International Faculty
Shalimar Abdullah
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shalimar AbdullahCourse Director Hand & Microsurgery Programme
Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz,UKM Medical Centre.
Dr. Shalimar Abdullah currently works as a Hand Surgeon and Senior Lecturer in the Hand & Microsurgery Unit, Department of Orthopaedics, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. She obtained her medical degree together with a Bachelor of Medical Sciences from the University of Nottingham, England, UK in 1998. She returned to Malaysia to begin her housemanship and proceeded to train in Orthopaedics completing her training in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2005.
In 2007, she began training in the Orthopaedic subspeciality of hand surgery and received her Fellowship in Hand Surgery from the prestigious Kleinert Institute, Louisville, USA in 2010. She also received the Diploma of Hand Surgery (FESSH exams) in 2012. She was awarded the Junior Travelling Fellow for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) in 2015. She is currently the Honorary Secretary for the Malaysian Society for Surgery of the Hand (MSSH) and is a member for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH).
Her interest is in Nerve, Tissue Engineering, Brachial Plexus, and WALANT (Wide Awake Local Anaesthesia No Tourniquet) surgery. She is also a proponent of WALANT surgery both in soft tissues and bony fixation. She is part of the Nerve Team in UKM's Tissue Engineering Center and is in a project to produce the perfect nerve conduit. She has published up to 70 articles to date. She is very active with an international humanitarian NGO named Mercy Malaysia since 1998. Currently she holds the post of Vice-President III and has responded to many humanitarian crisis in Malaysia and also countries such as Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Japan, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Philippines. She is the Team Lead for the EMT or Emergency Medical Team.
Mohd Iskandar Mohd Amin
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Currently Senior Consultant Orthopaedic Hand, Upper limb and Microsurgeon in Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur and Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur since 2011. He is the President of Malaysian Society Surgery of the Hand. Graduated from University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur Malaysia in 1990, Completed Orthopaedic Residency in Universiti Sains Malaysia with written theses on Conservative Treatment of Distal Radius Fracture, then became Lecturer and Head of Hand Surgery Unit at the Department of Orthopaedic, School Of Medical Sciences Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Research interest in Orthopaedic Implant and Biomaterial, Wound care and the use of Honey as agent of Healing. Reviewer for Malaysia Orthopaedic Journal and Journal of Hand Surgery Asia Pacific.
Actively involved in teaching in the art and science of surgery of the upper limb, involvement in the Silent Mentor Academy, conducting training for surgeons for surgery of the upper limbs and surgical simulation.
Examiner for Fellowship in Upper limb and Microsurgery Ministry of Health Malaysia.
Anthony Berger
Melbourne, Australia
Mr Anthony Berger graduated medicine from Monash University in 1978 and became a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in Orthopaedic Surgery in 1987.He completed a Hand Fellowship in Louisville, Kentucky USA in 1988 and was then appointed Senior Hand Fellow/Hand Scholar in 1989. He subsequently completed further training in Hand Surgery with Professor John Stanley in Wrightington, UK, in 1990.
Currently, Mr Berger is the Head of the Hand Surgery Unit at St Vincent's Public Hospital, Melbourne and a visiting Hand Surgeon at St Vincent's Private Hospital, Fitzroy and Kew, Melbourne.
Mr Berger is a member of the Australian Orthopaedic Association, the Australian Hand Surgery Society and the Australian Medical Association and is involved in continuing medical education programmes with the Australian Orthopaedic Association.
He is the Immediate Past President of the Australian Hand Surgery Society after serving as President from 2016 – 2018.
Mr Berger is currently President of the Asian Pacific Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand.
He is frequently invited to speak on Hand Surgery topics at National and International Scientific meetings and also heavily involved in local and overseas teaching.
Praveen Bhardwaj
Coimbatore, India
Consultant - Hand Surgery at Ganga Hospital, CoimbatoreQualifications and Training:
MS-Ortho From KMC, Mangalore (2000-2003)
DNB Ortho
FNB- Hand & Microsurgery from Ganga Hospital (2007-2009)
European Diploma in Hand Surgery- 2011
Consultant since – 2014
Academic Achievements:
• Winner of the Indian Orthopedic Association PG National Quiz- 2002
• Winner of the Karnataka Orthopedic Association PG Quiz- 2003v • Best Paper Prize- Combined British & Indian Hand Society Meeting- Bangalore- 2009v • Best Paper Prize- Indian Hand Society Meeting- Manipal- 2011
• Xavier Medal for Best Paper in Hand Surgery- TNOA- Nagercoil- 2018
• Best Research Award- National Brachial Plexus Meeting- BRACHIALCON- Chennai-2019
• Best Presentation Award- National Paediatric Orthopedic Meeting- POSICON-2020 v • Xavier Medal for Best Paper in Hand Surgery- TNOA- Chennai- 2023
• Seven- Best Paper Prizes by the Fellows and Trainees in Indian Hand and Plastic Surgery Meetings representing our Team.
• Consultant Medal- Indian Hand Society Meeting- Chandigarh- 2023
Editor- The Journal of Hand Surgery – Asia Pacific Volume
Academics Coordinator- Indian Society for Surgery of the Hand
Scientific Committee Chair- Asia Pacific Hand Surgery Meeting- 2025
Publications- 124
Special Interests- Brachial Plexus
Grainne Bourke
Leeds, UK
Gráinne Bourke FRCSI, FRCS(Plast) is a Consultant in Plastic and Reconstructive surgery at the Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust since 2004. She completed her basic surgical training in Dublin, Ireland before moving to Yorkshire to train in Plastic and Reconstructive surgery. She completed an international fellowship in children hand surgery and major nerve injuries in 2003/2004.She has specialist interests in microsurgery in children and adult, children's hand surgery and nerve injuries in adult and children.
She has research interests in nerve repair, congenital hand anomalies and plastic surgery reconstruction. She is the Academic Supervisor of the Specialist Registrar NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Plastic Surgery, overseeing novel research into the role of MRI in brachial plexus injuries.
Dean Boyce
Swansea, 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.Andrew Chin
Singapore, Singapore
Clinical Associate ProfessorDeputy Vice Chair, Clinical Services (Inpatient Services), Musculoskeletal Sciences Academic Clinical Programme
Director, Education, Graduate Education, Musculoskeletal Sciences Academic Clinical Programme
Dr Andrew Chin graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1995. He was appointed Senior Consultant in the Department of Hand Surgery in May 2012. Dr Chin did his 1-year advance fellowship training specializing in Wrist Conditions and Disorders at the Centre for Hand And Upper Limb Surgery, Wrightington Hospital in Wigan, UK and at Kaplan Institute in Barcelona, Spain under the tutelage of renown wrist surgeons: Prof John Stanley, Drs Ian Trail, Marc Garcia-Elias and Alberto Lluch.
Dr Chin's sub-specialty interests include: Wrist Surgery and Minimally Invasive Hand Surgery
Alphonsus Chong
Singapore, Singapore
Dr Alphonsus Chong Khin Sze is a tenured Associate Professor at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. After completing his Hand Surgery training in Singapore, he was awarded the A*STAR scholarship in 2004 and completed a two-year research fellowship in Stanford University. His current research interests include improving the teaching and learning of surgical skills, and pediatric hand conditions.Beyond NUHS commitments, Dr Chong is also contributing to the wider Hand Surgery community. He is currently treasurer of the Asian Pacific Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand, and was previously president of the Singapore Society for Surgery of the Hand, and Vice-Chairman of the Chapter of Hand Surgeons, College of Surgeons, Singapore. He was also Chair of the Residency Advisory Committee (Hand Surgery), which oversees the training of Hand Surgeons in Singapore.
In his free time, Dr Chong enjoys reading and making things.
Margaret Fok
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Dr. Margaret Fok is currently an associate consultant at the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Queen Mary Hospital, and an Honorary Clinical Assistant Professor of The University of Hong Kong.Dr. Margaret Fok had her undergraduate medical training in University of Otago, New Zealand. Upon the completion of her orthopaedic specialist training in Hong Kong, she seeks further training in hand and wrist surgeries and microsurgeries by working with Professor Diego Fernandez, (Switzerland), Professor Fu-Chen Wei, (Taiwan), Professor David Chuang, (Taiwan) and Professor Yuen- Kuen Tu (Taiwan).
Dr. Margaret Fok has been an invited speaker in many international symposiums, including International Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology (SICOT), International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH), International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee surgery and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine (ISAKOS), American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Association (APOA), Asia Pacific Wrist Association (APWA) and World Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery (WSRM). She is active in many international hand and orthopaedic societies. She is the Immediate Past Scientific Programme Chair and Immediate Past Chair of the Research Awards committee of International Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology (SICOT). She is the Co-chair of the Education Committee and the Deputy chair of the Young Professional task force of International Societies of Arthroscopy, Knees Surgery and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine (ISAKOS). She is the President Elect of Hand and Upper Limb Society of Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Association (APOA) and the Asia Pacific Representative of the International Orthopaedic Diversity Alliance (IODA). She is currently the Honorary Treasurer of Hong Kong Society for Surgery of the Hand (HKSSH).
Dr. Margaret Fok has published book chapters and articles in esteemed orthopaedic journals. She is a reviewer in many indexed journals and is the section editor of Hand and wrist in Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery. She is a regular faculty in different wrist arthroscopy workshops around the world including different parts of China, Singapore and Strasbourg, France.
Mohd Hanifah Jusoh
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Mohd Hanifah Jusoh currently works at the Hand & Microsurgery Unit, Department of Orthopaedics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, as an Orthopaedic, Hand, and upper Limb Microsurgeon and medical lecturer for the undergraduate and postgraduate medical school. He does research in general orthopedic, hand, upper limb, and microsurgery. He has received subspecialty training in hand, upper limb, and microsurgery from Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Ganga Hospital in India, Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden, and International Wrist Centre in Yeniyuzyil University Hospital, Istanbul, Turkiye. He also received the Ganga Hospital & Carl Zeiss Fellowship in Hand & Trauma Reconstructive Surgery award in 2020, the IFSSH 2022 UK Traveling Fellowship award in 2022, and the AO Trauma Fellowship award in 2024. He is interested in general orthopedic & trauma, especially hand & upper limb trauma, adult brachial plexus injury and obstetric brachial plexus birth palsy, congenital hand, a tendon transfer operation, common hand & upper limb flap, and traumatic limb vascular injury (vascular exploration and repair), and WALANT surgery.Jonathan Hobby
Basingstoke, UK
Mr Jonathan Hobby is a consultant Hand & Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Hampshire Hospitals NHS FT. He is the honorary secretary of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand. He graduated from St. Thomas's Hospital in 1989 and did his postgraduate training on the St Bartholomew's surgical rotation and Cambridge Orthopaedic rotation. He completed an MD thesis on the clinical effectiveness of MRI of the wrist and was awarded a Hunterian Professorship by the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 2001. He was awarded the Graham Stack travelling fellowship in 2009 and was an ASSH international travelling fellow in 2010. He has served on the BSSH council, chaired the BSSH research and audit committee, and was chair of the BSSH Instructional courses for series seven. His research interests include wrist imaging, hand outcome measures, small joint arthroplasty and the influence of psychological factors on hand surgery.Jeffrey Koo
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Dr Koo is the consultant of the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital. He is currently President of The Hong Kong Society for Surgery of The Hand.He graduated from The University of Hong Kong in 1997 and received his Orthopaedic fellowship From the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Hong Kong College of Orthopaedic Surgeons in 2005. He also obtained his master degree in health service management from the University of New South Wales and master degree of science in sports medicine and health science from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2008 and 2013, respectively.
His special interest is in hand surgery, particularly upper limb trauma and wrist arthroscopy. He has been invited to deliver over 50 lectures and free paper presentations at various local and overseas conferences. In addition, he personally has published more than ten papers and book chapters in various peer-reviewed journals and textbooks.
Wee Lam
Singapore, Singapore
I graduated from the University of Edinburgh and did my basic surgical training in Leeds. Thereafter I completed my 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. I 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 i returned to Singapore for a post as Senior Consultant at Singapore General Hospital. My interest is in both adult and paediatric hand surgery, particularly nerve-related injuries including the management of stroke and spasticity disorders. I have a keen interest in research and am currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Hand Surgery (European volume).Dong Chul Lee
Seoul, South Korea
Since 1993, I began my residency in Plastic Surgery at Seongae Hospital. Seongae Hospital specialized in microsurgery and hand surgery, primarily treating hand trauma patients. After completing my plastic surgery training, I joined Gwangmyeong Seongae Hospital in 1997. During my tenure, I performed around 100 replantation surgeries annually, along with 150 free falps and over a thousand hand injuries
and reconstructive surgeries.Accumulating expertise in the specialized field of hand surgery, I expanded my horizons in 2004 by undertaking a hand surgery fellowship at the Christine M Kleinert Institute. This marked my initial exposure to international medical collaboration. Following the fellowship, I spent a month contributing to the creation of Acland's Practice Manual for Microvascular Surgery, particularly participating in the production of instructional videos under the guidance of Dr. Acland.
Upon returning to Gwangmyeong Seongae Hospital, I continued my career, presenting on hand reconstruction surgery at the 2010 IFSSH Seoul Meeting and serving as an invited speaker at the 2011 APSICON Coimbatore Meeting hosted by the Indian Society of Plastic Surgery. In 2018, I received the Best Case Award for a case presentation at the WSRM Seoul Meeting and repeated the honor at the 2019 ASRMAAHSASPN Palm Desert Meeting.
Subsequently, I participated as a panelist on digital replantation at the 2022 ASSH Boston Meeting and the 2023 Toronto Meeting. In 2023, I successfully served as the Chairman of the Korean Society for Hand Surgery, organizing the KSSH Meeting. I also contributed as the editor for the replantation chapter in the Neligan Plastic Surgery book published in the same year.
In 2024, I furthered my editorial contributions by serving as an editor for the chapter on hand flap coverage in the 'Blondeel Perforator Flaps: Anatomy, Technique, & Clinical Applications' publication. I am very interesting to teaching for digital replantation and teaching program of new surgeon of third world.
Alex Lluch
Barcelona, Spain
Dr. Àlex Lluch is a hand surgeon from Barcelona, Spain. He is the co-director of Institut Kaplan and head of the Hand & Wrist Unit in Vall d'Hebron University Hospital in his hometown. Fascinated by hand surgery since his years of Medical School, he still has the need for learning and sharing knowledge with frequent visits around the world. He has special interest in the treatment of arthrosis and carpal instabilities, reason why he has contributed to create the Barcelona Wrist Biomechanics Study Group.Àlex joined the Relation Committee of FESSH in 2017, and continued serving as Elected Treasurer in 2020. He is now in his second term as Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee.
David McCombe
Melbourne, Australia
Associate Professor David McCombe is a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon who is a consultant at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne and at the Victorian Hand Surgery Associates group based at St.Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne. He has an academic appointment within the University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics at the Royal Children’s Hospital and is an Honorary Fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. He is also affiliated with the Hand and Wrist Biomechanics Laboratory based at the O’Brien Institute at St. Vincent’s Hospital. He is the Hand Surgery Section Editor of the Australian Journal of Plastic Surgery and currently is the President of the Australian Hand Surgery Society.Toshiyasu Nakamura
Narita, Japan
Professional position:1988 Resident, Keio University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
1996 Assistant Professor, Fujita Health University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
1998 Research Fellow, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
1999 Research Fellow, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
2006 Assistant Professor, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan
2014 Professor, Clinical Research Center, International University of Health and Welfare, Tokyo, Japan
2017 Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine, International University of Health and Welfare, Narita, Chiba-Pref., Japan
Jeremy Prakash
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Jeremy Prakash Silvanathan is currently a consultant at the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and an Adjunct Professor at the University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS).Dr. Jeremy Prakash had his undergraduate medical training at Karnataka University in India. Upon completion, he pursued his residency in Orthopaedics at the University Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. He then completed an Upper Limb and Microsurgery fellowship with the Ministry of Health, Malaysia subspecialty training program, and also completed a clinical fellowship in Hand Surgery at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. He is member and past vice-president of the Malaysian Society for Surgery of the Hand (MSSH) and a member at large for the Asian Pacific Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (APFSSH).
His special interests are in hand and reconstructive surgery, wrist arthroscopy, peripheral nerve, brachial plexus, including Birth brachial plexus injuries. He also has a keen interest in congenital hand disorders. Recently, he has shown a keen interest in ultrasound-guided hand surgery.
Raja Sabapathy
Coimbatore, India
Dr. S. Raja Sabapathy is currently the Chairman, Division of Plastic, Hand & Reconstructive Microsurgery, Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore, India. It is a 650-bed tertiary referral centre for Plastic Surgery and Orthopaedics. He had a brilliant academic career passing out as the Best Outgoing Student from Stanley Medical College, Madras standing first in Medicine and Surgery in the Madras University. Subsequently he trained in Chennai, UK and USA. The efforts of the Plastic and Orthopaedic Departments of Ganga Hospital in the management of major trauma revolutionized trauma care in the country and has been followed as a model in many countries. This has led to many invitations for eponymous lectures and has delivered 44 orations, chief among them being the Douglas Lamb lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons, Boonzaire lecture at the South African Hand Society, Sushruta Guha Professorship of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, Pioneer Lecture of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand, International Guest lecture at the ASSH and Harold Kleinert Professorship of the University of Louisville and has 110 academic and distinguished awards, 400 international presentations and 500 national presentations.
He was conferred the Honorary Fellowship (Hon FACS) of the American College of Surgeons, Honorary Fellowship of Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians of Glasgow, Royal College of Surgeons of England (Hon FRCS Eng) and Hon DSc from Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute., Chennai, and Honorary Membership of British, South African Hand Societies and Serbian Microsurgery Society.
He has been the Visiting Professor in Mayo Clinic, Yale University, Michigan University, Washington University, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. He has co-authored a Microsurgery Practice Manual, edited 2 books and has published 207 papers and 59 book chapters. The Microsurgery training lab is considered as one of the best in the world. 3100 surgeons from 78 countries have visited the unit . At present he is the Immediate Past President of the Asian Pacific Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (APFSSH), President-Elect of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH).
He has held the presidencies of the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India, Indian Society for Surgery of the Hand, Indian Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery and Brachial Plexus Surgery Group of India. He has been the Organizing Chairman of the Triennial Congress of the International Hand Surgery congress (2013) and the World Microsurgery congress (2015). He served as the Editor of the Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery and the Editor-in- Chief of The Journal of Hand Surgery (Asian Pacific).
Currently he is the President of the National Academy of Burns and Vice President of Diabetic Foot Society of India.
He has been the architect of many outreach programs in partnership with Rotary International for making quality surgery accessible to poor people – Save the Working Hand, Help for the Hands in Need for Hand surgery and the project Hope after Fire, which provides free reconstructive surgery to correct burn deformities. It is considered as the Signature Project of Rotary in the region. 1352 surgeries in 776 patients have been performed with a project value of US $ 1.2 million, making it as the largest burn care project by a single unit in this part of the world.