James K-K Chan

My mission is to bring about the translation of lab research to improve outcomes in patients who require reconstructive surgery. My main area of research interest is wound healing in different tissue types while my clinical interests lie in the functional reconstruction of the musculoskeletal system, including in people with spinal cord injury.

I graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2004 and completed my Higher Surgical Training in Plastic Surgery in the Oxford Deanery in 2019. In 2017, I undertook a one-year Cochrane Fellowship during which I was involved in the critical appraisal of systematic reviews and dissemination of evidence-based practice. Subsequently, in 2018, I undertook an intensive one-year subspecialist fellowship training in Reconstructive Microsurgery at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan, the largest microsurgery unit worldwide.

Between 2010 and 2014, I took time out of my clinical training to embark upon full time translational research at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Oxford University. Under the mentorship of Prof Jagdeep Nanchahal, Prof Nikki Horwood and Prof Sir Marc Feldmann, I identified the innate immune response as a therapeutic target and delineated the early inflammatory pathway in fracture repair, successfully defending my DPhil thesis in 2014. During this period, I was awarded the Wellcome Clinical Research Training Fellowship, Royal College of Surgeons of England Research Fellowship and Senior Scholarship of Lincoln College, University of Oxford. I have also received grants from the Paton-Masser Memorial Fund (BAPRAS) and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. In 2016, I was awarded the Starter Grant for Clinical Lecturers by the Academy of Medical Sciences.