Prof Barbir graduated in 1980 at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and did his initial training in general medicine and cardiology at St James' and Richmond Hospital in Dublin.

In 1985, he started a British Heart Foundation research fellowship at Hammersmith Hospital for two years and subsequently completed three years training in clinical cardiology. In 1988 he worked at Harefield Hospital in clinical research under Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub and had further training in the department of cardiology until 1993, when he undertook his current consultant post.

Prof Barbir has published more than 100 original manuscripts in medical journals, which include The Lancet, Circulation and The International Journal of Cardiology.