The activities of this committee have been recently resurrected and so are currently being developed. We are responsible for updating the FESSH White Book and the FESSH Travel Awards.

FESSH Academy Foundation Course, which is intended to run annually over a four-day period and cover the principles of management of all of the common problems in hand surgery, as well as basic science and practical sessions. The content is delivered by well known speakers from around Europe and beyond. FESSH offers limited number of special registration fee for its member societies’ delegates.

We look forward to seeing you at the FESSH congress and we would be pleased to discuss any suggestions for future committee activities….

Jonathan Hobby, chair (UK), FRCS MD, chair of the Education Committee is a Consultant Hand Surgeon working at the Hampshire Hospitals in the UK. Mr Hobby was President of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand in 2022, and was the program chair for the combined IFSSH/FESSH meeting in London. He was chairman of the BSSH sixth series of instructional courses in Hand Surgery. He has served on the UK general medical council’s  specialist advisory committee for training orthopaedic surgery (2017-22). His research interests include imaging in the wrist, outcome measures in hand surgery, fractures, small joint replacement and the psychological aspects of hand surgery.

 

Balazs Lenkei, co-chair (Hungary) Hand Surgery Department in the BAZ County Teaching Hospital, director of TritonLife Debrecen Private Hospital, AO Hungary National Faculty member, examiner in the FESSH Examination Committee, examiner at the Hungarian National Hand Surgery training program, examiner at the Hungarian National Traumatology training program. Dr Lenkei started to work in 2003. Currently he is associate leader of a trauma and hand surgery center in Miskolc, Hungary. His interest in upper extremity injuries and disorders is supported in the hospital, but as a trauma surgeon he is also involved in operations of ankle or hip fractures. He enjoys teaching younger colleagues, Since 2019 he is examiner at the FESSH Examination Committee.

Camillo Fulchignoni, co-chair (Italy), is a consultant in the Hand Surgery Department at Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCSS in Rome. He has an Orthopedic training, but spent most of his training in the Hand Department of this hospital. During his training he also spent 6 months as a fellow in Paris at Institut de la Main, and spent his last year visiting Dr Battiston in Torino and Dr Felici in Rome as winner of the Italian Society for Hand Surgery (SICM) fellowship program, specializing in Microsurgery and Orthoplastic Surgery. Moreover, he is actually a PhD student in Oncological Sciences. He is actually YEHS (Young European Hand Surgeons) President, and past Secretary ; and he is currently EJD (European Junior Doctors) representative at UEMS (European Union of Medical Specialists) for Hand Surgery.

 

Nicolas Bigorre (France) is a consultant at the Hand Trauma Center in Angers, where he also resided in orthopaedics before specialising in hand surgery from 2012.
In addition to his engagement in the training of hand surgery residents at his home university, he has held the position of co-director of the microsurgery diploma in Angers since 2019.
On a national level, he was elected Secretary General of the French College of Hand Surgery in 2022. In this role, he works to improve the teaching of this specialty to align standards with those of the EBSH, from which he graduated in 2015. He has also been a consultant member of the Société Française de Chirurgie de la Main since 2022.
His research focuses mainly on traumatology of the hand, trapeziometacarpal join osteoarthritis and neurological canal syndromes and amyloidosis.

 

Dean Boyce (UK) Dean Boyce is Clinical Director of the Welsh Hand & Peripheral Nerve Surgery and the Welsh Centre for Plastic Surgery & Burns. He was appointed in 2003 after training in South Wales, the West Midlands, Manchester, Wrightington, and Sydney, Australia. He has a strong academic background, having been awarded a Hunterian Professorship for research into human and foetal scarless wound healing. His current research areas mirror his clinical interests in peripheral nerve & brachial plexus surgery, congenital hand surgery, upper limb cerebral palsy and Dupuytren’s disease. He is heavily involved in postgraduate training as selection lead for the UK ATP Fellowships in Hand Surgery and as past Chair of Education & Training for the British Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. He is the Immediate Past President of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand, and a Council Member of the British Association for Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery.

 

Maurizio Calcagni (Switzerland) is adjunct professor of Hand Surgery and Deputy Chairman of the Dept. of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery at the University Zurich. He is current President of the Swiss Society for Hand Surgery and of the European Board of Hand Surgery (EBHS). In the past he served as Chairman of the Examination Committee of FESSH (2010-2016) and as Secretary General (2017-2020). He graduated from Torino University and did his post-graduated training in Torino and Paris. His research interests include outcome measurements in the hand and wrist, flexor tendon healing and tissue engineering and surgical training.

 

Elisabeth Haas-Lützenberger (Germany) studied human medicine at the Paracelsus Medical University (PMU) in Salzburg (Austria). In 2012 she started her professional career as a resident at the Division for Handsurgery, Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery at the University Hospital, LMU Munich. She completed her residency in 2018 and currently works as a senior consultant for Hand, Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery.

Her particular interest in Hand surgery was mainly determined in 2013 when she was awarded with the FESSH Travel Award and had the chance to visit FESSH Hand Trauma Centers in France and Italy. The Travel Award gave her the chance to get in touch with top European Hand surgeons helping her to substantiate her general interest in Education in Hand surgery.

Besides her work with students at her home university, she was co-founder in 2017 of YEHS (Young European Hand Surgeons) and worked as an executive board member until 2022 (vice-president & head of social media). On national level, Elisabeth was elected as president of the Young Forum of the DGH (German Society for Hand Surgery; 2017 to 2021). She acts as a permanent reviewer for two high-profile national Journals, namely “HaMiPla” and “Unfallchirurg”. In her research, Elisabeth is focusing on: Regenerative Therapies, Stem Cells, Brachial Plexus, Hand Trauma, Osteoarthritis, and peripheral nerve surgery.

 

Wee Lam (UK, Singapore) graduated from the University of Edinburgh and did his basic surgical training in Leeds. Thereafter he completed his Plastic Surgery training in Manchester, followed by a microsurgery fellowship at Chang Gong Memorial hospital, Taiwan, a hand fellowship in Sheffield, UK and a congenital hand fellowship at Great Ormond Street, London. Mr Lam was a Consultant Plastic and Hand Surgeon at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Edinburgh and St John’s Hospital, Livingston until 2023 when he returned to Singapore for a post as Senior Consultant at Singapore General Hospital. His interest is in both adult and paediatric hand surgery, particularly nerve-related injuries including the management of stroke and spasticity disorders. He has a keen interest in research and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Hand Surgery (European volume).

 

Caroline Leclercq (France) is a senior hand surgeon at the Institut de la Main (Paris France), of which she is the current President, after Raoul Tubiana then Alain Gilbert.
Former President of the French Society for Surgery of the Hand, and member of the French “Académie de Chirurgie”, she is also Honorary member of the British (BSSH) and the Australian Society for Surgery of the Hand, and Member of the American (ASSH), Hellenic, Italian and Colombian Societies for Surgery of the Hand.
Her main sub-specialty is neuro-orthopaedics of the upper limb, especially in the fields of tetraplegia and spasticity. She organizes yearly Master Classes on the treatment of the Spastic Upper Limb, and is a consultant in 10 neurological rehabilitation centers (both adult and children). Her current clinical research involves nerve procedures in the treatment of spasticity. Her other fields of interest, besides paralytic and spastic upper limb, are Dupuytren’s disease, sports injuries, and hand tumors.
She is the author of 7 books and more than 100 scientific articles and book chapters, and has presented more than 70 oral presentations at National and International Society Meetings. She is heavily involved in post-graduate teaching, both nationally and internationally. She was Assistant Editor of the European Journal of Hand Surgery for 9 years and is a member of the FESSH (Federation of European Societies for Surgery of the Hand) Education Committee.

 

Mirjam Thielen (Germany) is the head of the Department of Hand Surgery at St. Elisabeth Hospital in Straubing. She is board-certified in Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery and was trained at Heidelberg University Hospital and the BG Trauma Center in Ludwigshafen. She is actively involved in training younger colleagues in Hand Surgery, as well as students at her home university in Orthopedic, Trauma, and Hand Surgery. In 2023, she had the great opportunity to be one of the FESSH/SICM traveling fellows in Italy and visited different centers in Milan and Torino. This fellowship was an exceptional experience, expanding her perspectives, enriching her horizon, and substantially increasing her general interest in education in Hand Surgery. Her research interests focus on 3D movement analysis of the upper limb, including the hand, as well as diagnostics and outcome measures for patients with a spastic upper limb.

 

 

Nikolai Karpinski: Observer from the Communication Committee   Email: socialmedia@fessh.com