Professor Prem Puri is the Newman Clinical Research Professor at the University College Dublin School of Medicine and Medical Science. He is currently the president of the World Federation of Associations of Paediatric Surgeons (WOFAPS) FOUNDATION and is past president of the World Federation of Associations of Pediatric Surgeons (WOFAPS) and the European Paediatric Surgeons Association (EUPSA). He is editor-in-chief of Paediatric Surgery International, and is on the editorial board of several other journals. He is secretary of the International Board of Pediatric Surgical Research and was a member of the Health Research Board of Ireland (2010- 2015 ) Professor Puri is Honorary Fellow of a number of prestigious medical and scientific societies, including the American Surgical Association (ASA), American Academy of Pediatrics, American Pediatric Surgical Association, Japanese Association of Paediatric Surgeons, and also the Argentinean, Austrian, Canadian, Czech, Croatian, Cuban, Indian, South African and Ukrainian paediatric surgical associations.He is known internationally for his research into the underlying mechanisms causing birth defects, and innovative treatments, which have benefited children all over the world. He has received numerous awards, including People of the Year Award (highest Irish national award), the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons’ prestigious Denis Browne Gold Medal and the European Paediatric Surgeons Association’s Rehbein Medal for outstanding contributions to paediatric surgery. He has been a visiting professor to many leading universities all over the world, and invited speaker at over 230 international scientific meetings. He has published 10 books, 127 chapters in textbooks and over 600 articles in peer-reviewed journals. His research has been cited over 20,000 times in peer-reviewed articles. Michael E. Höllwarth was a professor and head of the Univ. Clinic of Paediatric and Adolescent Surgery at the Medical University of Graz/Austria from 1997 to 2012 and is currently professor emeritus. He was president of the Austrian Paediatric Surgical Association and founding president of the European Paediatric Surgeon’s Association (EUPSA). He was the president of the Austrian Committee of Injury Prevention in Childhood for 21 years and is currently honorary president of this Association.He published over 250 articles in peer-reviewed paediatric surgical journals, more than 30 book chapters and is editor or co-editor of 4 books. Höllwarth recieved several prestigious national and international awards and honors, among them the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons and from the World Federation of Pediatric Surgical Associations (WOFAPS), the Rehbein Medal from the European Paediatric Surgeon’s Association (EUPSA), the Denis Browne Gold Medal from the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons (BAPS) and the Kafka Medal from the Czech Associations of Pediatric Surgeons. He is an honorary doctor of the Stradins University in Riga/Latvia and was decorated with Gold Medal of the Styrian Government and the great Silver Medal of the Austrian Government.
