plastic surgery

Susan E. Mackinnon, MD, received the Clinician of the Year award and the Research Achievement Award in Basic Science at the American Association of Plastic Surgeons’ annual meeting April 14-17, 2012, in San Francisco.

Susan E. Mackinnon is one of three U.S. physicians to be honored with a Clinical Excellence Award by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., which publishes “America’s Top Doctors” and other guides to choosing physicians. She received the award March 26 in New York.

Cleft palate has been linked to dozens of genes. During their investigation of one of these genes, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis were surprised to find that cleft palate occurs both when the gene is more active and when it is less active than normal. 

Keith Brandt performs a breast reconstruction using the TRAM flap procedure.When a breast cancer patient requires a mastectomy, cancer surgeons and reconstructive plastic surgeons at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WUSM now perform a technique called the TRAM (traverse rectus abdominus myocutaneous) flap procedure, which allows surgeons to use the patient’s own tissues to recreate a natural breast.

Dr. James Lowe in the operating room.Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but plastic and reconstructive surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis are trying to learn the basics of aesthetic beauty in various ethnic groups. When plastic surgeons operate, they don’t want to make African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans and other groups look the same. Rather, they hope to preserve ethnicity while at the same time restoring or enhancing beauty. The Washington University team is one of only a handful worldwide that is scientifically studying ways to preserve ethnicity in plastic surgery procedures, and as more people from different ethnic backgrounds seek plastic surgery, defining aesthetic attractiveness in various ethnic groups is becoming more important.