Science and Practice of Pressure Ulcer Management

Foundation and has been President of the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel. He was Editor in Chief of the Journal of Tissue Viability from 2000 to 2010 and now serves as Emeritus Editor of that publication. Prof. Amit Gefen received the B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Tel Aviv University in 1994, 1997, and 2001, respectively. During 2002-2003 he was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He is currently a Full Professor with the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of Tel Aviv University and the Herbert J. Berman Chair in Vascular Bioengineering. The research interests of Prof. Gefen are in studying normal and pathological effects of biomechanical factors on the structure and function of cells, tissues and organs, with emphasis on applications in chronic wound research. In 2007-2008 he was a visiting scientist at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, where he developed tissue-engineered model systems to study pressure ulcers. To date, Prof. Gefen published more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed international journals, many of which on mechanobiology, cell and tissue biomechanics, with applications that are mostly in chronic wound prevention. Guido Ciprandi graduated from University of  Rome La Sapienza (UR1)  in 1982, 1987 and University of Rome Tor Vergata (UR2) in 1992. His training in general and thoracic surgery was done at the Clinics for General Surgery and Thoracic Surgery of UR1 and UR2, and in Pediatric Surgery at the Bambino Gesu' Children's Hospital, in Rome. He spent the next years between the Microvascular Clinics of Saint Joseph Hospital in Paris, Children's Hospital in Boston and La Timone Hospital "des Enfants Malades" in Marseille. In 2001, he became responsible for the Experimental Laboratory Research Center in Palidoro, at Bambino Gesu' Children's Hospital. In 2012 he was appointed Managing Director for Pressure Ulcer and Complex Lesions Project in the Unit of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Surgery, Bambino Gesu' Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy. Dr. Ciprandi is a member of numerous national and international organizations, including the European Pediatric Surgical Association, Italian Association for Pediatric Surgery, European Wound Management Association. He is also Trustee in European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel and President of the International Society of Pediatric Wound Care.