Robert Cesnjevar studied medicine at the University of Erlangen and began his surgical career in the Cardiac Surgery Department of the University Hospital Erlangen. After completing his doctorate, he had further trained under the supervision of the pediatric cardiac surgeon Marc de Leval in cardiothoracic surgery in London, first at the Harley Street Clinic and then at the Hospital for Sick Children. From 2005 to 2008, the habilitated specialist in cardiac surgery and DGHTG-certified pediatric cardiac surgeon headed the Clinic for Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at the University Heart and Vascular Centre Hamburg at the University Medical Centre Hamburg Eppendorf (UKE). In 2008, he moved to the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Department at Erlangen University Hospital, which he headed until 2021. Since July 2021, he has been Associate Professor of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at the University of Zurich and Chief Physician of Cardiac Surgery at the Children's Hospital Zurich. In addition to outcome analyses of complex cardiac malformations and quality assurance of pediatric cardiac surgery, his research focuses on organ replacement therapy in children and the dynamization of single-chamber circulation (Fontan-RVAD). For his many years of patient-orientated research, he has been honored several times. In 2013, he was the first pediatric heart surgeon to receive the Fritz Acker Foundation Award from the German Society of Cardiology (DGK). Robert Cesnjevar is a member of the Competence Network for Congenital Heart Defects and a member of the research network’s Steering Committee.