Conference Co- Chairs
Dr. Amir Arami
Israel
Bio
Dr. Zvika Steinberger
Israel
Bio
Dr. Lenkei Balázs
Hungary
Dr. Várhelyi Levente
Hungary
Bio
Dr. Andrii Lysak
Ukraine
Bio
Advisory Board
Dr. L. Scott Levin
USA
Bio
Dr. Stephen Kovach
USA
Bio
Dr. Amy M. Moore
USA
Bio
Dr. Jason Souza
USA
Bio
Dr. Benjamin (Kyle) Potter
USA
Bio
Jason Souza,
Director of the Orthoplastic and Advanced Amputation Program at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
He is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and Orthopaedics. He went to college at Brown University, where he studied neuroscience in addition to his pre-med studies. He earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed plastic surgery residency training at Northwestern University McGraw Medical Center. Dr. Souza also completed a research fellowship at the Center for Bionic Medicine at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (now known as the Shirley Ability Lab). Dr. Souza has a particular interest in extremity and nerve injury reconstruction, as well as advanced amputation care. Dr. Souza is a veteran of the United States Navy, having achieved a rank of Commander in the Medical Corps while serving on active duty for 6 years. During his military service, Dr. Souza served as Director of the Peripheral Nerve Program at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. As a surgeon scientist, Dr. Souza has been at the forefront in advancing reconstructive surgical science for the care of the Wounded Warrior. He continues to serve on the Steering Committee for the Department of Defense Osseointegration Program, and in concert with his orthopedic partners, has performed the largest number of osseointegration surgeries in the United States, having provided this state-of-the-art care to almost 100 amputees to date.
Benjamin “Kyle” Potter, MD, FACS
Was recently appointed as a Paul B. Magnuson Professor of Bone and Joint Surgery and Chair, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He is the immediate past Norman M. Rich Professor and Chair of the Uniformed Services University - Walter Reed Department of Surgery. Prior to that, he was the Director for Surgery (Surgeon-in-chief) at Walter Reed. He was a founding Deputy Director and immediate past Director of the DoD Limb Optimization and Osseointegration Program and served as the Chief Orthopaedic Surgeon for the Amputee Program at Walter Reed for 16 years, while also serving as a musculoskeletal oncologist within the Murtha Cancer Center at Walter Reed and a consultant for the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute.
Kyle deployed overseas in support of the Global War on Terrorism in 2011, 2016, and 2020 and is the 2018 past President of the Society of Military Orthopaedic Surgeons. He has authored or co-authored more than 350 publications and is a recipient or co-recipient of more than 40 funded grants. He co-edited the 4th and 5th editions of the Atlas of Amputations and Limb Deficiencies for the AAOS, and serves as a Deputy Editor for Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research and an Associate Editor for the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma. His research interests include trauma-related amputation techniques and outcomes (including osseointegration and targeted muscle reinnervation), combat-related heterotopic ossification, and predictive modeling of musculoskeletal trauma and oncologic outcomes.
L. Scott Levin, MD, FACS
L. Scott Levin, MD, FACS, is the Paul B. Magnuson Professor of Bone and Joint Surgery,
Former Chairman, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, and Professor of Surgery (Plastic
Surgery). He is also the Director of the Penn Musculoskeletal and Rheumatology Service Line.
As an accomplished clinician, his expertise focuses on surgery of the hand and upper extremity,
reconstructive microsurgical techniques for extremity reconstruction and limb salvage. His
research interests focus predominantly on extremity soft tissue reconstruction and vascularized
composite allotransplantation.
Dr. Levin heads the Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation Program at Penn and directed
the teams that performed bilateral hand and arm transplants in three adults. In 2015, as Director
of the Pediatric Hand Transplantation Program of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, he led the
team that performed the world’s first bilateral hand transplant in a child.
Dr. Levin also actively participates in senior leadership activities of many international and
national professional societies and associations.
Dr. Levin is responsible for developing the field of “Orthoplastic Surgery” and currently is Editor-
in-Chief of the journal Orthoplastic Surgery (Elsevier.)
Dr. Amir Arami, MD
Chairman, Department of Hand Surgery and Limb Salvage Surgery
Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer, Israel
Dr. Amir Arami is the Chairman of the Department of Hand Surgery and Limb Salvage
Surgery at Sheba Medical Center, Israel’s largest tertiary hospital. He leads a team of 14
surgeons in a department specializing in the full spectrum of hand surgery and
microsurgery, with expanded services in residual limb care and complex extremity
reconstruction.
Dr. Arami is a board-certified orthopedic and hand surgeon with advanced fellowship
training in microsurgery and peripheral nerve surgery. He has extensive clinical
experience in brachial plexus reconstruction, nerve transfers, and microsurgical limb
salvage. He plays a central role in the treatment of complex combat-related injuries at
Sheba Medical Center.
In addition to his clinical leadership, Dr. Arami is actively involved in academic and
translational research. He collaborates with the Israel Innovation Authority on a
preclinical study validating the porcine model for peripheral nerve regeneration and
neuropathic pain. He also serves as Chief Medical Officer of TENGable, a startup
developing implantable technologies for sensory restoration.
Dr. Arami regularly participates in international conferences and expert panels and has
contributed to numerous peer-reviewed publications. He is committed to advancing the
fields of peripheral nerve surgery, extremity trauma reconstruction, and innovation in
limb restoration.
First name: Levente
Surname: Várhelyi
Nationality: Hungarian
Gender: Male
Date of birth: 02.03.1968.
Unit: Hungarian Defence Forces Medical Centre Military Hospital, Budapest, Hungary since 1992
Rank: Colonel
Position: Chief Surgeon of the Hungarian Defence Forces, Head of Department of Trauma of the HDF Medical Centre
Medical degree: Semmelweis Medical University, Budapest, Hungary, 1992
PhD degree: Treatment of Blast Injuries, Zrínyi University of Defense, Budapest, Hungary, 2010
Certifications: Orthopaedics 1997, Traumatology 1999, Hand surgery 2001
Specific field of interest: trauma care, military medicine, mass casualty care, disaster medicine
Educations:
Dept. of Orthopaedics, Halland County Hospital, Halmstad, Sweden, 1991
Dept. of Trauma, Milan City Hopsital, Italy, 1992
Dept. of Hand Surgery, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Israel, 1999
DSTC, ETC
Memberships: APIMSF, Hungarian Society of Trauma, Hungarian Society of Orthopaedics, Hungarian Society of Emergency Medicine
Deployments: SFOR, Bosnia, 1998
KFOR German Field Hospital, Prizren, Kosovo, 2006-07
ISAF RCN German Medical Treatment Facility, Mazar e Sharif, Afghanistan, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13.
Languages: English, Italian, Russian
Publications: 96
Dr. Moore, Professor and Chair of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, holds the Robert L. Ruberg MD Alumni Endowed Chair.
She received her undergraduate degree from University of Richmond and her medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.
She completed her Plastic and Reconstructive
Surgery residency at Washington University School of Medicine where she dedicated an additional two years as a Peripheral Nerve Research Fellow.
Dr. Moore then completed Mayo Clinic’s Orthopedic Hand Fellowship in Rochester, Minnesota.
Dr. Moore’s first faculty appointment was at Washington University School of Medicine, where she was the Program Director of the Hand, Nerve and Microsurgery Fellowship and Chief of the Section of Hand Surgery and Trauma.
Dr. Moore is a peripheral nerve surgeon focusing on restoring upper and lower extremity function in adults and children.
As a committed surgeon-scientist, she has developed a parallel research program with currently more than $5 million in funding from the Department of Defense (DoD). She has published her clinical and translational research findings with over 100 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and chapters.
She has served in leadership positions within her institution and national societies.
She iscurrently President-Elect of the American Society for Peripheral Nerve.
She is also a Board Examiner for the American Board of Plastic Surgery.
Andrii Lysak, MD, PhD, FEBHS
Head of the "Reconstructive microsurgery and orthopaedic surgery" department of SI "Main Medical Clinical Centre of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine" in Kyiv, Ukraine. Trained as an orthopaedic surgeon but found his interest in hand, peripheral nerve, brachial plexus surgery and reconstructive microsurgery of the upper extremity.
Since 2012, a member of the Ukrainian Hand Surgery Society and, since 2015, secretary of the Ukrainian Hand Surgery Society.
In 2020, successfully passed the European Board of Hand Surgery Examination.
Since 2022, an overseas member of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand.
From 2022, national representative of the Clinical Practice Committee of the Federation of European Societies for Surgery of the Hand in Ukraine.
In 2023, he was awarded the honorary award of the president of the British Association of Orthopaedic Traumatologists for his significant contribution to developing the speciality.
Since 2024, a member of the Global Nerve Foundation educational committee.
Since 2024, a national delegate from Ukraine in the Federation of European Societies for Surgery of the Hand. Author and co-author of more than 70 published scientific papers.
Zvi Steinberger, MD
A Ben Gurion University Medical School graduate. He completed the residency program in Orthopaedic surgery and clinical fellowship in Hand and Microsurgery both at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer.
Later on Dr. Steinberger completed a year as a research fellow and a yearlong clinical fellowship in Orthopalstic surgery both at PENN University in Philadelphia, under the guidance of Dr. Scott Levin.
Dr. Steinberger us leading the Micro and Orthoplastic surgery unit at Sheba Medical Center since November 2021. His main interest is limb salvage surgery and he has been dedicating his work to saving and improving functionality of upper and lower limbs.
Stephen J. Kovach, MD, FACS
Dr. Stephen Kovach serves as Professor of Surgery in the Division of Plastic Surgery and the Department
of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania as well as the Herndon B. Lehr Endowed
Professor. Dr. Kovach completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania followed
by medical school at the George Washington University. He completed his general surgery residency as
well as his basic science research fellowship at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He
completed his plastic surgery training at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC as well as the
Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery in Louisville, KY.
Dr. Kovach’s practice consists of reconstructive surgery and reconstructive microsurgery. Dr. Kovach
practices the spectrum of general reconstructive surgery and aesthetic surgery with an emphasis on
abdominal wall reconstruction and extremity reconstruction. Dr. Kovach has authored over 275
manuscripts, numerous book chapters, and speaks at national as well as international meetings
regarding reconstructive surgery.
Dr. Kovach is a member of multiple national and international societies and has a keen interest in
development of microsurgical capacity in areas of worldwide need.
