Vinicius is a Brazilian-born and trained surgeon specializing in diseases of the heart in children and adults. Married to a Brazilian Pediatric Cardiologist, Rachel, they have one boy, Arthur. He did his general surgical and cardiovascular surgical training in São Paulo, Brazil followed by postgraduate fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at the UAB, Birmingham, USA and the Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Australia. In 2000 he moved back São Luis, state of Maranhao, Brazil to create and head a cardiovascular surgery unit at the University Hospital. In 2003 he obtained his PhD degree at the Heart Institute of the University of São Paulo presenting a thesis on a novel tissue heart valve preservation. His PhD research paved his path to become, in 2008, Professor at the Federal University of Maranhao.Vinicius has been involved as a volunteer in medical missions since his first contact with CardioStart International during the Global Forum on Humanitarian Medicine in Geneva. In 2014, he invited the Cardiostart Team for a mission in São Luis, Brazil to help him to set up a dedicated pediatric cardiac surgery unit at the University Hospital. He recently led a mission to Macapá, Amazon Region of Brazil, to start the pediatric cardiac surgery program in that remote area of the globe. His trajectory entitled him to be elected President of the North-Northeast Society of Cardiovascular of Brazil and Member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, USA.