Profile
Prof. Blondeel is the chairman of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery department at the Ghent University Hospital and a full professor at the Ghent University in Belgium. He is part-time active as an attending plastic surgeon at Clinique Montchoisi in Lausanne, Switzerland. He was appointed in 2024 as adjunct professor at the Wake Forest University Medical School, department of Plastic Surgery.
Prof. Blondeel is the chairman and founder of the Ghent Academy of Plastic Surgery (GAPS) and the president and founding member of GATE (Ghent Advanced Therapies and Tissue Engineering). GATE connects researchers and clinicians who are inspired by the extraordinary potential of emerging gene, cell and tissue engineering technologies to transform the way we treat uncurable diseases, build artificial organs and human-on-chips.
He holds membership in numerous other scientific societies, including the American Society for Reconstructive Surgery and the American Society of Plastic Surgery. He is an honorary member of the Canadian, South African, Kyrgyz, and Swiss Society of Plastic Surgery. He was the 2021-23 president of the European Association of Plastic Surgeons.
He is also the creator, co-founder, and president of the Board of the “Beautiful After Breast Cancer Foundation”. This public non-profit foundation aims to increase awareness and fund research projects in the field of reconstructive breast surgery.
A world-renowned expert on aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery, Prof. Blondeel is a frequently invited speaker and teacher who has also authored or co-authored numerous books, book chapters, peer-reviewed articles, and abstracts. He holds an H-index of 66 and an i10-index of 169 (1-2026).
Prof. Blondeel is recognized for his contributions and pioneering in “perforator flaps surgery”. His book on Perforator Flaps is seen as the standard reference in clinical flap surgery. He was the organizer of the International Course on Perforator Flaps for over 20 years. He has trained many young national and international fellows from all over the world.
He was the general team leader and head surgeon of the first facial transplant in Belgium (#19 worldwide). He now leads a strong team of fundamental researchers pioneering regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and 3D-bioprinting.
As an entrepreneur, he is co-founder and chief medical officer of the biotech start-up company 4Tissue.
Medical training:
Limburgs Universitair Centrum Medical School, Belgium. (1981 - 1984)
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Medical School, Belgium. (1984 - 1988)
30/6/88: Medical Doctor (M.D.) degree obtained "magna cum laude"
General surgery training: Universitaire Ziekenhuizen, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium(1988-91)
Plastic surgery training: Universitaire Ziekenhuizen, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.(1991-1994)
7/6/94: Fellow of the Collegium Chirurgicum Plasticum, Brussels
31/7/94: graduated as Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery
15/11/94: graduated as diplomate of the “European Board of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic surgery” (EBOPRAS)
20/5/98: graduated “maxima cum laude” as doctor in Medical Sciences (Ph.D.) in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Gent. Thesis “Free perforator Flaps in Breast Reconstruction”.
Professional career:
1/8/94 - 31/8/95 : attending plastic surgeon, department of Plastic Surgery, University Hospitals K.U.Leuven, Belgium.
1/9/95 - 30/11/97: assistant Professor, department of Plastic Surgery, University Hospital Gent, Belgium.
1/12/97 – 30/9/2000: associate Professor, department of Plastic Surgery, University Hospital Gent, Belgium.
2000-18: Professor-lecturer of Plastic Surgery, Gent University, Belgium
> 1/10/2018: Full Professor of Plastic Surgery, Gent University, Belgium
>2016: chairman of the department of Plastic Surgery, Ghent university Hospital, Gent, Belgium
2020-24: chairman of the Burn Center, Ghent university Hospital, Gent, Belgium
2003-2020: Attending surgeon at LaClinic, Montreux, Switzerland
> 2021: Attending surgeon at Clinique Montchoisi, Lausanne, Switzerland
Membership scientific societies:
Belgian Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (BSPRAS)
Société Suisse de Chirurgie Plastique, Reconstructive et Esthétique (SSCPRE) (honorary member)
Fellow of the Collegium Chirurgicum Plasticum (FCCP)
European Association of Plastic Surgeons (Euraps)
Diplomate of the European Board of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (EBOPRAS)
American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery (ASRM)
The Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons of South Africa (honorary member)
Canadian Society of Plastic Surgery (CSPS) (honorary member)
International appointments & boards:
Secretary of the Belgian Accreditation Committee for Plastic Surgery
1999-2009 : President of the Chapter of Microsurgery of the Royal Belgian Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery.
2009-2015: Treasurer of the Royal Belgian Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery.
> 2000: international reviewer for the Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Go, Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery and the European Journal of Plastic Surgery
> 2001: member of the editorial board of the Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, the Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery and the European Journal of Plastic Surgery
2010-2014: international associate editor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
2006 - 2009: country representative of Belgium at the EURAPS
>2006: member of the Board of Recognition of Plastic Surgeons in Belgium (Dutch chamber)
>sept. 2018: president of the Board of Recognition of Plastic Surgeons in Belgium (Dutch chamber)
2019-2021: President-elect of EURAPS
2021-2023: President of EURAPS
Scientific publications and teaching:
A detailed list of all scientific publications of Prof. Blondeel can be found here.
Philanthropy:
Creator, co-founder and director of the Board of the “Beautiful After Breast Cancer Foundation”.
This public non-profit foundation aims to increase awareness and to fund research projects in the field of reconstructive breast surgery.
www.BeautifulABC.com