Scientific Programme

Professor Jaume Masia is currently Full Professor and Director of the Department of Plastic Surgery at Sant Pau Hospital - Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. He received his medical degree at Barcelona University, and his PhD at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. Professor Masia carried out his plastic surgery training at Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona.

He completed his training with fellowships in Canniesburn Hospital (Glasgow) and in Queen Victoria Hospital (East Grinstead). In 1999, he introduced DIEP flaps for breast reconstruction in Spain. He got a post as plastic surgery consultant at Sant Pau University Hospital in 2001. Two years later he became the Chief of Microsurgery Unit and in 2007 he won the position as Chief of Plastic Surgery Department and Professor in Plastic Surgery at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona.

Professor Masia was President of the Spanish Society of Plastic Surgery (SECPRE) in 2011-13 and President of Plastic Surgery Foundation for Education in 2014-15. Since 2010 he has been the Co-Director of the International Master’s Degree on Reconstructive Microsurgery and also Co-Director of the European Masters in Oncology, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Breast Surgery at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. Currently he is the President of the Educational Committee of the European Federation of Microsurgery Societies. He has been invited as lecturer and visiting Professor in more than one hundred international meetings in plastic surgery, author of several papers and books as well. His current main interests are perforator flaps, lymphoedema surgery and medical education.

Claudio graduated with an MD degree from Universidad de Buenos Aires in 1972. He carried out his surgical residency at the Medical College of Ohio USA. Claudio then became a micro fellow at Tokyo Metropolitan Hospital in 1980 and became Visiting Professor Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation in 1992. He won the Robert Ivy Award for Best Paper at the ASPS Annual Meeting in New Orleans in 1996.

Marlene See is a Consultant in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London. Marlene's specialist interests are breast and microsurgical reconstruction. Marlene trained in London and East Grinstead. Before embarking on her plastic surgery training, Marlene carried out research on 3D imaging and its application in facial analysis, for which she was awarded a Masters in Surgical Science. She completed her training with a fellowship in microsurgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals, London, and has published on the subjects of breast reconstruction, facial analysis and lower limb reconstruction. Her current practice involves breast reconstruction following therapeutic and risk-reducing mastectomies, including microvascular breast reconstruction; correction of congenital breast deformities and aesthetic breast surgery.

Maurice Nahabedian is Professor of Plastic Surgery at the VCU College of Medicine – Inova Branch and in private practice at the National Center for Plastic Surgery in McLean, Virginia. Dr Nahabedian completed his plastic surgery residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1995 and remained on the full-time faculty until 2005 under the leadership of Paul Manson. He transitioned to Georgetown University in 2005 and remained there until 2017 where he was a professor and the Vice-Chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery under the leadership of Scott Spear. Dr Nahabedian has published over 200 scientific manuscripts, editorials, and discussions; served as principal or associate editor of 10 textbooks, and written 93 book chapters focused primarily on aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery. He was the Breast Section Editor for the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery from 2009 – 2017, remains on the editorial board of 4 journals, and is a reviewer for over 30 journals. Dr Nahabedian has been a visiting professor at 110 hospitals and universities globally and delivered over 1,000 lectures on breast related topics. He has chaired 20 plastic surgery conferences and has been the Chairman of the Annual Meeting for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons since 2018. He will serve as ASPS Board Vice President of Education for the 2019-2020 calendar year. Dr Nahabedian is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, American College of Surgeons, American Association of Plastic Surgeons and the Americas Hernia Society.

Professor Farhadi is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon and previous Director of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, London. He trained in Switzerland and London, where he developed a specialisation in aesthetic and reconstructive surgery of the breast, including microvascular breast reconstruction. Due to his extensive experience he has become an authority on this subject, where he is regularly invited as a speaker to national and international conferences. Professor Farhadi runs an active research group, where he has published widely. He is co-Chair of the European Master’s in surgical oncology, reconstructive and aesthetic breast surgery.

Dr Cordeiro is a renowned oncologic plastic surgeon with a special expertise in breast reconstruction, head and neck reconstruction, and microsurgical procedures. Within breast reconstruction his work has focused on long and short term surgical, aesthetic and patient reported outcomes in addition to extending the use of implants for breast reconstruction, particularly in the previously irradiated patient and patients who need post mastectomy radiation. Within head and neck he has described several defect specific classification systems with algorithms pertaining to free flap reconstruction, particularly in the area of the midface, mandible and the oropharynx. Dr Cordeiro received his MD degree from Harvard Medical School, completed his general surgery training at the Harvard Surgical Service and plastic surgery at New York University. He is currently Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University and holds the William G Cahan Chair in Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer where he served as Chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center from 2001 to 2016. Dr Cordeiro is the author of more than 300 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, two books, has served on 8 editorial boards including Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery, and Annals of Plastic Surgery and has delivered over 250 presentations and lectures around the world throughout the plastic & reconstructive surgical community.

Dr Sinikka Suominen is Adjunct Professor at the Plastic Surgery Department of the Helsinki University Hospital.

She completed her medical training in Helsinki, specialising both in general surgery and plastic surgery. She defended her PhD thesis on “Complications in Free Flap Surgery” in 1997, undertook a microsurgery fellowship at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan during 1999-2000, and was appointed as Adjunct Professor at Helsinki University in 2007.

She has been both President of the Finnish (2007-10) and Scandinavian (2010-12) Associations of Plastic Surgeons, member of EURAPS Exco and the Treasurer of ESPRAS (2010-14). She is a founding member of the Pyrenean Workshop on Plastic Surgery. She is one of the founders of the international master’s degree in reconstructive microsurgery programme (Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona) and its co-director since 2009.

Her main fields of interests are breast reconstruction, lymphoedema and supermicrosurgery, facial paralysis, head and neck surgery, and genital reconstruction.  She has contributed to 17 book chapters, 40 original articles, 9 review articles and given more than 90 invited international lectures.

Gemma Pons is a consultant plastic surgeon and Head of the Microsurgery Unit in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona. She was graduated from Universitat de Barcelona medical school in 1997. She undertook her training in Barcelona, Belgium, US and Japan.

As an accomplished clinician, her expertise focuses on breast reconstruction, lymphedema surgery and supermicrosurgery.

Gemma has authored and co-authored multiple articles and book chapters and presents her work internationally. She is actively involved in teaching both at undergraduate and post-graduate level.

Koenraad van Landuyt, MD, PhD Koenraad Van Landuyt is Associate Professor of Plastic Reconstructive Surgery at the Department of Plastic Surgery of the University Hospital Gent, Belgium. He is also appointed as Consultant Plastic Surgeon with a special interest in microsurgical breast reconstruction at the St Lucas Ziekenhuis Gent, Belgium. His main interest is reconstructive microsurgery, including paediatric and lower extremity, with a rather vast experience in autologous breast reconstruction. He is also involved as a tutor in the international Master’s degree in reconstructive microsurgery in the European School of Microsurgery at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain. Author/co-author of multiple articles in peer reviewed plastic surgery journals, he has published mainly on the different aspects of perforator flap surgery and as such has been an invited guest at multiple international conferences on the subject.

Alberto Rancati MD, PhD, graduated in 1984 from medical school at University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, he is board certified in general surgery, mastology, and plastic surgery. He undertook his training in plastic and oncologic surgery in Argentina, Italy and the USA. He is a member of ASPS (American Society of Plastic Surgeons), ISAPS, (International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery), and SACPER (Sociedad Argentina de Cirugia Plastica, and AAC (Asociacion Argentina de Cirugia) He is currently Chief of Oncoplastic Surgery at the Instituto Oncologico Henry Moore in Buenos Aires, and Director of Plastic Surgery for Latin America at the CFS -UCSD (Center for the Future of Surgery, at University of California, San Diego, USA. His private practice is based at Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dr Rancati has published comprehensively within the plastic surgery literature throughout his career and presents his work internationally at mastology and plastic surgery conferences. He is actively involved in teaching both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. His broad training and international fellowships have enabled him to develop special interests within the field of oncoplastic and aesthetic breast surgery.

Joanna Wakefield-Scurr is a Professor of Biomechanics and the Founder and Director of the Research Group in Breast Health at the University of Portsmouth. 

The Research Group is renowned for research on the biomechanics of the breast. The Group has been conducting fundamental and applied research into breast biomechanics since 2005 when it developed and published the first procedure to establish dynamic breast movement in three dimensions. During this time, the breast biomechanics of thousands of women have been assessed in a variety of conditions, contributing to a unique database of the forces acting through the breast tissue and the support requirements of the breast. Joanna is well known within the commercial sector, with research projects informing clincial practice and breast support design around the world.

The Group’s initiatives include: an Educational Outreach programme to improve understanding of the importance of breast support and bra fitting in schoolgirls; understanding the prevalence, impact and severity of breast pain in military service women; understanding the relationship between breast density and breast biomechanics in clinical populations.

Tine Engberg Damsgaard MD, PhD, MRBS, professor, consultant plastic surgeon, Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns Treatment, Copenhagen University Hospital and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen.

Upon finishing specialist training in plastic surgery, she served as a consultant plastic surgeon, and associate professor and subsequently as professor at Aarhus University and Aarhus University. In 2017 she completed the European Master's Degree in Surgical Oncology, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Breast Surgery at the Reconstructive Microsurgery European School. Recently in 2021 she completed the Barcelona Lymphedema Research and Clinical Fellowship.

Her clinical profession as well as main research area is centered on the multidisciplinary aspect of breast reconstruction, focusing on applying the optimal breast reconstructive procedure being it implant-based or autologous. In addition, her research also includes studies on Late-Effects after breast cancer-treatment, studying how these may be mitigated or prevented.

Vascular anomalies and gynecological reconstruction are also part of the research and clinical portfolio.

Isabel T. Rubio is the Head of Breast Surgical Oncology at Clinica Universidad de Navarra and Professor of Surgery at the University of Navarra in Madrid, Spain.  She trained for two years as a Breast Surgical Oncology Fellow at The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the Arkansas Cancer Center at Little Rock, USA and for one year at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, USA. She completed her PhD in 2000.  She is the director of the Breast Surgery Fellowship program at her Institution.

Dr. Rubio is active in many societies, as EUSOMA president (European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists), President-elect of the European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO), member of the Executive Committee at the European Cancer Organization, founding member and past President of the Spanish Association of Breast Surgeons (AECIMA), Board member of EUBREAST, and member of the SSO and the American Society of Breast Surgeons. 

She is associate editor in Breast of the Journal of Surgical Oncology, and reviewer for The Breast, the European Journal of Surgical Oncology and the Annals of Surgical Oncology. She obtained the European Board of Surgery Qualification in Breast Surgery and is officer at the UEMS Breast Surgery Division and participates as an examiner in the EBSQ Examinations in Breast Surgery.

Dr. Rubio has published over 130 peer review manuscripts and many book chapters.

Her interest is in sentinel lymph node biopsy, neoadjuvant treatments, surgical management of BRCA mutation carriers,  and the role of prognostic markers (genomic profiles, liquid biopsy). Also her interest is focused on the standardization of Breast surgical training and Breast units.

Marc Pacifico MD FRCS(Plast) is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon and currently the vice president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).

He is based in Tunbridge Wells, in the south east of the UK and practices out of his private independent clinic, Purity Bridge. He is particularly focussed on aesthetic surgery to the breast and face. 

His academic, surgical and practice achievements include, amongst others, being awarded the Gold Medal in the FRCS(Plast) exam, the publication of over 50 international peer-reviewed papers, being a regular invited speaker at international conferences and being the director of Purity Bridge, a prestigious aesthetic clinic, alongside his busy private surgical practice.

Marc Pacifico is a fully accredited specialist in plastic surgery, and is on the Specialist Register in Plastic Surgery with the GMC. He sits on the Council of BAAPS and is a member of BAPRAS and ISAPS.

Dr Randquist has been a Board certified plastic surgeon since 1996 and received his degree at Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm and Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, sub-specialising in microsurgery.

In the year 2000 he opened his own private hospital, Victoriakliniken (www.victoriakliniken.com).

Due to his experience since 1996 with form-stable, anatomical implants, his main focus became primary and re-constructive breast surgery. Over the years he has conducted studies on implants by various manufactures trying to understand the multilevel complexity of these procedures and the impact of different texturing, gels and shape and surgical technique on outcomes.

Since 2005 Dr Randquist offers Preceptorships in "How to run your best breast practice" based on the principals of the 5 Ps in his clinic, emphasising on how to create predictable outcomes with less short-/ and long-term complications.  

Dr Randquist believes in a simple message when teaching.

 “There is no perfect implant for every patient, nor is there a perfect implant for every Doctor. However, based on your World, there will always be better choices or not “

David Ross is Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, & King’s College Hospital, London

David Ross completed his undergraduate training at University College London and undertook his plastic surgical training largely in London and at the MD Andersen in Houston.

During this time he completed his MD thesis on oncogenes in melanoma and has a career long interest in post cancer reconstruction. 

He was appointed to St Thomas’ in 2000 and shortly there afterwards established the GKT Cancer Reconstruction Service.  This initially was dedicated to providing a full range of reconstructive options for the post mastectomy patient but this service also introduced the venous coupler to the UK as well as popularising other lesser microvascular techniques including the SGAP and TMG.

At the present time, David’s interests have extended to cancer reconstruction at other sites including the perineum and reconstructive colorectal surgery.

Professor Leo is Head of the Breast Center of Kantonsspital Baden, Switzerland and holds an adjunct professorship at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.

After a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University, she trained in Germany, becoming a board certified gynecologist. She specialised in breast surgery as well as in the oncological treatment of breast cancer. Another focus of her work lies on hereditary breast cancer and risk-reducing surgery. She runs an active research group and serves as co-investigator in a variety of clinical trials.

Due to her expertise in different aspects of breast cancer, she frequently contributes as a speaker to national and international conferences. Professor Leo serves currently as Vice President of the Swiss Society of Senology.

Dr Claudia Albornoz (MD, MSc) is a Plastic Surgeon and a Professor at the University of Chile. She holds a Master's in Epidemiology and a Fellowship in Breast Reconstruction and Microsurgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC, NY, US). She was awarded with the International Traveling Fellowship of the Plastic Surgery Foundation (PSF) in 2021. 

Dr Albornoz spent four years as an investigator in breast reconstruction quality of life at MSKCC; therefore restoring or improving quality of life in her patients are her main goal. Her clinical focus and passion is breast reconstruction after cancer (including autologous and implant reconstruction) and aesthetic breast surgery, and she has developed a breast reconstruction program in her Hospital. 

Dr Albornoz is a dedicated teacher and an advocate for gender equity in surgery. She is currently the President of the Female Surgeon Department of the Chilean Surgical Society.

Mr Ragbir was born in Trinidad and attended medical school at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. He has been a consultant at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust since 2006, following working as a consultant in the Caribbean.

The majority of his current work is with head and neck reconstruction and sarcoma (bone and soft tissue cancers) excision and reconstruction, for which his work is internationally recognised. He is widely published in all areas including reconstruction following sarcoma excision.

He is currently the lead clinician for the bone and soft tissue tumour service for the North of England, which sees patients referred with rare tumours from across the northern region including breast sarcomas.

He is an examiner for the FRCS (Plast), previous Chair of the SAC (Specialist Advisory Committee), 2020 Plastic Surgery trainer of the year and the President Elect of BAPRAS.

Virgilio Sacchini, MD, is Attending Surgeon in the Breast Service of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and Full Professor of Surgery at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York. He was director of the  Breast Department at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, Italy from May 2016 until December 2017.

Dr Sacchini received his medical degree and general surgery specialisation from the University of Milan Medical School and trained in surgical oncology  at the National Cancer Institute in Milan. In the last 20 years Dr Sacchini has being involved as PI and co-investigator in several clinical trials in breast cancer.

Dr Sacchini is considered a worldwide expert in the treatment of breast cancer with more than 400 breast cancer surgeries every year.

Dr Sacchini has published more than 190 research papers and  chapter books.

Dr Mark Nathan is a Consultant Medical Oncologist treating breast cancer at Guy’s Hospital having joined in 2017. He also runs clinics at Princess Royal University Hospital in Sidcup.

Dr Nathan originates from London and graduated from the Bart’s and the London Medical School in 2006. He undertook his basic training in and around North East London before returning to complete his higher Oncology training at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.

He spent three years obtaining his PhD as an AVON clinical research fellow at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre where he also participated in clinics at the Royal Marsden Hospital.

Chief, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery; Director, Supermicrosurgery International Lymphedema Center (SILC); Director, Lymphatic Supermicrosurgery ACT Program, National Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM), Tokyo, Japan

Dr Yamamoto is a chief in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, National Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM). He is currently an Executive Committee and the Asia Young Lymphologist Officer of International Society of Lymphology.

He specialises in all fields of reconstructive microsurgeries for cancer, trauma, congenital, and any other aetiology cases. Among various fields of reconstructive microsurgery, he is working especially on supermicrosurgical reconstruction and lymphedema surgery, developing new methods for less invasive treatments and more practically-useful evaluations. He is an expert in supermicrosurgical reconstructions in various fields of reconstructive microsurgery, including head/neck, breast, hand, genital, lower extremity, and lymphatic surgery.

Dr Yamamoto has published over 195 peer-reviewed PubMed-indexed articles among which over 93 articles are published as the first author. He has been invited to give lectures at 100+ national and international symposiums and meetings and to perform live demonstrations and surgeries abroad on 100+ cases.

Giulia Lo Russo MD, Board in Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery. In the past 20 years she was a full time consultant in plastic surgery and also fully involved at the University of Florence as a researcher in the surgery and translational medicine department.

Member of S.I.C.P.R.E, A.I.C.P.E and ISAPS, currently, her private practice is dedicated mostly in breast surgery and cosmetic surgery for facial rejuvenation and body contouring.

Her main fields of interests are in breast reconstructive and cosmetic surgery, especially in the gender affirmation field, in which she is currently active with publications, meetings and article's reviews. Since 2021 she is an active member of the SIGIS (Italian of gender identity health) commission.

During the last 3 years she joined both her private practice activity at the Day Surgery M. Bufalini in Florence and her work on masculine chest-wall contouring in FTM at the public health system at Villa Laura in Bologna.

Dung Hoang Nguyen, MD, PharmD, is a Clinical Professor in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at   Stanford University. She is Director of Breast Reconstruction, Director of the Stanford Adult Plastics, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Clinics, and Associate Director of Microsurgery Fellowship.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and was awarded the Herbert Young Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement from University of California, Davis. She went on to receive a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from University of California, San Francisco and a medical degree from University of California, San Diego. She
completed her internship and residency in general surgery and a residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery at University of Southern California Medical Center. She is fellowship trained in reconstructive microsurgery from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan.

Dr Nguyen’s primary clinical interests are in breast reconstruction, complex tissue reconstruction utilising microsurgery and supermicrosurgery, surgical treatment of lymphedema including vascularized lymph node transfer and lymphaticovenous anastomosis, gender affirmation surgery, and aesthetic surgery.

In addition to her clinical commitment, Dr. Nguyen has research interests in lymphedema treatment and in breast reconstruction. She is involved in research that aims to restore breasts that are natural and sensate after breast reconstruction. She is leading the effort to establish an evidence-based clinical treatment program for lymphedema
at Stanford. She also enjoys volunteering on overseas medical missions and is passionate about developing sustainable reconstructive microsurgery training programs around the world.