2990 Microsurgery.qxd - O'Brien Institute

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Director’s Report Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery The EMSU team, Dr Ruitong Fan, Sue McKay and Lisa Barton with surgeons, Mr Allan MacLeod and Mr Tony Penington. STAFF Mr Tony Penington was appointed senior lecturer in the Department of Surgery and senior research fellow at Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery in January 1998. Tony, after completing his medical degree at Melbourne University and fellowship in plastic and reconstructive surgery in 1995 undertook a Doctorate of Medicine at the Bernard O’Brien Institute and completed his research at Oxford under the supervision of Professor Peter Morris on the effects of ischaemia on endothelial cells. He was also appointed senior registrar at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, where he gained further experience in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Tony brings back expertise in a broad field of plastic surgery, including paediatrics as well as having a strong research background. He has a fertile and inquiring mind and will play a major role in forging new directions and supervising fellows and students at the Institute. Dr Alastair Stewart left us after six years to take up an appointment as senior lecturer in Professor Jim Angus’ Department of Pharmacology, Melbourne University, earlier this year. This was a great blow as Alastair has played a key role in directing our research focus, introducing new ideas and generally driving our program to new heights scientifically. His international reputation in the field of nitric oxide and his broad knowledge of the basic sciences generally enhanced our standing as a competitive scientific institute. Fortunately Alastair stays on in a part-time capacity, supervising ongoing projects and as a collaborator. We wish him well in his new direction and are confident that he will contribute greatly to pharmacology at Melbourne University. In like manner we thank his team, Trudi Harris, Ross Vlahos, Elizabeth Guida, Darren Fernandes, Anne Pirdas-Zivcic, Claire Ravenhall, Val Koutsoubos and Tamara Konopka, who have contributed so much to our Institute, both scientifically and socially. Dr Dan Crowe left us in February to take a new career path in science teaching. Dan had become part of our institution, having done his PhD with us and post-doctoral research. He made significant original contributions to the literature on the fate of blood vessel grafts and the development of potential vascular substitutes. He contributed broadly to many of the projects involving histopathology and was a valuable team member. He will especially missed in his key role in the Institute’s football team. We wish him well in his new career. We are delighted to have appointed Professor John Hamilton as part-time senior scientific director as of October 1998. John Hamilton is a senior principal research fellow, National Medical Research Council of Australia and Director of the Inflammation Research Centre, University of Melbourne Department of Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital. He has a very high profile nationally and internationally and an enviable record at attracting NHMRC and other research grants. His research is focused on inflammation, especially macrophage function and arthritis, but in many ways it overlaps our own research, especially with respect to wound healing, ischaemia-reperfusion injury and angiogenesis. John has been a long supporter of the Bernard O’Brien Institute as a scientific adviser and we see this as an exciting new collaboration with great potential. 9
Director’s Report Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery Left to Right: John Davis, Warwick Barnard, John Bower, Scott Baker, Sandra Pheney, Lawrie Austin, Tim Bennett, Professor Wayne Morrison, John Kurek and Professor Richard Bennett. FELLOWS Research fellows from overseas and Australia, many doing postgraduate degrees, contribute to the research program and as well participate in clinical work within St Vincent’s Hospital. Each undertakes a one year or more fellowship and gains a certificate in microsurgery and hand surgery. The following surgeons undertook microsurgery research during the period of this report. Tim Bennett, Melbourne ‘The role of LIF in peripheral nerve regeneration’ Tim spent two and a half years at Bernard O’Brien Institute and is currently completing his MD. In his last 12 months he was appointed as plastic surgeon on the staff of St Vincent’s Hospital and as a consultant to the Skin and Cancer Foundation. He elucidated many of the actions of LIF in peripheral nerve and muscle and participated in several collaborative projects related to muscular dystrophy under the direction of Dr Lawrie Austin. Tim is currently undertaking further clinical plastic surgery training in Leeds, U.K. Yoshio Tanaka, Osaka, Japan ‘Tissue matrix generation’ Yoshio, an Associate Professor in Plastic Surgery in Osaka, spent fourteen months with us researching tissue engineering. He has made several original observations which have potential clinical applications, especially for 10 reconstruction of tissue defects. Yoshio also contributed greatly to clinical microsurgery at St Vincent’s Hospital. He returned to Osaka mid year and it is hoped that he will be able to return in the near future to continue this exciting work with us. Milind Wagh, Mumbai, India ‘Angiogenesis and joint transplantation’ Milind was involved in several research projects including the development of a model of angiogenesis in the mouse to enable “knockout technology” to be applied. He also experimented on rat knee allografting and other core projects as well as playing a role in clinical microsurgery. He returned to Mumbai as a consultant plastic surgeon. Zi-Jun Zhang, Beijing, China ‘Bone induction’ Zi-Jun spent six months at Bernard O’Brien Institute and six months in the Department of Orthopaedics. He researched demineralised bone and hydroxyapatite and their applications for the prefabrication of vascularised bone grafts. Ruitong Fan, Guizhou, China A Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Guizhou, China, Ruitong comes to our Institute with a large experience in plastic surgical head and neck reconstruction. He completed his PhD on the growth of rib grafts for temporomandibular joint reconstruction. He is now investigating the prevention of nerve scar (neuroma) formation in damaged nerves using neurotoxins. Glykeria Pantazi, Greece ‘Cold storage of muscle and skin flaps’ Glykeria, a plastic surgeon from Greece, is researching drugs which can potentially preserve tissues and prolong their survival before the reattachment or transplantation. These fellows are the lifeblood of the Institute. Not only do they learn microsurgery and partake in the research program but they contribute enormously from an intellectual, cultural and social viewpoint. Since the Institute began more than 200 fellows from more than 30 countries have trained at the Institute and St Vincent’s. Many have returned to their home country to establish Microsurgery Centres and become leaders in their field. A large alumni group now exists which frequently meets at international meetings. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Microsurgery Foundation I would like to acknowledge the outstanding effort that has been again made by the Board of Directors of the Microsurgery Foundation which is responsible for a significant part of the funding of the Institute. Without their tireless contributions the Institute could not survive. It is with great sadness that we report the untimely death of Jeanette Edwards on 15 April 1998. Jeanette gave many years of untiring service to the Board and was admired and liked by all who knew her. Her achievements and contributions are cited on the inside back cover.
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Page 7 and 8: Overview of Research Bernard O’Br
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2990 Microsurgery.qxd - O'Brien Institute

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