Andrei was born in 1981 in Iasi, a vibrant city located on the north east of Romania and the second largest university centre in the country. He went to school and then to the “Gr. T. Popa” Medical University in his home city, Iasi and graduated from this in 2006. He then passed the entry to run-through training national exam same year and decided to follow on his father’s career pathway by choosing general surgery as his training specialty.
Andrei did a Masters Degree in “Polymeric Biomaterials” in 2007 at “Gh. Asachi” University in Iasi and in the following year he enrolled to a 4 year PhD Programme with the “Gr. T. Popa” medical university, which he finished in 2012. He chose as his PhD thesis “Biomaterials used in surgical practice” and explored characteristics of some of the sutures used in general surgery and looked at explanted meshes following hernia repair and biofilm formation. Andrei was fascinated in his early post-graduation years as a trainee by hernia meshes and their ability to ensure durable protection to patients undergoing hernia repair.
In 2010 he decided to continue his medical career in UK and worked initially as a junior dr. and as a middle grade in several centres across the country. He passed his specialty exam in 2013 in Romania, whilst working in Wales, UK.
In 2016, he was appointed Consultant in general and emergency surgery at “Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care” NHSFT, where he is activating currently. Since 2019, he is the RCS Tutor for surgical specialties in the Trust.
Throughout the years as a trainee and then as a newly appointment consultant, he continued his hernia surgery practice and in the last years he is an active member of BHS and EHS, presenting his work at the yearly conferences. In 2020 he took the role of chief investigator for a study looking at inguinal hernia mesh fixation with glue, a prospective multi-centre research project currently in the early stages.
He loves abdominal wall repairs and tries to deploy a structured and patient centred approach to this common, but sometimes complex pathology. BHS member since 2017 and now part of the hernia registry subcommittee, a project which he hopes will be of great benefit to all our patients and doctors alike.