Key Opinion Leader Forum 6 – PAD – Online Session – 2nd of April 2025.
You will be able to pose your questions to our panel: Alberto Settembrini, Dave Russell, Luca Dalla Paola and Gwendolyn Cazander, as well as Kak Khee Yeung, the PAD Pathway Lead.
Objective:
Do you have a challenging case? Are you unsure how to treat PAD issues? Do you want a different perspective? Are you a member? Then you are welcome to join our KOL Forum to hear how a KOL would treat your case! This is a new educational initiative for those with moderate to advanced vascular surgery knowledge. It allows participants to ask and get responses to burning questions on moderate to difficult cases by either submitting them for possible selection in the Forum, or via the KOL Forum case library. You can also just join and learn! The sessions are designed to:
- Provide advanced training for experienced surgeons
- Provide a rare opportunity to interact with experts in the field
- Receive advice on personal cases
- Be informal spaces
Meet Our Key Opinion Leaders
Alberto Settembrini
Alberto Settembrini is a vascular surgeon with extensive training in Italy and in leading centres across Europe and the United States. His expertise encompasses both endovascular and open vascular procedures for the treatment of carotid and aortic diseases, with a special focus on critical limb-threatening ischaemia and diabetic foot management. He is currently practicing at IRCCS MultiMedica in Sesto San Giovanni, Milan, a renowned centre for diabetic foot care and peripheral arterial disease management. Dr. Settembrini routinely performs endovascular and surgical interventions for carotid, aortic, and peripheral arterial diseases. He is the author of peer-reviewed publications on various aspects of vascular surgery and frequently serves as a speaker at international conferences and as a reviewer for different vascular surgery journals. He is an active member of the Italian Society of Vascular Surgery, the ESVS Library Committee, and the International Relations Committee of the Society of Vascular Surgery. Dr. Settembrini is also a Fellow and currently an examiner for the European Board of Vascular Surgery.
David Russell
David Russell trained as a general and vascular surgeon in the Yorkshire and Humber region, UK. His interest in the diabetic foot flourished during his vascular fellowship in Adelaide, Australia, where he had the opportunity to work closely alongside an integrated MDT team. He was appointed to Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, UK as a consultant vascular surgeon with interest in diabetic foot disease in 2010 and has developed the local MDT clinic, community foot protection team and research capacity locally since this time.
David has research interests in assessment of ischaemia and decision making around revascularisation; wound healing; early detection of infection; he is an Associate Professor at the Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research, University of Leeds. He holds a prestigious NIHR Advanced Fellowship, is the Chief Investigator for both the UK NIHR HTA funded MIDFUT trial and NIHR Academy funded DOMINO-DFU study, and Co-Investigator for the UK NIHR HTA funded CODIFI2 trial. He is a member of the Research Committee of the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland as the chair of the diabetic foot research specialist interest group. He is a member of NICE and IWGDF guideline committees on the diabetic foot. In addition, David has a keen interest in teaching with both regional and national roles in training vascular surgeons in diabetic foot management.
Gwendolyn Cazander
Gwendolyn Cazander is a European-certified vascular surgeon. Since 2016, she has been working as a general and vascular surgeon in Ikazia hospital in Rotterdam, Eurocept clinics (complex wounds) and Blaak clinics (varicoses treatments). Dr. Cazander is passionate about, and specialised in, complex wound healing and diabetic foot. In 2005, she started investigating larval therapy and received international awards for her work. Her thesis (Amsterdam, 2010) was called: ‘How do maggots operate?’, about the underlying mechanisms of action of larval therapy. She still participates in wound research projects and has been a speaker and participant at many national and international congresses. Since 2020, Dr. Cazander is OC member of the International Symposium on Diabetic Foot (ISDF). Moreover, she is Medical Director of surgery at the Eurocept care company since 2024 and is developing more high-quality complex wound care and diabetic foot care in the Netherlands, with the aim of setting up new Dutch clinics for this purpose.
Luca Dalla Paola
Luca Dalla Paola is based in the Department of Medical Sciences at the Ferrera University School of Medicine and is a visiting professor at Harvard Medical School.
Surgical activity: Limb salvage, Charcot foot reconstuction, Conservative surgical treatment of osteomyelitis, Amputations (major-minor), Reconstruction with bioengineered tissues, Plastic surgery, Diabetic foot wound care. 13000 surgical procedures on diabetic foot in the last 10 years (1000/year).
Scientific activity Member of Italian Diabetic Foot Study Group. Member of European Diabetic foot Study Group (DFSG) of EASD. Chairman of International Course on Diabetic Foot 2002 (ICDF2002). Chairman of International Course on Diabetic Foot 2004 and 2007. Chairman of International Course on Charcot Foot 2012 (ICDF2012). Chairman of International Course on Osteomyelitis and Diabetic Foot 2014 (ICDF2014). Past Chairman of International Association of Diabetic Foot Surgeons (ADF-S). Member of editorial board of “Diabetic Foot and Ankle”.
