English  |  Español  |  中文

PEDRO CAVADAS, GABARRON SCIENCE AND RESEARCH 2011 AWARD-WINNER:

“For his pioneering work in reconstructive and restorative surgery. Among his professional accomplishments, Dr. Cavadas performed several limb transplantations, the first transplant of two hands and the first face transplant in Spain (eighth in the world).

He is one of the most genuine representatives of clinical medicine and surgery in contemporary Spain, which has been internationally at the forefront in many specialized areas of surgery. The daily activities of Dr. Cavadas is based on the national transplant system, which is a world leader in organization, efficiency and professionalism. 

The national transplant system is also a model of solidarity; the high volume of donations, and the dedication and sacrifice of all the professionals who are involved, is a primary example of human value for our society. 

In this vein, it is noteworthy that the award recipient created a nonprofit foundation that bears his name and is devoted to reconstructive surgery in Africa. The mission of the foundation, in the words of the recipient, is “to help those unable to choose and to give back that which has been given to us."”

These were the words in the announcement of the jury decision for the Gabarron International Award of Science and Research 2011. The jury recognized Pedro Cavadas' career under the presidency of Dr. José Ballesta Germán and acting secretary Ms. Sandra Lopez Ibarra. Members of the jury include: Doctor Alberto Aguirre Cárcer, Managing Editor of La Verdad Multimedia Group, The Honorable Doctor José Ballesta Germán, Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Murcia, The Honorable Doctor Pedro Javier García Ribot, General Director of the City of Arts and Sciences, Mrs. Sandra Ibarra Lopez, President of the Foundation Sandra Ibarra Solidarity Sandra Ibarra Up To Cancer and Dr. Regina Revilla Pedreira, Director of External Relations and Communication from Merck, Sharp & Dohme –  met in Valladolid, Spain, on June 20 2011.

Born in Valencia in November 1965, Pedro C. Cavadas Rodriguez completed his Bachelor of Medicine from the Faculty of Medicine of Valencia, graduating with honors in 1989.  He then completed his residency with La Fe Hospital in 1995, where he specialized in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

He earned his Doctor of Medicine Degree in 1995 from the University of Valencia, where he was awarded the distinction of Magna cum laude. Amongst his scientific merits, Dr. Cavadas won the International FILACP Award of Residents in 1994, the Best Resident of Microsurgery Award in 1995, he has written more than 120 international publications to date, and has assisted and organized numerous courses in reconstructive surgery, both nationally and internationally.  

Dr. Cavadas has gained international fame for his success with limb transplantation and, recently, for performing the first face transplant in Spain (eighth in the world).

After working with the Rehabilitation Center of Levante and the Hospital of Valencia, he returned to La Fe Hospital and spent brief periods in Kenya, where he created a foundation dedicated to reconstructive surgery.

Dr. Cavadas, as he has admitted himself, became the quintessential rich and ambitious surgeon.  However, his brother’s death and his visits to Kenya led him to change his life and he created the Pedro Cavadas Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to reconstructive surgery in Africa. The Foundation’s mission is, as he says, to help those unable to choose and to give back that which has been given to us.

Merits

Among his many professional accomplishments are multiple limb transplants; he was the first surgeon to successfully transplant both hands, or to turn a right arm into the left. He performed the following surgeries:

• In March 2004, he kept an amputated arm irrigated for nine days by attaching it to the veins and arteries of the patient's leg.
• In December 2006, he transplanted both hands and forearms of Alba Lucia, a forty-seven year old Colombian woman who had lost both hands in a chemistry class accident twenty-three years earlier. She became the first woman in the world, and the first person in Spain (seventh person in the world), to have both forearms transplanted.
• In March 2007, Dr. Cavadas re-implanted the hand of a two year old baby.
• In November 2007, he performed a hands and forearms transplant for the second time, this being his second surgery of this kind.
• In March 2008, he performed the second arm auto-transplant in the world. He also completely destroyed and extracted a giant tumor, removing seven ribs in the process. In May 2008 he re-implanting an arm that had been amputated in four parts.
• In October 2008, he transplanted two entire arms for the second time in history. He also removed a giant tumor from the daughter of a collaborator of Hugo Chavez.
• In November 2009, he re-implanted a leg after keeping it irrigated by attaching it to the patient's other leg.
• In August 2009, he successfully performed the first face transplant in Spain (eighth in the world). It was the first transplant to include both tongue and jaw.

Dr. Cavadas is Director of the 11th Congress of the International Society of Hand and Composite Tissue Allotransplantation, held in Valencia on September 11th and 12th, 2009.

More information: http://www.pedrocavadas.com