World renowned heart transplant surgeon Magdi Yacoub will be awarded the Greatest Nile Collar.

President Hosni Mubarak announced today that Yacoub will be honoured in recognition of his medical, humanitarian and scientific contributions.

Yacoub has long been considered one of the leading heart transplant surgeons in the world. After qualifying as a doctor in Cairo, he moved to England where he worked at the London Chest Hospital. In 1969, he moved to London’s Harefield Hospital, which, under his guidance, became one of the country’s leading transplant centres.

In 1980, he performed a transplant operation on Derrick Morris, who at his death in 1985 was Europe’s longest surviving heart patient.

Yacoub's standing also stems from his provision of free medical care for poor Egyptians.

He has contributed to the development of heart surgery and pioneered new surgical techniques for congenital heart conditions. Yacoub has also performed more heart transplants than anyone else.

In 1986 he carried out the first `domino’ operation installing a new heart and lungs into one patient and then taking that patient’s healthy heart and transplanting it into another patient in an adjoining theatre.

Yacoub was knighted by the Queen in 1991.

Other Egyptians to have been awarded the Greatest Nile Collar include Mohamed ElBaradei, the former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency and recipient of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize.

The award is considered the highest Egyptian decoration and is presented for remarkable services to the nation and humanity.