Dr. Stephan Ariyan, MD – New Haven, CT

Dr. Ariyan is an internationally known surgeon specializing in the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer, breast cancer, and malignant melanoma. He has been recognized for the origination and development of several myocutaneous flaps for reconstructions of the head and neck- most notably the pectoralis major flap, which has become the most commonly used flap for head and neck reconstruction worldwide. He established the Microsurgery Service at Yale in 1976, performing the first replantations of fingers in Connecticut. He developed and performed the first composite microvascular reconstruction of the jaw using the anterior vascular supply to the rib and overlying soft tissues. He established the Yale Melanoma Unit in 1976, and continues to this day as the Director of that multispecialty team.

    Following the devastating earthquake in Armenia in December 1988, he was invited by the government of the then Soviet Union to help care for the many victims. After assessing the situation, he recommended the training and establishment of a western standard plastic surgical unit to care for the reconstruction of the vast number of patients. He was asked to select a team of surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses from Armenia, which he trained at Yale from 1990-1991, with the joint collaborative efforts of the AGBU, the USAID, the ECFMG, the RRC for Plastic Surgery, the Yale School of Medicine, and the Yale-New Haven Hospital. That team has been successfully working together at the new Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Center in Yerevan since its opening in 1992. The success of this effort has been used by the USAID as the model for the implementation of health care education in the redevelopment of the former Soviet Eastern European countries.