EDITORIAL

MICROSURGERY 30:253–255 2010

CROSSROADS IN EXPERIMENTAL MICROSURGERY: A PREFACETO THE SPECIAL ISSUE OF THE 9th CONGRESS OF THEINTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR EXPERIMENTAL MICROSURGERY

INTRODUCTIVE WORDS

Upon the invitation of the Editor-in-Chief, Prof.

Feng Zhang I have the honor to give a preface to this

special issue based on selected presentations at the 9th

Congress of the International Society for Experimental

Microsurgery (ISEM). As the Secretary of the ISEM my

goals also include the promotion of our multidisciplinary

society and expressing our thanks to all who support our

activity, provide forums and platforms for the discus-

sions, for co-operations, organize congresses and give

unique opportunity to publish our results.

THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR

EXPERIMENTAL MICROSURGERY

The ISEM has been founded in 1991, dedicated to the

highest standards of microsurgical research and promot-

ing the art of microsurgery worldwide. The Founder of

the Society is Professor Sun Lee, the ‘‘Father of Experi-

mental Microsurgery’’,1 who is also the founder of the

San Diego Microsurgical Institute. His name hallmarks

the prestigious ‘‘Sun Lee Award,’’ the Dr. Sun Lee’s Out-

standing Experimental Microsurgery Career Award. The

Rewarded Scientist till 2006: 1998 Arnulf Thiede (Ger-

many), 2000 Masumi Nozawa (Japan), 2002 Robert

Zhong (Canada), 2004 Sobhi Hweidi (Egypt), and 2006

Antonio di Cataldo (Italy).

Professor Robert Zhong (1946–2006) was one of the

most outstanding pupils of Sun Lee. He was a brilliant

researcher, master, beloved professor, and person. He

published pioneer and determinant results in the field of

transplantation immunology and xenotransplantation.2,3

Remembering for Robert Zhong and so encouraging the

young scientists Prof. Iren Miko, Prof. Istvan Furka, Dr.

Norbert Nemeth and Dr. Endre Brath of Hungary have

established the ‘‘Robert Zhong Award,’’ which was given

firstly in 2008.

The ISEM organizes biennial congresses: 1992 Rome

(Italy), 1994 Kanazawa (Japan), 1996 Wuerzburg (Ger-

many), 1998 London (Canada),4 2000 Catania (Italy),5

2002 San Diego (USA),6 2004 Debrecen (Hungary),7

2006 Montreal (Canada),8 and in 2008 Shanghai (China).

THE 9th CONGRESS OF THE INTERNATIONAL

SOCIETY FOR EXPERIMENTAL MICROSURGERY

The 9th Congress of the ISEM, a successful meeting

with high scientific level and excellent social programs,

was held between October 30 and November 2, 2008, at

the Shanghai International Convention Center, in the mar-

velous and vibrant city of People’ Republic of China.

Special thanks to all the Organizers, Committee mem-

bers, Speakers, Authors, Co-Authors, and Participants of

the Congress!

The Organizer was the ISEM with the Huashan Hos-

pital of Fudan University, Shanghai, P.R. China. The

Honorary Chair was Prof. Sun Lee (USA), the Chairs of

the Congress were Profs. Yudong Gu and Jianguang Xu

(China). The Secretary General and Secretary of the Con-

gress: Wendong Xu and Dong Han.

*Correspondence to: Norbert Nemeth, M.D., Ph.D., Secretary of the Interna-tional Society for Experimental Microsurgery, Department of Operative Tech-niques and Surgical Research, Institute of Surgery, Medical and Health Sci-ence Centre, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Nagyerdei krt. 98.,Hungary. E-mail: nemeth@med.unideb.hu

Published online 17 March 2010 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/micr.20773

VVC 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The Organizing Committee

Corradino Campisi (Italy), Huifang Chen (Canada), Zon-

gyou Chen (China), Qiang Ding (China), Jia Fan (China),

Heinz-Jochen Gassel (Germany), Liquiang Gu (China), Eiji

Kobayashi (Japan), Xiaokang Li (China), Qingfeng Li

(China), William C. Lineaweaver (USA), Iren Miko (Hun-

gary), Edna F.S. Montero (Brazil), and Shiguang Qian (USA).

The Scientific Committee

Liang Chen (China), Antonio Di Cataldo (Italy),

Dong Han (China), Toshinori Ito (Japan), Ingo Klein

(Germany), Jie Lao (China), Wei Li (USA), Norbert

Nemeth (Hungary), Junhong Sun (Australia), Hao Wang

(Canada), Huan Wang (China), Wendong Xu (China),

and Feng Zhang (USA).

The tasks for Congress Secretariat were successfully

completed by the Union Med led by Wave Niu project man-

ager. Many thanks to him and his co-workers and to the

young doctors who helped the realization of the congress.

Besides the clinical topics and reconstructive surgical

issues, the further main topics were lymphatic microsur-

gery, transplantation models, transplantation immunology,

related stem cell research, tissue engineering, hemorheol-

ogy microcirculation, and translational microsurgery.

Special sessions were nominated for Basic Research

(moderator: Eiji Kobayashi, Wei Li), General Surgery

and Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery (sessions moderated

by Antonio Di Cataldo, Zongyou Chen, Qingfen Li and

by Zunli Shen, Hua Jiang), Liver Surgery and Urology

(sessions moderated by Shiguang Qian, Jia Fan, Jian

Zhou and by Huifang Chen, Qiang Ding, Xiang Wang),

Microsurgery of the Extremities (moderator: Liqiang Gu,

Wendong Xu), and the Scientific Publications (‘‘Micro-

surgery’’ and its platform—by Feng Zhang).

The Keynote, Invited, and Plenary Speakers together

with the Oral Presenters gave excellent overview, summa-

ries, and new results on their fields. In total, the Scientific

Program included two Keynote, five Invited, 35 Plenary,

and 44 Oral presentations. The topics showed that the ex-

perimental microsurgery is really multidisciplinary and

can be characterized by many research directions. How-

ever, the root is common: using sophisticated microsurgi-

cal techniques, advanced skills and philosophy.

There was no doubt, the scientific level of the con-

gress was high and the discussions of results provided a

unique opportunity for the international groups to

exchange ideas and establish further co-operations.

At the ISEM Business Meeting the new board has

been elected for the period of 2008–2010. President: Eiji

Kobayashi (Japan), President-Elect: Edna F.S. Montero

(Brazil), Secretary: Norbert Nemeth (Hungary), Corre-

sponding Secretary: Iren Miko (Hungary), Treasurer: Wei

Li (USA). New Councilors: Francesco Boccardo (Italy),

Endre Brath (Hungary), Hao Wang (Canada), Wendong

Xu (P.R. China) and Feng Zhang (USA).

In 2008 Professor Huifang Chen (Canada), in 2009

Professors Corradino Campisi (Italy) and Shiguang Qian

(USA) have been honored with the prestigious ‘‘Sun Lee

Award.’’ The newly established ‘‘Robert Zhong Award’’

has been donated to Dr. Mei Yang (P.R. China) and to

Dr. Yinghua Tian (Switzerland). Congratulations!

The 10th Congress of the ISEM will be held in Sao

Paulo, Brazil on October 29–31, 2010, organized by Pres-

ident-Elect Edna F.S. Montero.

Please, visit the ISEM website (http://www.isem.

unideb.hu) for further information about the society,

membership, meetings, and events.

CONCERING THE CONTENT OF THIS SPECIAL

ISSUE

According to the organization of the previous Special

Issues after the ISEM congresses, in December 2008 and

in January 2009 circular e-mails were sent out to all the

participant of the congress, calling for submission of

manuscripts based on presentation held at the 9th ISEM

Congress. For the first evaluation of the manuscripts, as a

first filter, an ISEM Review Board has been established

(Eiji Kobayashi, Norbert Nemeth, Edna F.S. Montero, Cor-

radino Campisi, Antonio Di Cataldo, Huifang Chen, Shi-

guang Qian, Iren Miko, Francesco Boccardo, Jianguang

Xu, and Hao Wang). After the recommendations of the

ISEM Review Board the selected manuscripts have been

submitted via the regular evaluation system of the journal

Microsurgery for a final, peer review process. The result is

this Special Issue with high level of scientific articles

reflecting the multidisciplinary fields of the ISEM.

Like the wide-range topics of the ISEM Meeting

showed, the current issue reflects the multidisciplinary

relations of experimental microsurgery. The articles touch

the fields of tissue and organ transplantation, transplanta-

tion immunology, tissue ischemia reperfusion, new exper-

imental microsurgical models, lymphatic microsurgery,

and neural repair.

Many thanks to the Authors, to the Reviewers, and to

the Editor-in-Chief of Microsurgery Prof. Feng Zhang,

giving the opportunity, great help, and support for realiz-

ing this Special Issue!

—NORBERT NEMETH, M.D., Ph.D.

Department of Operative Techniques

and Surgical Research

Institute of Surgery

Medical and Health Science Center

University of Debrecen

Debrecen, Hungary

254 Editorial

Microsurgery DOI 10.1002/micr

REFERENCES

1. Zhong R. ‘‘Father’’ of experimental microsurgery: Dr. Sun Lee.Microsurgery 2003;23:412–413.

2. Zhong T. Dr Robert Zhen Zhong: A tribute by his daughter. Micro-surgery 2007;27:214–215.

3. Qian S. Tribute: Dr Robert Zhen Zhong, 1946–2006. Microsurgery2007;27:216–217.

4. Zhong R, Lee S. Recent advances in experimental microsurgery: The4th congress of the international society for experimental microsur-gery (ISEM). Microsurgery 1999;19:305–305.

5. Di Cataldo A, Puleo S, Zhong R. Introduction Special Issue: Frontiersin microsurgery: Recent advances in experimental microsurgery.Microsurgery 2001;21:117–117.

6. Chen H, Qian S, Gassel HJ. Frontiers in microsurgery: Recent advan-ces in experimental microsurgery. Microsurgery 2003;23:411–411.

7. Miko I, Furka I, Nemeth N. Frontiers in experimental microsurgery:The 7th Congress of the International Society for ExperimentalMicrosurgery, Debrecen, Hungary, September 1–4, 2004, Microsur-gery 2006;26:1–3.

8. Klein I, Gassel HJ. Frontiers in experimental microsurgery: Theeighth congress of the International Society for Experimental Micro-surgery, Montreal, Canada July 16–19, 2006, Microsurgery 2007;27:212–213.

Editorial 255

Microsurgery DOI 10.1002/micr