. This unwavering conviction guided every step of his academic and professional life.

After completing his medical studies at the University of Zurich in 1983, Prof. Vogt began his clinical career in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine, where he developed a deep understanding of critical patient care. He then transitioned into general surgery, building a strong surgical foundation before discovering the field that would become his life’s work. In 1990, he devoted himself fully to cardiovascular surgery, a discipline that combined precision, endurance, and the potential to save lives at their most fragile moments.

His training at the University Hospital of Zurich proved formative. Surrounded by exceptional mentors, Prof. Vogt refined not only his technical expertise but also his philosophy of medicine—one grounded in discipline, lifelong learning, and responsibility toward patients. He achieved Swiss board certifications in General Surgery (1992) and Cardiovascular Surgery (1994), followed by certification in Vascular Surgery (2003), steadily advancing through academic and clinical ranks.

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Prof. Vogt’s career expanded rapidly across Europe and Asia. He held senior academic and leadership roles, including Associate Professor and Vice Chairman of Cardiovascular Surgery at the University Hospital Zurich, and later Professor, Chairman, and Director of Cardiovascular Surgery at the University Hospital Giessen, Germany. His expertise led to numerous visiting and guest professorships in China, Russia, Ukraine, and Myanmar, reflecting his growing international influence in cardiovascular medicine.

A defining moment in his journey came in 2006 with the founding of the EurAsia Heart Foundation in Zurich. This initiative transformed decades of surgical excellence into a humanitarian mission, aimed at delivering life-saving cardiac care and education to developing and emerging countries—particularly for children with congenital heart defects and adults with untreated heart disease. For Prof. Vogt, this was not a departure from his career, but its natural evolution.

In parallel with his humanitarian work, he continued to lead at the highest clinical levels—serving as Director of Cardiac Surgery at the University Hospital Zurich, Senior Consultant and Managing Director within the Hirslanden Group, and later as Chief Cardiac Surgeon at the Ezgu Niyat Medical Center in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. His leadership has extended beyond hospitals into global health strategy, innovation, and policy, including board memberships, international advisory roles, and the founding of medical and technology ventures.

At every stage, Prof. Paul Vogt’s career has been shaped by discipline, excellence, and a deep sense of responsibility. What began as a childhood certainty—to become a doctor—has evolved into a global legacy of healing, education, and service, touching tens of thousands of lives across continents through both medicine and mission.

Key Offerings of the EurAsia Heart Foundation

The EurAsia Heart Foundation, established in Switzerland, was created to address one of the world’s most urgent and inequitable health challenges: access to life-saving cardiovascular care. Rather than functioning as a short-term medical relief organization, the Foundation is built on a long-term, sustainable model that prioritizes education, capacity building, and clinical excellence in developing and emerging countries.

At the core of EurAsia Heart’s mission is the belief that the most effective way to save lives is to empower local healthcare systems. The Foundation brings together a dedicated network of European cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, anesthesiologists, intensive care specialists, nurses, and allied professionals who volunteer their expertise to support clinics across Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Core Areas of Focus

EurAsia Heart’s work spans the full continuum of cardiovascular care, including:

• Cardiac Medicine
• Cardiovascular Surgery
• Anesthesia
• Intensive Care
• Prevention and Education

A particular emphasis is placed on children with congenital heart defects, a condition that remains one of the leading causes of death in children under five in many low-resource countries—despite being treatable.

Knowledge Over Hardware

Unlike many aid organizations, the EurAsia Heart Foundation does not focus on funding buildings or supplying medical equipment. Instead, its primary offering is the transfer of:

• Knowledge
• Skills
• Clinical expertise

This philosophy—often described as “helping people to help themselves”—ensures that improvements in care continue long after visiting teams depart.

Training, Education, and Sustainable Impact

Foundation specialists work side-by-side with local medical teams, providing:

• Hands-on surgical and clinical training
• Ongoing education for physicians, nurses, and technicians
• Support in diagnostics, treatment planning, and prevention
• Guidance in interdisciplinary areas such as infectious disease management, hygiene standards, and medical data collection and analysis

When necessary, EurAsia Heart experts also perform complex procedures on-site, while simultaneously training local teams to independently manage similar cases in the future.

A Collaborative Global Network

To meet the growing number of international requests, the Foundation collaborates with leading medical centers worldwide, ensuring access to the highest standards of care and education. While its early focus centered on cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, the scope of support has expanded in response to global needs, now including related specialties such as abdominal surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedics, and oncology.

A Mission of Service

EurAsia Heart is driven by service—not emergency response alone, but continuous partnership. Its physicians remain engaged with local institutions over time, supporting prevention programs, professional development, and systemic improvement in patient care.

Through this model, the EurAsia Heart Foundation has helped treat tens of thousands of patients, strengthened healthcare systems in various countries, and created lasting impact by ensuring that life-saving knowledge stays where it is needed most.

Who has been the most significant source of inspiration in your life?

“I was very fortunate throughout my career to always have excellent teachers. It would be impossible to name them all, but Professor Marko Turina, my former boss at the University Hospital of Zurich, certainly had a decisive influence on my professional and academic development. His leadership, expertise, and standards shaped the way I approach cardiovascular surgery and medicine to this day.

With regard to my work with the foundation, one particular experience stands out as truly life-changing. In 2002, I visited a heart surgery unit in Ho Chi Minh City. There, I was confronted with an enormous waiting list of children in need of life-saving cardiac surgery. Seeing so many young lives dependent on care that was simply not available left a deep and lasting impression on me.

That moment was decisive. It prompted me to establish the EurAsia Heart Foundation and to dedicate a significant part of my professional work to helping children and adults in developing and emerging countries who suffer from treatable heart disease. This experience continues to guide my commitment to education, training, and sustainable medical support where it is needed most.”

Notable Recognitions and Accreditations

Professor Paul Vogt’s career has been distinguished by numerous international honors and academic appointments that reflect his pioneering contributions to cardiovascular surgery and global medical education. He has been formally honored by both the Swiss Society for Surgery and the Swiss Society for Cardiovascular Surgery in recognition of his groundbreaking work and lasting impact on the field.

In 1998, Professor Vogt received the prestigious Merck Sharp & Dohme Prize for outstanding research in PCR technology, highlighting his early commitment to scientific innovation. He was also awarded the Young Investigator Award by the International College of Angiology, recognizing his exceptional achievements and leadership in cardiovascular research at an early stage of his career.

His academic influence spans multiple regions, with professorial and guest professorial appointments across Russia, China, Vietnam, and Myanmar. These include appointments in St. Petersburg, Wuhan, Harbin, Yangzhou, Shijiazhuang, Ho Chi Minh City, and Yangon—underscoring his role in advancing cardiovascular surgery education on a global scale.

Among his most distinguished honors, Professor Vogt became the only foreign recipient of the Kolesov Medal from Pavlov State Medical University in St. Petersburg. This rare distinction commemorates Dr. Vasily P. Kolesov, the global pioneer who introduced the mammary artery graft in coronary bypass surgery. Professor Vogt received this honor alongside Renat Aktschurin, the renowned cardiac surgeon who operated on former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, placing him among the most respected figures in international cardiovascular medicine.

Note from Paul Robert Vogt

“One of our core responsibilities is the teaching and education of young colleagues in developing and emerging countries. In addition to our hands-on work in the operating theatre and at the intensive care bedside, we regularly organise three- to five-day educational seminars for promising young doctors and nurses. These seminars cover a wide range of clinical and practical topics and are conducted across EurAsia and Africa. A snapshot with dates and locations of recent seminars, along with an example timetable of a full educational week, has been attached for reference.

These seminars are entirely free for participants. Young doctors and nurses do not pay any registration fees, travel expenses, or local costs. The EurAsia Heart Foundation raises the required funding through support from medical technology and pharmaceutical companies that are committed to advancing education. Importantly, EurAsia Heart remains fully independent in selecting the seminar topics. Over the past nine years alone, we have raised approximately USD 4 million dedicated exclusively to the education and training of young medical professionals. Attendance is monitored throughout each seminar, and participants complete a multiple-choice examination at the end to assess the knowledge gained. Teaching—both practical and theoretical—is therefore one of the Foundation’s central pillars.

In addition, EurAsia Heart maintains an active research department. At present, we are developing a pulmonary flow reduction stent for children with complex congenital heart disease, as well as for patients who are candidates for cardiac assist devices or heart transplantation. We are currently in discussions with the FDA to obtain approval for compassionate-use cases in otherwise hopeless clinical situations.

This work is conducted through our company, Heart Point Global, with EurAsia Heart serving as the intellectual and scientific backbone. I personally serve as Medical Director and a Board Member. In 2023, this project was recognised at the Techno College in San Francisco for innovation, and in 2024 it received the award for Best Abstract at the PICS meeting. Supporting documents and a letter outlining the objectives of this project are attached to provide further clarity.

Beyond research and education, surgery for congenital heart disease in developing, emerging, and low-income countries remains our primary task. All of this work is carried out on a charitable basis; we receive no financial compensation. Attached are examples of children we have recently operated on in Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine. In Ukraine, I have worked in Donetsk, Lviv, and Kyiv, with our most recent cardiology mission to Kyiv taking place in March 2025.

Currently, around 60 doctors and nurses are directly involved in our clinical missions, and approximately 120 individuals contribute part-time to the Foundation in various capacities. We have collected medical equipment, materials, devices, and disposable supplies—entirely free of charge—from Swiss and Austrian hospitals as well as MedTech companies, with a total estimated value of USD 14 million. This equipment has been distributed to countries such as Myanmar, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and Afghanistan to help establish and sustain local cardiac programs.

To put the need into perspective: the National Children’s Medical Centre in Tashkent has a waiting list of approximately 15,000 children requiring cardiac surgery; the cardiac surgery centre in Kabul has a list of nearly 30,000 children. Similar or greater needs exist across many African countries.

For this reason, any publication should not focus on me personally. Its true purpose should be to support the EurAsia Heart Foundation—so that we can continue, and expand, our work to save more children’s lives.”

Best regards,
Paul Robert Vogt

Donation account

• EurAsia Heart – A Swiss Medical Foundation
• Bank: Schwyzer Kantonalbank
• Postal account: 565312-2773
• IBAN: CH59 0077 7005 6531 2277 3
• You can deduct your donations from your taxes.
  Swiss tax exemption number: CHE-112.985.315