Professor Vivien Lees

Professor Lees is Consultant Plastic Surgeon with special interests in Hand & Wrist surgery and Cosmetic Surgery. She holds the Certificate in Cosmetic Surgery.  After graduation from Oxford and Cambridge, Professor Lees obtained research MD from Cambridge for which she won the Walter Langdon Brown prize. She was trained in centres of excellence in the UK and at the prestigious Kleinert Institute, Louisville, USA before she took up appointment as a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Manchester University Foundation Hospitals Trust in 1997.  Professor Lees is known for her expertise in hand and wrist surgery. She was formerly Chair of Education & Training, Council Member and President of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH). She has taken a lead role in development of the Postgraduate Diploma & Master in Hand  Surgery that has provided a new paradigm in higher specialist training for hand surgeons. Past Council Member of British Association of Plastic Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) and Examiner for FRCS(Plast).  Professor Lees also has acknowledged skills in the practice of cosmetic surgery and for many years served as a Council member for the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), representing BAAPS on the charitable Healing Foundation promoting research into relevant areas of aesthetic research. Recent projects have included looking at the characterization of stem cells in fat graft (funded by BAAPS/Healing Foundation grant). In addition, she runs the northwest aesthetic training rotation. Professor Lees has also worked closely with Breast Surgery colleagues providing a multidisciplinary service for developmental breast disorders including asymmetry and tubular breasts.  Professor Lees is currently elected Vice President of Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCSEng) and past Chair of the Specialist Advisory Committee (SAC) in Plastic Surgery responsible for plastic surgery training in the UK and Republic of Ireland.   Professor Lees holds Clinical Academic Chair in Plastic Surgery with the University of Manchester. She maintains an active research and teaching programme having published over 68 articles in the medical literature. She is past joint Editor of the European Journal of Hand Surgery. She has particular interest in functional anatomy of the hand, wrist and forearm and has been awarded Hunterian Professor of the RCSEng for 2010/11. Professor Lees has special interest in clinical safe surgery and is engaged with the SAFE OR project globally and in the UK.