ESSR Brendel Prize Winner
Maitane I. Orue-Echebarria González, MD
Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón
Dr. Maitane Orue-Echebarria graduated in Medicine in Bilbao, Spain in 2014. In 2015 she began her training as a General and Digestive Surgeon at the General University Hospital Gregorio Marañón in Madrid, Spain. Since the beginning of her career as a surgeon, Dr. Orue-Echebarria has been closely linked to research, participating in the Experimental Surgery Service of her hospital. The research projects in which she participates are in the field of hepatobiliopancreatic surgery, as well as the transplant field. She is member of the Spanish Society of Liver Transplantion. Dr. Orue-Echebarria is developing her doctoral thesis on hepatic regeneration, and it is because of this that she is attending the Academic Surgical Congress as a recipient of the Walter Brendel Award from the European Society for Surgical Research.
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS)-SRS
Jonathan Karpelowsky, MBBCh, FCS, Cert Paed Surg, FRACS,PhD
Associate Professor
University of Sydney
Associate Professor Jonathan Karpelowsky is a paediatric surgeon at the University of Sydney and Children’s Hospital Westmead, Sydney, Australia. He initially undertook his training in Cape Town. He remained on as a senior specialist at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital during which time he completed his PhD. In 2010 he migrated to Australia. Assoc. Prof Karpelowsky has over 60 publications in peer reviewed journals and major paediatric surgical text books. He is active in clinical and basic science research in the areas of paediatric oncology, thoracic conditions of childhood and clinical trials in paediatric surgery. He leads a basic science research group looking at liquid biopsies in paediatric cancer. He also has a number of collaborations with biomedical engineering looking at augmented intraoperative reality. He is the current Chairperson of the Board of Paediatric Surgery, which oversees paediatric surgery training in Australia and New Zealand, and is the Chairperson of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Paediatric Surgery scientific Sub- Committee.
Surgical Research Society of Southern Africa (SRS of SA) SRS of SA Chair
Esmé le Grange, MB;ChB, M.Med.(Surg)
Head: Clinical Unit/Senior Lecturer: Paediatric Surgery
Faculty / Fakulteit: Health Sciences / Gesondheidswetenskappe
University of the Free State
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Esmé le Grange was born in Bloemfontein and matriculated in 1979 at Fauresmith in the south-western Free State. She got the degree MB;ChB in 1986 from the then UOFS and did her internship in the Bloemfontein Academic Complex. A few years’ experience in a rural hospital in Empangeni, northern Kwazulu-Natal, prepared her for her return to the Academy. She obtained the degree M.Med.(Surg) in 1996, again at the UOFS. Then followed a few years as military surgeon at 3 Mil Hosp in Bloemfontein, during which time she qualified both as a flight and diving medical officer, while at the same time obtaining her wings as the first parachuting surgeon in the force. She then decided to follow a dream and went to Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town for a fellowship in Paediatric Surgery. She was one of the first two people in South Africa to write the newly introduced examination for fellows and got the Certificate in Paediatric Surgery in September 2002. After another six months as a consultant in Red Cross Children’s Hospital, she was appointed in her current position as Clinical Head/Senior Lecturer: Paediatric Surgery in Universitas Hospital and the University of the Free State. She accredited the unit with the Health Professions Council of South Africa for full training status. She has a special interest in neonatal – and oncology surgery. Her hobbies include photography, birding and off-road excursions.
Society of Academic & Research Surgery (SARS)
SARS President-Elect 2019-2020
Dileep N Lobo, MS, DM, FRCS, FACS, FRCPE
Professor of Gastrointestinal Surgery
Deputy Head of Division
Dileep N. Lobo is Professor of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Consultant Hepatopancreaticobiliary Surgeon and Deputy Head of Division of the Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre at the University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals, UK. He qualified from Bangalore University, India and has trained in Chandigarh, Nottingham and Leicester. He was awarded a DM degree with distinction by the University of Nottingham for his work on fluid and electrolytes and is a recipient of the Sir David Cuthbertson Medal for his contributions to the field of Nutrition and Metabolism. He has been awarded the prestigious James IV Society of Surgeons Traveller’s Award, the Moynihan Fellowship by the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland and the Hunterian Professorship by the Royal College of Surgeons of England. His clinical interests focus on surgery of the pancreas and biliary tree. His research interests include surgical nutrition and metabolism, fluid and electrolyte balance and pancreatic cancer. He has published over 230 peer-reviewed articles and currently has an H-index of 49 and an I10 of 127. He is currently Associate Editor of Clinical Nutrition. He was awarded the Fellowship of the American College of Surgeons in 2010 and was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 2013. He is Chair of the Scientific Committees of the ERAS Society and the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. He has been Honorary Secretary of the Society of Academic and Research Surgery and President of the International Association for Surgical Metabolism and Nutrition. He will be President Elect of the Society for Academic and Research Surgery in 2019-20 and President in 2021-22.
SARS Patey Prize Winner
Francesca E. Ludwinski, BSc, MRes, PhD
Post-Doctoral Research Associate
Department of Academic Vascular Surgery
St Thomas’ Hospital
London
Francesca Ludwinski is currently a British Heart Foundation-funded post-doctoral research associate in the Academic Department of Vascular Surgery at King’s College London. After completing her BSc in Medical Biochemistry at King’s College London in 2008, she pursued her interest in regenerative medicine, first earning her MRes in Tissue Engineering for Regenerative Medicine followed by a PhD elucidating the phenotype of intervertebral disc cells to better inform novel cell based therapies, both at the University of Manchester. Following this, she moved back to London in 2013 and since then has been working under Professors Modarai and Smith investigating strategies for enhancing the efficacy of monocyte cell therapy to treat critical limb ischaemia. Her research is focussed in two key areas: describing the mechanisms that underpin the functional impairment of arteriogenic monocytes in critical limb ischaemia patients and how this might be modulated to rescue their phenotype for use in autologous cell-based treatments; and the use of alginate encapsulation technologies to enhance the retention and efficacy of therapeutic monocytes in the ischaemic limb. In addition to this, her expertise in stem cell biology has enabled her to undertake collaborative work with Mr. Ash Patel investigating the potential role of adipose-derived stem cells for treating limb ischaemia. In addition to her academic work, Dr. Ludwinski has a keen interest in inspiring future scientists, and regularly attends STEM and outreach events, and in her spare time loves hiking, baking and natural history.
Japan Surgical Society (JSS Chairman of the International Society)
Takao Ohki, MD, PhD
Professor and Chief of the Department of Vascular Surgery
Jikei University School of Medicine
Takao Ohki, MD, PhD is the Chairman of the Department of Surgery and Professor and Chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery at Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan. He is also the Professor of Surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals, and 3 text books. He has also contributed chapters to over 40 books and holds several patents related to medical devices. Dr. Ohki is a member of the editorial board of 6 scientific journals including the Journal of Vascular Surgery, Journal of Endovascular Therapy and Annals of Vascular Surgery. He is the Chief Editor for Endovascular Today. He has served as the Chairman or Executive Committee Member of a number of medical symposiums and meetings. Dr. Ohki is currently the Chairman of the Japan Endovascular Symposium and President of the Japanese Society for Endovascular Therapy. He is a board member of 7 different academic societies including the Japan Surgical Society, Japanese Society for Cardiovascular Surgery, Japanese Society for Vascular Surgery, and the International College of Angiology. Dr. Ohki has given over 500 invited and named lectures and performed surgery in 13 countries around the world. In addition, he has been the principal investigator on a wide variety of clinical studies involving AAA, carotid artery stenting and several other clinical studies. He is considered one of the pioneers of endovascular therapy for AAAs and Peripheral arterial disease and was awarded the lifetime research achievement award from the International College of Angiology.
Dr. Ohki graduated from the Jikei University School of Medicine, in Tokyo in 1987, where he received his MD and PhD. He completed internship and general surgery residency at the Jikei University Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. In 1995, he moved to Montefiore Medical Center in New York, US, where he became the Chief of Endovascular Program in 1998 and Chief of Vascular Surgery in 2002 and Professor of Surgery, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2005. He has medical licenses in Japan and the US.
JSS Highest Scoring Abstract Award
Naoki Takada, MD
Assistant Professor
Department of Surgery, The Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan
Dr. Naoki Takada is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at The Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan. Dr. Takada graduated from The Jikei University School of Medicine in 2011, and joined the Department of Surgery at The Jikei University School of Medicine in 2013. He practices in the field of gastroenterological surgery and has been a certified surgeon since 2017.