Topic: Latest Advances and State of the Art in Breast Reconstruction – An International Cutting Edge Virtual Symposium

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Raymund E. Horch, M.D., is a tenured Professor for Plastic and Hand Surgery and chairman of the Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery and Laboratory for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine at the University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuernberg. After completing his training as a surgeon at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University in Bonn, Germany, he trained as a Plastic and Hand Surgeon at the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, Hand Surgery and Burn Center Klinikum Koeln-Merheim, University of Witten-Herdecke. From 1994 he acted as a vice chairman at the Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery at the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg i.Br.. Since his appointment as a tenured Professor at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuernberg in 2003 he is acting as chairman of the Department to date. He is recognized nationally and internationally for his research in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine as well as for his clinical achievements in furthering microsurgical reconstructions in difficult to treat wounds, including vascularly compromised patients and in interdisciplinary surgical approaches to optimize patient safety and outcome after resectional tumor surgery. He has been involved in microsurgical breast reconstruction for long and has introduced and helped to standardize modern imaging techniques and tools to optimize operative procedures and patient safety in microsurgical reconstructions. He acted as a President of the German Society of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons and is a member of various boards of Plastic and Microsurgical Societies and served as Spokesman of all Surgical Departments of the University Hospital Erlangen from 2011-2021.
He has currently published more than 550 peer reviewed scientific papers, various textbooks and numerous text book contributions and has been awarded multiple prestigious awards including various honorary academic titles.

Prof. Dr. Howard N. Langstein, M.D., is a Professor of Plastic Surgery (SMD) at the Department of Surgery and is the Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center, bringing a wealth of experience to the Rochester area, particularly in microvascular reconstruction. After completing his specialty training Langstein served in various surgical positions at Mercy Hospital and the University of Pittsburgh before he returned to Houston in 1998 where he was eventually promoted to associate professor at M.D. Anderson and named director of the Department of Plastic Surgery Graduate Medical Education Programs before he moved to Rochester, NY.
Dr. Langstein is a well known lecturer and has published numerous scientific papers and text book contributions. He has received various awards for his scientific and teaching activities. In addition to microvascular reconstruction expertise, Langstein has special interest in breast, head and neck surgery, as well as cosmetic procedures. Due to his large experience with all aspects of reconstruction for breast cancer patients, he is nationally and internationally well known for his achievements in utilizing either using the patient's own tissues or implants and supportive matrices to optimize alloplastic reconstructions and abdominal wall reconstructions. His spectrum covers all techniques that are helpful for patients undergoing a mastectomy or for those who need a partial mastectomy (lumpectomy).

Prof. Dr. Andreas Arkudas, M.D. is an Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery, acting as the vice chairman of the Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery and Laboratory for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine at the University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuernberg. After graduating from Hannover Medical School in Germany he completed his specialty training at the Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University Hospital of Erlangen. He is a member of various surgical societies, and has been awarded several times for his scientific achievements regarding Tissue Engineering approaches with prevascularization of large constructs utilizing microsurgical arteriovenous loops. His clinical focus lies on reconstructive microsurgery, including all types of flaps and indications with a special interest in microsurgical breast reconstruction. He investigated the influence of various modalities of pre-amd intraoperative imaging tools to optimize microsurgical outcomes and patient safety, having published more than 180 scientific peer reviewed papers and book chapters.

Prof. Dr. Jung-Ju Huang, M.D., is an Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan, Republic of China. After graduating from Taipei Medical University, she collected international experience as a clinical observer at the University of California, Irvin and Tokyo University Hospital and as a research fellow at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She completed her board certifications in Surgery and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in the Republic of China and is a member of various national and international professional societies. Dr. Jung-Ju Huang served as Secretary in General of the Asian Society for Breast Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASBPRS). She has received numerous aweards and honours in Taiwan and abroad.
She has a special interest in breast reconstructive surgery and has together with her mentor Fu-Chan Wei pioneered robotic surgery in breast reconstruction.

Prof. Fu-Chan Wei, M.D., is a Professor of Plastic Surgery from Taipei, Taiwan. He is a world-renowned pioneer in reconstructive microsurgery. After a stint as vice superintendent of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taipei, was promoted to director and served as dean of the Chang Gung Medical College between 2003 and 2011. He is one of the most influential and innovative surgeons in the history of plastic surgery. The Taiwanese legend is the innovator of the osteoseptocutaneous fibula flap, which revolutionized the reconstruction of composite bone and soft tissue defects in the jaw and extremities. He has pioneered several perforator flaps, including the free style variety.
He has taken toe-to-hand microsurgical transplantation to a whole new level. He is not only recognized for his surgical skills and clinical innovations, but also for his vision, leadership, and teaching. The establishment and development of the famous Microsurgery Center at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital is unparalleled anywhere. The international fellowship program in microsurgery there remains the envy of all microsurgical trainees. Dr. Wei and his colleagues have trained and influenced more than 1,500 surgeons from all over the world. Numerous scientific publications and text books have been issued by him and he was awarded with the highest honors. Among other awards Wei became the first surgeon elected to Academia Sinica membership and he received one of three individual Global Healthcare Awards from the Taiwan Global Healthcare Association, and in addition Wei together with others was awarded Taiwan's Presidential Science Prize.

Prof. Dr. Arash Momeni (Assistant Professor of Surgery) is the Ryan-Upson Scholar and Director of Clinical Outcomes Research in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Stanford University. He trained at the University of Freiburg (Germany), and completed a second residency in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Stanford University.
Prof. Dr. Momeni is recognized nationally and internationally for his research in clinical outcomes after microsurgical reconstruction and Evidence-based medicine (EBM). He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications and numerous chapters in major plastic surgery textbooks. He speaks regularly at national and international meetings and is an ad hoc reviewer for numerous scientific journals. Among other clinical fields he has a clinical focus on reconstructive microsurgery, especially including perforator flaps and abdominal wall reconstruction, and all reconstructive modalities following mastectomy. He received numerous prestigious awards and honors and acts in multiple boards, advisory committees and professional organizations.