Thuss Memorial Lecture
This endowed lectureship was established in 1977 by the late Dr. Charles J. Thuss, Jr., in memory of his parents, Dr. Charles J. Thuss, Sr., and Gertrude Noble Thuss. An identical lectureship was simultaneously endowed at Vanderbilt University, alma mater of Drs. Thuss, Sr., and Jr. The purpose of both lectureships was to bring distinguished contributors in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery to both campuses for teaching and for inspiration, benefiting the student body, plastic surgeons in training, faculty, and the community of plastic surgeons.
On Thanksgiving Day, 1983, Charles Thuss, Jr., and his son, Carter, died in a tragic plane crash. His widow, Emily Thuss, asked that the originally endowed lectureship be expanded to include her late husband and son. Accordingly, beginning with the 1985 lecture, and continuing in years to come, this significant educational event, The Thuss Memorial Lecture, is in memory of three generations of the Thuss family.
Dr. Charles J. Thuss, Sr., a graduate in Vanderbilt Medical School's class of 1931, pursued a distinguished career in Plastic Surgery. He practiced in Birmingham, Alabama, from 1935 to 1951, and served as Chief of Plastic Surgery at Valley Forge Army Hospital from 1951-1954. He was subsequently Chief of Plastic Surgery at Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco until 1962. After retiring from the Service with the rank of Colonel, he practiced as Chief of Plastic Surgery at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Santa Clara, and Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto. Dr. Thuss died on September 10, 1977.
Charles, Jr., was born in Birmingham, Alabama, educated at McCallie School in Chattanooga, Catholic University, and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He trained in pathology at Brooke Army Hospital and Baylor Hospital in Texas. He served with distinction as a pathologist and commanding officer of the 946th Medical Laboratory in Vietnam, as well as Chief, Anatomical Pathology, and commanding officer of the Fourth Army Area Laboratory at Ft. Sam Houston. He followed his army career with a successful private practice, which led to the development of rural health initiative programs, on-site laboratories for rural hospitals, and a new nationwide cost-effective cytology screening procedure. His loss is still felt by all who knew him, and the Thuss Memorial Lecture is a fitting tribute to him, his parents, and his son.
Thuss Memorial Lecturers
| 1977 | Erle E. Peacock, Jr., M.D. University of Arizona |
| 1978 | Luis Vasconez, M.D. University of California San Francisco |
| 1979 | Fernando Ortiz-Monasterio, M.D. National University of Mexico |
| Spring 1981 | Bernard M. O'Brien, M.D. Melbourne, Australia |
| Fall 1981 | Charles E. Horton, M.D. Norfolk, Virginia |
| 1983 | Ronald M. Sato, M.D. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center San Jose, California |
| 1985 | Mark Gorney, M.D. St. Francis Memorial Hospital San Francisco, California |
| 1987 | David L. Larson, M.D. Medical College of Wisconsin |
| 1990 | Jack C. Fisher, M.D. F.A.C.S. University of California at San Diego |
| 1995 | Joseph G. McCarthy, M.D. New York University School of Medicine |
| 1997 | Ronald M. Zuker, M.D., FRCS University of Toronto |
| 1999 | G. Patrick Maxwell, M.D., F.A.C.S. |
| 2001 | Joseph Gruss, M.D. University of Washington |
| 2003 | Mary McGrath, M.D. University of California San Francisco |
| 2007 | Susan Mackinnon, M.D. Washington University School of Medicine |
| 2009 | John Mulliken, M.D. Harvard Medical School |
| 2011 | Fu-Chan Wei, MD, FACS |
2013 THUSS MEMORIAL LECTURER:
DR. JULIAN PRIBAZ
The Eighteenth Thuss Memorial Lecture in Plastic Surgery was given by Dr. Julian J. Pribaz. Julian J. Pribaz, was born in Trieste, Italy but was raised and educated in Australia. His undergraduate medical degrees were from the University of Melbourne and St. Vincent’s Hospital Medical School, graduating in 1972.
He then trained in General Surgery at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne and completed this training in Salisbury, England where he was a General Surgery Registrar and obtained his FRCS from Edinburgh University in 1978.
He then returned to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne where he did his Plastic Surgical Training. After completing this he came to the United States, via Pisa, Italy, and then spent 2 years in the United States, where he did a second residency in Plastic Surgery at Southern Illinois University in Springfield, Illinois.
He subsequently returned to Australia where he became a Clinical Instructor in Plastic Surgery at St. Vincent’s Hospital at Melbourne University. He developed a very busy clinical practice and also worked with the many international research fellows who rotated through the unit.
He obtained his FRACS in Plastic Surgery in 1982, and in 1986 went on to complete his American Boards in Plastic Surgery.
After 5 years as a consultant at St. Vincent’s Hospital, he was recruited to Harvard Medical School, where he began as a Clinical Instructor in Surgery in 1987, and ascended through the ranks and was promoted to full professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School in 2002.
In 1997 he was appointed Program Director of the then new Combined Harvard Plastic Surgery Residency Training Program, which is the largest training program in the United States, and which he ran until June 2010.
Dr. Pribaz has been the author of over 110 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, over 50 book chapters and 130 other reviews, discussions and publications. He has served on the editorial board of 5 major plastic surgery journals.
Dr Pribaz has been the recipient of multiple awards, including the ‘Harry Buncke Award’ from the ASRM for contributions to Microsurgery, the ASPS President’s Award for Innovations in Microsurgery, and the ‘BK Rank Travelling Professor’ Award from the RACS.
Dr. Pribaz has been a visiting professor/invited lecturer at over 140 national/ international institutions and conferences. He is a member of numerous national/ international surgical and plastic surgical societies.
Dr. Pribaz’s research interests are primarily in the area of microvascular surgery and reconstructive surgery of the head and neck, breast, as well as, extremity reconstruction and more recently face and hand allotransplantation.
He has been course director and invited lecturer at many institutions, and has given over 600 presentations nationally/ internationally.
Dr. Pribaz and his wife, Judy, have 5 children and 4 grandchildren and they reside in Boston, Massachusetts.