PHILADELPHIA— Thousands of patients with severe limb injuries will benefit from advanced surgical techniques and potential limb-saving procedures thanks to a $4.9 million donation establishing the Wyss Orthoplastic Global Education and Innovation Hub at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The donation from the Wyss Medical Foundation will fund research, create fellowships, and establish a conference in the emerging field of orthoplastic surgery, which combines expertise from both plastic and orthopaedic surgery to improve patient outcomes.  

“Orthoplastic surgery transforms how we treat and reconstruct severe limb injuries, and the creation of this new hub will allow for us to spread knowledge and training that could help tens of thousands of people,” said L. Scott Levin, MD, chair emeritus of Orthopaedic Surgery, the Paul B. Magnuson Professor of Bone and Joint Surgery, and a professor of Plastic Surgery at Penn Medicine. 

A pioneer of the orthoplastic surgery field, Levin has helped develop many new techniques in “limb salvage,” in which severely injured arms and legs are treated to avoid amputation when possible, optimize treatment and recovery, and potentially return function.  

Among the hub’s planned offerings are: 

• Orthoplastic and limb salvage surgery fellowships: Preparing and training the next generation of surgeons and surgical leaders in orthoplastic surgery techniques and tools
• A global orthoplastic surgery conference: Hosting surgeons from around the world to increase opportunities for collaboration and advance understanding of the field and the opportunities it provides to patients for improved quality of life
• Funding for orthoplastic surgery research: Seed money to support multiple new projects in the field, allowing scientists and surgeons the opportunity to study novel ideas and techniques 
• “Flap” education: An annual course taught by Penn Medicine faculty in the practice of restoring limb function after injuries via microvascular surgery to bring “flaps” of healthy tissue with their intact blood supply from one part of the body to another 

“Having a greater opportunity to pass on knowledge and increase the chance that a patient who needs orthoplastic services will come across a trained surgeon is fantastic,” said Levin. “What is now possible with this hub in place is thrilling.” 

Spread over five years, the new donation means that the non-profit Wyss Medical Foundation, founded by Swiss businessman Hansjörg Wyss, has now donated more than $11 million to Penn’s Orthopaedic Surgery program. 

Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.

The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $580 million awarded in the 2023 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts,” Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries that have shaped modern medicine, including CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System cares for patients in facilities and their homes stretching from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. UPHS facilities include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Doylestown Health, Lancaster General Health, Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, chartered in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Penn Medicine at Home, GSPP Rehabilitation, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.

Penn Medicine is an $11.9 billion enterprise powered by nearly 49,000 talented faculty and staff.