AAPS - June, 2009 Newsletter

President’s Message

Bahman Guyuron, MD

I cherish this prodigious honor bestowed upon me by the most prestigious plastic surgery organization. As I indicated during the business meeting, we are determined, with the support of our Board, to make a good deal of progress. The Strategic Planning Meeting held during 2008 has provided us unparalleled opportunities to make some meaningful changes. We have recruited the minds and capabilities of our committee chairs and task force teams to come up with intriguing ideas and our Board has decided to implement as many of the recommendations as possible. We, indeed, are off to a superb start.

Germane to the area of “Relationships and Partnerships”, we have sent out three letters to the leaders of the different plastic surgery organizations inviting them to participate in joint initiatives to produce new policies related to conflicts of interest, investments, and code of ethics. Additionally, during conference calls with the Education Task Force and Program Committee, we have come up with the idea of shifting some of the Annual Meeting activities from Monday morning to the prior Sunday evening to provide us additional time for the scientific presentations. This has been enthusiastically embraced by the membership (via a survey) and approved by the Board and will be implemented through Dr. Gosain’s Program Committee.

On the research front, we have plans for inclusion of many of the recommendations from Dr. Butler’s committee. In fact, their recommendations are in a variety of stages of implementation. The Research Task Force is also collaborating with the Issues Task Force to augment the visibility and recognition that plastic surgeons deserve. Although this has been an extremely active quarter, there is a great deal more to be accomplished to advance the Association. We will keep you informed as we make progress.

More than 400 join AAPS at the 2009 Annual Meeting in Rancho Mirage

More photos from the Annual Meeting are available on the photos page.

AAPS Welcomes 37 New Members

The AAPS was pleased to welcome 37 new members during the New Member Breakfast at the Annual Meeting.

Kaveh Alizadeh, MD, Garden City, NY
Stephen Baker, MD, Washington, DC
Steven Bernard, MD, Cleveland, OH
David Brown, MD, Ann Arbor, MI
David Bryan, MD, Burlington, MA
Peter Butler, MD London, UK
Richard D’Amico, MD, Englewood, NJ
Steven Davison, MD, Washington, DC
David Drake, MD, Charlottesville, VA
Frederick Duffy, Jr., MD, Dallas, TX
Raymond Dunn, MD, Worcester, MA
Lisa Gould, MD, Tampa, FL
Karol Gutowski, MD, Madison, WI
Juliana Hansen, MD, Portland, OR
Robertson Harrop, MD, Calgary, AB Canada
Randy Hauck, MD, Hershey, PA
Mark Hendrickson, MD, Cleveland, OH
Stefan Hofer, MD, Toronto, ON Canada
Richard Hopper, MD, Seattle, WA
R. Michael Johnson, MD, Dayton, OH
Loree Kalliainen, MD, St. Paul, MN
Steven Kronowitz, MD, Houston, TX
John Meara, MD, Boston, MA
Delora Mount, MD, Madison, WI
Kenneth Murray, MD, Winnipeg, MB Canada
James Namnoum, MD, Atlanta, GA
Wayne Ozaki, MD, Westlake Village, CA
Susan Scott, MD, New York, NY
Michele Shermak, MD, Baltimore, MD
Maria Siemionow, MD, Cleveland, OH
Paul Smith, MD, Tampa, FL
Mitchell Stotland, MD, Lebanon, NH
Achilleas Thoma, MD, Hamilton, ON Canada
Marcus Walkinshaw, MD, Jackson, MS
Sean Wolfort, MD, Johnson City, TN
Peirong Yu, MD, Houston, TX

Annual Business Meeting Highlights

The AAPS Annual Business Meeting was held on March 24, 2009 at the Westin Mission Hills, Rancho Mirage, California.

VOTED to accept the Minutes of the April 8, 2008, Annual Business Meeting as presented.

Current membership includes:
19 Distinguished Fellows, 208 Life Fellows and 515 Active Fellows for a total of 742 members.

The following members were approved to transfer to Life membership:
William Futrell, MD, Pittsburgh, PA
Kenneth A. Marshall, MD, Wellesley, MA
Robert Pearl, MD, Santa Clara, CA
Roger E. Salisbury, MD, Valhalla, NY

A moment of silence was observed for the following members who passed away since the last meeting:
Frederick Finseth, MD, San Francisco, CA
John D. Franklin, MD, Chattanooga, TN
Dwight C. Hanna, MD, Verona, PA
James H. Hendrix, Jr., MD, Nashville, TN
Robert J. Hoehn, MD, Denver, CO
Francis Paletta, MD, St. Louis, MO
Paul L. Tessier, MD, Boulogne, France

Dr. Morgan reported that one of the major initiatives this past year was the formation of four task forces as a result of a Strategic Planning Session conducted last fall. The Task Forces are:

Partnerships chaired by Kenna Given with Michael Sadove as Board coordinator
Education chaired by Arun Gosain with Tom Lawrence as Board coordinator
Research chaired by Charles Butler with Bill Kuzon as Board coordinator
Issues chaired by Mary McGrath with Robert Walton as Board coordinator

Dr. Bahman Guyuron, President-Elect, reported that the Aesthetic Symposium met with very positive feedback from both attendees and exhibitors. Some key areas of focus during the coming year would be increased member communications, revitalization of the newsletter into an all-electronic format, and higher public relations activity with regard to the important science being reported at the Annual Meeting, including possible press releases and press participation at the Annual Meeting. Dr. Guyuron indicated that he wanted to encourage members to think “out of the box” and that their input would be crucial in the post-meeting survey, which would be asking about changing the Sunday/Monday format of the meeting to allow for an increase in the number of papers which could be presented.

Report of the Treasurer

Dr. Lin Puckett reported that the Association’s total assets as of December 31, 2008, totaled $2,240,074 with total liabilities of ($145,537) due to the market downfall this past year. With total revenues of $637,118 and total disbursements of $592,048, the Association had a Net Cash Operating Total of $45,070. A significant investment loss of $801,451 resulted in a net loss for the year of $756,381. Dr. Puckett emphasized that the loss was on paper in investments, and reiterated that the cash position of the Association, particularly in the down economy, was relatively strong.

Report of the Historian

Dr. Stephan Ariyan, Historian, reported that an agreement between the Countway Library and the various plastic surgery organizations had been finalized to house the National Archives of Plastic Surgery at the Countway. The Countway Library will finance the maintenance of the plastic surgery collection of the NAPS and would hold the copyright of any publications that did not already have a copyright.

Report of Committees

Academic Scholar Endowment Committee

Dr. William Kuzon, Chair, reported that the Association was happy to be able to fund two Academic Scholars this year thanks to another grant from KLS. He thanked everyone for their contributions and encouraged all members to please continue their support of the Academic Scholar Program. This effort is essential to the AAPS’ role as a leader in giving back to the next generation of plastic surgeons.

Program Committee

Dr. James Zins, Chair, reported that a record number of 258 abstracts were received this year with 12% accepted. He also report that the newly initiated Mentoring Sessions this year were well received. The Poster Session was outstanding and extremely well received and attended, and had generated significant interest.

He reported pre-registration of 363 professional attendees and 51 guests/spouses with 24 professional and 3 guests/spouses on site for a total of 387 professional and 54 guests/spouses.

Nominating Committee

Dr. David Larson presented the report of the AAPS Nominating Committee in the absence of Dr. Susan Mackinnon who was unable to attend this year’s meeting due to family matters. He reported that after careful consideration, the AAPS slate of officers for the year 2009-2010 was as follows:

President-Elect: Lawrence L. Ketch, MD

Vice President: William Kuzon, MD

Past President: Raymond F. Morgan, MD

Secretary: David L. Larson, MD

Treasurer: C. Lin Puckett, MD

Historian: Nicholas Vedder, MD

Trustees: Carolyn Kerrigan, MD

Dr. Morgan then asked for nominations from the floor for the two positions on the Nominating Committee for next year.

VOTED to elect Drs. Robert J. Havlik and Steven R. Buchman to serve on the Nominating Committee for 2010.

Dr. Morgan asked Dr. Bahman Guyuron to come to the podium to accept the AAPS gavel. Dr. Guyuron thanked Dr. Morgan for his service to AAPS as President, commending Dr. Morgan for his wisdom, and his calmness and effectiveness as President. He expressed sincere gratitude on behalf of the AAPS leadership and members to Dr. Morgan for an excellent year.

Dr. Guyuron presented a Presidential Plaque to Dr. Morgan commemorating his year as AAPS President. Dr. Morgan thanked the Board and committees for their service and support during the past year.

Dr. Guyuron expressed his deep thanks to the membership for their bestowing on him the honor of the Presidency of the Association, noting that he had emigrated from Iran 37 years prior, never anticipating such a distinction. He pledged to work hard for the membership and the Association during the coming year.

AAPS Awards presented during the 2009 Annual Meeting

Elvin G. Zook, MD, from the SUI Plastic Surgery Institute was recognized for his lifetime contributions to the field of plastic surgery with the AAPS Honorary Award, the highest honor the Association can bestow.

Dr. Geoffrey Gurtner of Stanford University received the James Barrett Brown Award for his manuscript entitled,

“Using Genetically Modified Microvascular Free Flaps to Deliver Local Cancer Immunotherapy with Minimal Systemic Toxicity”. The James Barrett Brown Award is presented annually for the best manuscript published in either Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery or the Annals of Plastic Surgery during the previous calendar year.

Frederick J. Menick, MD from Tucson, Arizona received the Leonard R. Rubin Award for the best paper presented at the 2008 AAPS Annual Meeting for his work entitled, “The Marriage of Cover, Lining, and Support: The Three Stage Full Thickness Forehead Flap.” Dr. Menick will also present his paper at the Annual Meeting of the European Association of Plastic Surgery.

Dr. Kai Liu from Shanghai, China was named the John D. Constable International Traveling Fellow. Dr. Liu will be pursuing in-vivo tissue engineering, peripheral nerve regeneration, microsurgery and other surgical skills at the University of Michigan under the supervision of Dr. David Brown.

Julia Terzis, MD, Norfolk, Virginia, Joseph Gruss, MD, Seattle, Washington and Mary H. McGrath, MD, San Francisco, California were named AAPS 2009 Distinguished Fellows. The Distinguished Fellowship recognizes a prestigious career in plastic surgery which includes significant service to AAPS or other organizations and leadership in the education of others.

G. Patrick Maxwell, MD, Nashville, Tennessee was recognized as the 2009 AAPS Clinician of the Year. The Clinician of the Year Award is chosen annually by the President to recognize significant clinical achievement in the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery.

31 Members Elected to Membership

Dr. Morgan reported that all the ballots had been counted and the membership had voted to elect the entire slate of 31 members. This Class of 2009 will be formally inducted at the 2010 Annual Meeting in San Antonio.

The Class of 2009 includes:

Joel Aronowitz, MD, Los Angeles, CA
Jeffrey Ascherman, MD, New York, NY
Ramazi Datiashvili, MD, Newark, NJ
Frederic Deleyiannis, MD, Pittsburgh, PA
James Dolph, MD, Albany, NY
Eric Elwood, MD, Peoria, IL
James Higgins, MD, Lutherville, MD
Charles Hultman, MD, Chapel Hill, NC
David Kahn, MD, Palo Alto, CA
Ramasamy Kalimuthu, MD, Oak Lawn, IL
Alex Kane, MD, St. Louis, MO
Adam Katz, MD, Charlottesville, VA
Bram Kaufman, MD, Cleveland, OH
Geoffrey Keyes, MD, Los Angeles, CA
Lucie Lessard, MD, Montreal, Quebec
Joan Lipa, MD, Los Angeles, CA
Michael Longaker, MD, Stanford, CA
John McGill, MD, Bangor, ME
Michael McGuire, MD, Santa Monica, CA
Steven Moran, MD, Rochester, MN
Martin Morse, MD, Great Falls, VA
Zubin Panthaki, MD, Miami, FL
Galen Perdikis, MD, Jacksonville, FL
Gary Price, MD, Guilford, CT
J. Peter Rubin, MD, Pittsburgh, PA
David Song, MD, Chicago, IL
Mia Talmor, MD, New York, NY
Peter Taub, MD, New York, NY
Anne Taylor, MD, Columbus, OH
J. Jason Wendel, MD, Nashville, TN
Gordon Wilkes, MD, Edmonton, AB

American Association of Plastic Surgeons Academic Scholars

David W. Mathes, MD

Jason A. Spector, MD

The 2009 AAPS/ KLS Academic Scholarship was awarded to:

David W. Mathes, MD, University of Washington Medical Center for his research project “Induction of Tolerance to Composite Tissue Allografts via Mixed Chimerism” and Jason A. Spector, MD, Weill Medical College of Cornell University received the AAPS Academic Scholarship for his work, “Sacrificial Microfiber Networks: Towards the Fabrication of Vascularized Tissue Constructs.”

Surgeons eligible for the Academic Scholar Award are individuals who have completed their residency in plastic surgery not longer than five (5) years prior to the initiation of the award on July 1 of a given calendar year.

For the full application contact the American Association of Plastic Surgeons, 978-927-8330; or www.aaps1921.org.

AAPS Encourages Your Involvement

2009-2010 Committees

Academic Scholar Endowment
William M. Kuzon, Jr., MD, Chair
Alfonso Barrera, MD
Michael L. Bentz, MD
Howard M. Clarke, MD
Carolyn L. Kerrigan, MD
Brian M. Kinney, MD
Mary H. McGrath, MD
Linda G. Phillips, MD
Henry C. Vasconez, MD

Awards
William Kuzon, MD, Chair
Bruce Bauer, MD
Charles Butler, MD
Steven Morris, MD
Michael Neumeister, MD

Communications
Elizabeth Hall-Findlay, MD, Chair
Steven Kronowitz, MD
Donald Mackay, MD

Constable International Traveling Fellowship
Bryant A. Toth, MD, Chair
Scott P. Bartlett, MD
John D. Constable, MD
James W. May, Jr., MD
Riccardo F. Mazzola, MD
Michael H. Moses, MD

Constitution and Bylaws
Neal R. Reisman, MD, Chair
Keith E. Brandt, MD
L. Scott Levin, MD
Thomas F. Mitts, MD

Ethics
Linda G. Phillips, MD, Chair
Bernard Alpert, MD
Robert Crow, MD
John Canady, MD
William Dzwierzynski, MD
Charles Verheyden, MD

Finance
Tom Larwence, MD, Chair
Lawrence Ketch, MD
William Kuzon, MD
A. Michael Sadove, MD
C. Lin Puckett, MD
Raymond Morgan, MD

Honors
Raymond Morgan, MD, Chair
Michael F. Angel, MD
William A. Crawley MD
Craig R. Dufresne MD
Thomas F. Mitts MD
Larry A. Sargent MD

Local Arrangements
Linda Phillips, MD, Chair

Membership
L. Scott Levin, MD, Chair
Elisabeth K. Beahm, MD
Thomas Gampper, MD
Robert J. Havlik, MD
Stephen E. Metzinger, MD
Stephen M. Milner, MD
A. Michael Sadove, MD
Charles N. Verheyden, MD
William A. Crawley, MD, Past Chair

Nominating
Raymond Morgan, MD, Chair
Steven Buchman, MD
Robert Havlik, MD
Michael Sadove, MD
Robert Walton, MD

Research and Education
Michael L. Bentz, MD,Chair
E. Gene Deune, MD
Joseph J. Disa, MD
Thomas Gampper, MD
Warren L. Garner, MD
Nelson H. Goldberg, MD
Mark S. Granick, MD
Robert Grant, MD
W. Thomas Lawrence, MD
Raphael C. Lee, MD, ScD
Michael J. Miller, MD
Lee LQ Pu, MD
Sai S. Ramasastry, MD
Riley S. Rees, MD
Kenneth C. Shestak, MD
Sheri Slezak, MD
Henry M. Spinelli, MD
J. Grant Thomson, MD
Henry C. Vasconez, MD
Charles N. Verheyden, MD
Norman Weinzweig, MD

Scientific Program
Arun K. Gosain, MD,Chair
J. Brian Boyd, MD
Charles Butler, MD
Paul Cederna, MD
Lawrence B. Colen, MD
Jeffrey A. Fearon, MD
Christopher R. Forrest, MD
Warren L. Garner, MD
Dennis C. Hammond, MD
Craig Johnson, MD
Jeffrey M. Kenkel, MD
William M. Kuzon, Jr., MD
Donald Lalonde, MD
W. P. Andrew Lee, MD
Joseph E. Losee, MD
Alan Matarasso, MD
Michael J. Miller, MD
Francis A. Papay, MD
Joseph M. Serletti, MD
Maria Z. Siemionow, MD, PhD
Robert L. Walton, MD
Michael J. Yaremchuk, MD
James E. Zins, MD
Richard J. Zienowicz, MD

Strategic Planning
W.P. Andrew Lee, MD, Chair
Michael Bentz, MD
E. Dale Collins, MD
Donald R. Mackay, MD
Joseph M. Serletti, MD
Charles Thorne, MD
Nicholas B. Vedder, MD