AWARD OF THE G. WHITAKER INTERNATIONAL BURNS PRIZE FOR 2009 PALERMO, ITALY

At the meeting held on April 03, 2009, at the seat of the G. Whitaker Foundation, Palermo, after examining the scientific activity in the fields of research, teaching, clinical organization, prevention and cooperation presented by various candidates and in consideration of the high level of the candidates, the Adjudicating Committee unanimously decided to award the prize for 2009 to Professor JACEK WOJCIECH PUCHALA, Director of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Burn Management, Paediatric Burn Centre, University Children’s Hospital, Cracow, Poland.

The prize is awarded with the following motivation:

“Prof. Jacek Wojciech Puchala was born in Cracow, Poland, in 1956. After a distinguished course of study at the Cracow Medical Academy and subsequently at the Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum and the University Children’s Hospital, he continued his training in paediatric surgery at the Polish-American Institute of Paediatrics, of which he became Director in 1993. Since the year 2000 he has been Director of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Burn Management, Paediatric Burn Centre, University Children’s Hospital, Cracow, which on his personal initiative he founded and developed. After completing his training with courses in burns and plastic surgery at the Hand Center of Western New York and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, the Sick Children’s Hospital in Toronto, Harvard Medical School Children’s Hospital, and Shriner’s Burns Institute, Boston, he took his specialization in Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at the Silesian University School of Medicine at Katovice.

Since the beginning of his career, Prof. Puchala has been active in all fields of burns pathology, from training and research to medical and surgical therapy for burns sequelae, and in the sector of paediatric traumas.

He has chaired and been a Member of numerous national and international scientific committees and supervised numerous scientific projects sponsored by Universities and national and international scientific organizations, including: “Clinical application of cultured human skin cells”; “Clinical assessment of bacteria-biosynthesized cellulose dressings in the treatment of burn wound”; “Assessment of concentration levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 and insulin in burn disease in children”; “Skin therapy. Part of the Stem Cell Therapeutics – Excellence Centre”; “Isolation, characteristics and clinical expansion of epithelial stem cells”, “Burns in Infants” (European Club for Paediatric Burns (ECPB); Multicenter, worldwide research programme The prevalence of hypertrofic scarring following burn; “International multicentre research /standardization project”; collaboration with Cleveland University on studies in the immunology of familial skin allotransplants in severe burns in children.

He has done outstanding research work in the field of cell cultures, conducted in collaboration with the Department of Tissue and Cell Engineering of the Jagiellonian University on “The clinical application of cultured human skin cells”. “Possible therapeutic use of non-embryonic epidermal stem cells” developed in collaboration with the Chair of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology at the Jagiellonian University.

During his university career he has been extremely active as a teacher and trainer of students, creating a qualified training centre of his own within his Institute. He has assisted in the supervision of numerous doctoral theses and research programmes sponsored by the National Research Committee, including: “The versatility of microbiological flora in children’s burn wounds” in order to prove the existence of what are known as bacteriological profiles. In the field of hormone reactions, Prof. Puchala supervised a study entitled “Assessment of concentration levels of insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 in severe burn disease in children”, analysing insulin and IGF levels in burn patients liable to the risk of developing multiple organ failure and acute lung.

He has collaborated on numerous specialist periodicals, such as: The Burn Yearbook, The Yearbook of Pediatric Trauma Surgery, and Wound Management.

The results of his research have been made known through 102 original works published in leading national and international journals, 13 monographs and chapters in various volumes and texts, and over 135 papers presented at national and international congresses.

Actively engaged from the start in the care of children, he was awarded, among other things, the “Per Aspera ad Astra” Diploma of the Polish Association of Paediatric Surgeons (1992); the Diploma of Merit in recognition of his contribution to hospital development, issued by the Institute of Paediatrics, Cracow (1995); the Gold Medal and “Heart for Heart”, awarded by the Prometeusz Foundation (2001–2002); and the Zora Janzekovic Golden Razor Prize, by the European Club for Paediatric Burns (2008), for special worth in the improvement of the level of therapeutic assistance in burned children.

He has organized numerous national and international congresses and is currently Secretary General of the European Club for Paediatric Burns.

He is a Founder Member of the Polish Wound Management Association.

He is a Member of the Mediterranean Council for Burns and Fire Disasters and of the European Burn Association. He is a Member of the Polish Association of Paediatric Surgeons, the Polish Society of Microsurgery, the Polish Association of Plastic Reconstructive Aesthetic Surgery, the Polish Association of Hand Surgery, and the Polish Association of Burn Treatment.

The Paediatric Burn Centre in Cracow, which he directs, is today considered to be Poland’s centre of excellence and known as the “last resort centre” for extensively burned critical paediatric patients. The Centre also performs reconstructive paediatric surgery in the maxillo-facial sector, congenital malformations, and – in particular – serious traumas of the upper limb and hand, thanks to the elevated standards attained in the sector of microsurgery.

During the war in Iraq the Centre provided assistance to patients coming from that country. Since 2005 it has been a reference centre for the clinical study and the application of skin matrices.

For his commitment to study, research, and teaching and for his dedication to his profession, performed in the field of paediatric burns in his home country, Prof. J.W. Puchala is proclaimed to be a suitable recipient of the G. Whitaker International Burns Prize for the year 2009.

The official prize giving will take place in Palermo at the G. Whitaker Foundation on 10 September 2009 in presence of authorities and representatives of the academic, scientific and cultural worl