Inaugural lecture by plastic surgeon Lars Steinsträßer

The first Heisenberg Professor of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Oldenburg, Prof. Dr Lars Steinsträßer, will give his inaugural lecture on Wednesday, 11 February at 6.00 pm in The Smart House Oldenburg (Schlossplatz 16).

The university lecturer in plastic surgery and head physician at the University Clinic for Plastic Surgery at the Evangelical Hospital in Oldenburg will be speaking on the topic of "From regeneration to transplantation in plastic surgery".

In biology, regeneration means the ability to replace lost body parts and bodily functions from scratch and to restore them as far as possible to their healthy "original state". It plays a central role in plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery in particular. In his lecture, Steinsträßer will discuss the possibility of inducing self-healing and will focus on tissue transplants of skin, fat, muscle and even extremities and facial transplants following serious accidents and tumours. In his lecture, he will also present current developments in regenerative medicine and transplantation and explain where the limits of modern plastic surgery lie.

Lars Steinsträßer was appointed to the University of Oldenburg in May last year. He is one of two surgeons in Germany to be honoured as a Heisenberg Professor by the German Research Foundation (DFG). After numerous international research stays - including in the USA at Harvard Medical School, New York Medical School, Los Angeles and Stanford - Steinsträßer was Professor at Ruhr University Bochum and Head Physician at the Clinic for Plastic Surgery at the Berufsgenossenschaftliche Universitätsklinik Bergmannsheil.

The Dean of the School, Prof. Dr Gregor Theilmeier, emphasised how important the recruitment of outstanding scientists and clinicians is for the development of University Medicine Oldenburg. "Professor Steinsträßer has already ensured that the international and national attention of his subject is focused on Oldenburg."

Steinsträßer is President of the European Plastic Surgery Research Council (EPSRC) and has received numerous awards for his research work. The plastic surgeon researches the innate immune system in the field of immunology and conducts basic research into malignant tumours in connective tissue and wound healing.