Thuss Memorial Lecture
2011 THUSS MEMORIAL LECTURER:
DR. FU-CHAN WEI
The Seventeenth Thuss Memorial Lecture in Plastic Surgery will be given by Dr. Fu-Chan Wei. Dr. Fu-Chan Wei received his medical degree from Kaohsiung Medical College in 1972. He completed his surgical residency and received his training in plastic surgery at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. Subsequently, he completed two years of postgraduate training, first at the University of Toronto as a microvascular surgery fellow, then at the University of Louisville as a hand surgery fellow.
Dr. Wei returned to Taiwan in 1981 and in 1994, became the chairman of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the vice superintendent at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (1994 to 2000). He is currently a Professor of Surgery and Chancellor of the College of Medicine of Chang Gung University.
He has gained recognition and received numerous awards including being selected as one of the 20 most influential innovators in the history of plastic surgery by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, for his work on toe-to-hand transplantation and vascularized fibula transplants for extremity and mandible reconstruction as well as many other surgical innovations. Through his relentless efforts to coordinate and lead the Chang Gung Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, his vision of developing it into a world renowned center in plastic surgery became a reality. The 24 bed Microsurgical Intensive Care Unit at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital is one of the most sophisticated and extensive microsurgical centers in the world dedicated to the care of this unique group of patients.
An active member of 12 medical societies, Dr. Wei has given 78 instructional courses and 607 lectures at major international conferences and medical centers in the United States, Canada, Europe and other countries around the world. He has edited 10 books with 4 more currently in press, contributed 68 book chapters, and published more than 468 articles in the field of plastic surgery. His major research interests include in vivo microcirculatory studies of ischemia-reperfusion injury, and composite tissue allo-transplantation.
This endowed lectureship was established in 1977 by the late Dr. Charles J. Thuss, Jr., in memory of his parents, Dr. Charles J. Thuss, Sr., and Gertrude Noble Thuss. An identical lectureship was simultaneously endowed at Vanderbilt University, alma mater of Drs. Thuss, Sr., and Jr. The purpose of both lectureships was to bring distinguished contributors in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery to both campuses for teaching and for inspiration, benefiting the student body, plastic surgeons in training, faculty, and the community of plastic surgeons.
On Thanksgiving Day, 1983, Charles Thuss, Jr., and his son, Carter, died in a tragic plane crash. His widow, Emily Thuss, asked that the originally endowed lectureship be expanded to include her late husband and son. Accordingly, beginning with the 1985 lecture, and continuing in years to come, this significant educational event, The Thuss Memorial Lecture, is in memory of three generations of the Thuss family.
Dr. Charles J. Thuss, Sr., a graduate in Vanderbilt Medical School's class of 1931, pursued a distinguished career in Plastic Surgery. He practiced in Birmingham, Alabama, from 1935 to 1951, and served as Chief of Plastic Surgery at Valley Forge Army Hospital from 1951-1954. He was subsequently Chief of Plastic Surgery at Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco until 1962. After retiring from the Service with the rank of Colonel, he practiced as Chief of Plastic Surgery at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Santa Clara, and Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto. Dr. Thuss died on September 10, 1977.
Charles, Jr., was born in Birmingham, Alabama, educated at McCallie School in Chattanooga, Catholic University, and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He trained in pathology at Brooke Army Hospital and Baylor Hospital in Texas. He served with distinction as a pathologist and commanding officer of the 946th Medical Laboratory in Vietnam, as well as Chief, Anatomical Pathology, and commanding officer of the Fourth Army Area Laboratory at Ft. Sam Houston. He followed his army career with a successful private practice, which led to the development of rural health initiative programs, on-site laboratories for rural hospitals, and a new nationwide cost-effective cytology screening procedure. His loss is still felt by all who knew him, and the Thuss Memorial Lecture is a fitting tribute to him, his parents, and his son.
Thuss Memorial Lecturers
| 1977 | Erle E. Peacock, Jr., M.D. University of Arizona |
| 1978 | Luis Vasconez, M.D. University of California San Francisco |
| 1979 | Fernando Ortiz-Monasterio, M.D. National University of Mexico |
| Spring 1981 | Bernard M. O'Brien, M.D. Melbourne, Australia |
| Fall 1981 | Charles E. Horton, M.D. Norfolk, Virginia |
| 1983 | Ronald M. Sato, M.D. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center San Jose, California |
| 1985 | Mark Gorney, M.D. St. Francis Memorial Hospital San Francisco, California |
| 1987 | David L. Larson, M.D. Medical College of Wisconsin |
| 1990 | Jack C. Fisher, M.D. F.A.C.S. University of California at San Diego |
| 1995 | Joseph G. McCarthy, M.D. New York University School of Medicine |
| 1997 | Ronald M. Zuker, M.D., FRCS University of Toronto |
| 1999 | G. Patrick Maxwell, M.D., F.A.C.S. |
| 2001 | Joseph Gruss, M.D. University of Washington |
| 2003 | Mary McGrath, M.D. University of California San Francisco |
| 2007 | Susan Mackinnon, M.D. Washington University School of Medicine |
| 2009 | John Mulliken, M.D. Harvard Medical School |