Paolo Spath is a tenure-track University Researcher (Assistant Professor) of Vascular Surgery at the Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, based at the Rimini Campus (Scientific Disciplinary Group 06/MEDS-13 – Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery; disciplinary field MEDS-13/B – Vascular Surgery). He carries out his clinical activity, under agreement with AUSL Romagna, at the Vascular Surgery Unit of "Infermi" Hospital in Rimini. Since November 2024 he has held the Italian National Scientific Qualification as Associate Professor in the competition field 06/E1 (Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery).
He earned his medical degree at the University of Ferrara (110/110 cum laude) and completed both his residency in Vascular Surgery (110/110 cum laude) and his PhD in Surgical Sciences and Innovative Technologies (graded "Excellent cum laude") at the University of Bologna, under the mentorship of Prof. Mauro Gargiulo, with a doctoral thesis on the outcomes of hybrid endovascular repair of aortic arch disease. In 2021–2022 he undertook an International Aortic Research Fellowship at the Department of Vascular Surgery of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich, within the group of Prof. Nikolaos Tsilimparis — an experience that consolidated his profile in complex aortic surgery and an extensive network of European and transatlantic collaborations. He is a Fellow of the European Board of Vascular Surgery (FEBVS, Porto 2023) and, since 2026, an examiner on the FEBVS Board of Examination (UEMS Section of Vascular Surgery).
Before his current academic appointment he served as a Consultant Vascular Surgeon at the IRCCS University Hospital of Bologna – Sant'Orsola Polyclinic, and previously at "Infermi" Hospital in Rimini and at Ravenna Hospital (AUSL Romagna). His overall surgical caseload exceeds 2,600 procedures.
Clinically and academically, his work centres on vascular and endovascular surgery, with particular expertise in the treatment of complex and anatomically hostile aortic disease: endovascular repair of abdominal and thoracic aortic aneurysms (EVAR/TEVAR), fenestrated and branched endografts (FEVAR/BEVAR), thoraco-abdominal (TAAA) and aortic arch aneurysms, and hostile proximal necks (short, angulated, thrombus- or calcium-laden). He has developed specific research lines in CO₂ angiography during EVAR, innovative percutaneous access (the hybrid Perclose + Angio-Seal technique), hypogastric preservation with iliac branch devices, visceral artery aneurysms, anatomical scoring systems for endovascular feasibility, and remote learning in endovascular surgery. He routinely uses imaging-planning tools (3Mensio, TeraRecon, OsiriX) and statistical software (SPSS) for clinical research.
He is the author of more than 85 indexed peer-reviewed publications, over 30 of them as first or last author, with an H-index of 12 (Scopus and Web of Science) and more than 450 citations. His highest-impact works include the transatlantic multicentre study on one hundred thoraco-abdominal aneurysm ruptures (Annals of Surgery, 2024), the meta-analysis on endovascular repair of non-elective TAAA (Journal of Vascular Surgery, 2025), the meta-analysis on fenestrated and branched endografts for the aortic arch (EJVES, 2023), and his experience with hybrid percutaneous access in EVAR (Journal of Endovascular Therapy, 2024). Since 2024 he has been Assistant Editor of the Journal of Endovascular Therapy and a reviewer for numerous international journals, including the European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, the Journal of Vascular Surgery and the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery.
Alongside his scientific activity, Paolo Spath is consistently involved in teaching and training: he has served as faculty, speaker and tutor at more than fifty national and international congresses and workshops, including the annual meetings of the European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS), the Charing Cross Symposium, the Veith Symposium, the Porto Vascular Conference, the LMU Vascular Symposia in Munich and the Bologna Vascular Week, as well as teaching within the residency programme and continuing-education courses of AUSL Romagna. His work has been recognised with numerous awards, including best oral communication at the SICVE National Congress (2025) and several prizes for the best scientific presentations at the Porto Vascular Conference and ESVS meetings.
He is a founding member and coordinator of SICVE Young (since 2018), served as the Italian representative of EVST (European Vascular Surgeons in Training) from 2020 to 2023, and has been an active member of the ESVS and SICVE since 2017. A native Italian speaker, he is fluent in English (C1, Cambridge Advanced) and has working knowledge of French and German.
