Iain Stuart Whitaker MA, MBBChir, MRCS, PhD, FRCS

Prof Iain Whitaker is the only Professor of Plastic Surgery In Wales, based at Swansea University Medical School and The Welsh Centre for Burns & Plastic Surgery. After studying medicine at Cambridge University (Trinity Hall College), Iain received a Certificate of Honours in Plastic Surgery from Harvard Medical School. Following specialized plastic, reconstructive, and aesthetic surgery training in Yorkshire, Wales, Sweden, USA, Australia, and France, he was awarded the Plastic Surgery Fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS Plast).

Highlights of Iain’s plastic surgery training include him being the first plastic surgeon ever to receive the Rowan Nick’s Award, the most prestigious of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons international awards, which allowed him to complete a year in Melbourne, Australia. During this time he gained extensive experience in state-of-the-art cosmetic and reconstructive surgery including Breast surgery (working with the world-renowned breast cosmetic surgeon Professor Mark Ashton), Liposuction and Fat transfer, Eyelid Surgery, and Body contouring. Following this, he was awarded the European Association of Plastic Surgeons (EURAPS) Young Plastic Surgeon Scholarship to work in Paris.

On his return to the UK, Iain was a Consultant in Plastic Surgery at Cambridge University Teaching Hospitals before taking up the Professorship in Wales. He is well known in the field of plastic surgery and has won numerous awards during his career including the Mentor Prize in Aesthetic Surgery from the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS). Iain is a member of BAPRAS and sits on their research council which helps set the direction of plastic surgery research in the UK.

In addition to having completed over 7,000 plastic surgery procedures in 6 different countries, his research efforts are internationally recognized, including over 175 journal publications and several books. He is currently the deputy editor of the largest Plastic Surgery Journal in Europe, The Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery in Europe (JPRAS), the plastic surgery editor for Frontiers in Surgery (Nature Publishing Group) and Associate Editor of one of the oldest plastic surgery journals in the world, the Annals of Plastic Surgery. In addition to his role as a Consultant at the Welsh Centre for Burns & Plastic Surgery, he leads the largest plastic surgery research team in the UK investigating stem cell technologies to solve aesthetic and reconstructive problems safely and effectively.