Journal of Aesthetic & Reconstructive Surgery

Wei F. Chen
Director of Surgical Training, UIHC Center for Procedural Skills and Simulation, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, USA

Biography

Dr. Chen is a plastic surgeon with a specialty focus on microsurgery and supermicrosurgery. He graduated from University of California at Berkeley with honor majoring in molecular and cell biology. After completing a general surgery residency at State University of New York at Stony Brook with honor, he went on to complete his plastic surgery training at University of Illinois at Chicago. He then pursued and completed advanced microsurgical training at the world-renowned Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan. Dr. Chen has been investigating lymphedema and its surgical management since 2011. He performed both autologous lymph node transplant and lymphaticovenular anastomosis (LVA) to treat this condition. In 2013, he performed the first autologous lymph node transplant in the Midwest in a patient who suffered from severe post-mastectomy lymphedema of the arm. In the same year, he developed the first non-living, biologic supermicrosurgery simulation model that greatly facilitated the training of this state-of-the-art surgery. In 2014, he developed a modified supermicrosurgical technique, nicknamed the “octopus” technique, which significantly decreases the technical challenge of the standard supermicrosurgical lymphaticovenular anastomosis and the need for high-power surgical microscope. In 2014, Dr. Chen performed the first successful supermicrosurgical LVA in China at Dalian Hospital University Medical Center in Dalian, China, in a live surgery demonstration. With Dr. Chen’s assistance, the institution established a multi-disciplinary lymphedema treatment center in 2015.

Research Interest

Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery