HARRY J. BUNCKE, M.D. '51, GETS TOP INNOVATIVE AWARD FROM THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS
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ABOVE: Specializing in plastic surgery, Harry J. Buncke, M.D. '51, created the subdivision of microsurgery when he performed the first surgical replantation 40 years ago using the ear of a rabbit. Although he is retired from clinical practice, Dr. Buncke continues to perform research into tissue rejection. |
Not that Dr. Buncke has gone without in the 40 years since he performed the first surgical replantation using the ear of a rabbit. The memory of it is still fresh today: "Those vessels in and around the ear are the same size as in your finger." This was a milestone in the development of the field of microsurgery because it was the first report of an amputated part that was successfully reattached involving blood vessels 1 millimeter in size. The surgical society archives also credit Dr. Buncke with performing the first toe-to-hand transplant in a rhesus monkey, 1966; the first microvascular transplant in the world, 1969; the first great toe-to-thumb transplant in the U.S., 1972; the first successful scalp transplant in the U.S., 1976; the first four-finger replant in the U.S.; the first latissimus serratus transplant, 1979; and with associate Rudolph Buntic, M.D., the world's first successful tongue replant, 1997.
Distinguished career
Indeed, there have been many commendations that followed Dr. Buncke's pursuit of innovation, including eletion as one of the ten most outstanding plastic surgeons of the 20th century by the American Association of Plastic Surgeons; the Markowitz Award from the Academy of Surgical Research, 2000; and an honorary professorship from the French Ministry of Education. He became known worldwide by delivering distinguished lectureships at more than 50 institutions, and beginning in 2005, the Harry J. Buncke M.D. Annual Research Lecture will be given at the annual meeting of the American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery. He is also the author of four books and more than 400 publications, and a consultant for television and movies.
The research began in a garage and a laboratory at Stanford University in northern California, where he made his own microsurgical instruments and developed fine nylon sutures with hand-made needles bonded directly to the end of the suture. Since 1975, Dr. Buncke has directed what is now the California Pacific Medical Center, Davies Campus, formerly the Ralph K. Davies Medical Center, division of microsurgical replantation. The 82-yearold surgeon is still counted as a member of the plastic surgery staff at Mills Memorial Hospital, San Mateo, where he started in 1959. He retains faculty appointments as a clinical professor of surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, and associate clinical professor of surgery at Stanford University.
Retires clinically
Dr. Buncke retired from clinical practice in 2003, as did his wife, Constance M. Buncke, M.D. '51, who practiced dermatology. The Bunckes were married before they decided to go to medical school together, selecting New York Medical College Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospitals in New York City. As an undergraduate of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., Dr. Buncke had spent two years studying industrial engineering and business administration when the Second World War interfered. It was 1946 by the time he returned and decided to change course for pre-med. Following medical school he interned at Metropolitan Hospital, did his residency in surgery at Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospitals, and spent another year there as chief resident. A sub-specialty residency in plastic surgery at Bronx Veterans Hospital, Cornell Medical School and New York Hospital occupied two more years, followed by a fellowship at the Plastic and Maxillofacial Center, Queens Victoria Hospital in Sussex, England. Then he spent half a year as senior registrar at the Plastic Surgical and Burn Unit, Glasgow Royal Infirmary in Glasgow, Scotland.
"Nobody really appreciates how complicated the surgery is that we do," says Dr. Buncke. "We've trained more than 100 microsurgeons from all over the world. Oh by the way, the genito-urinary microsurgeon who put John Wayne Bobbit back together was one of ours." He goes on to mention that he and his colleagues handle a great number of industrial injuries and amputations, but will not operate when transplantation from another person is involved. "The amount of immunosuppressant involved is toxic and dangerous, and we won't suppress the immune system for a non-fatal problem," he declares.
Promising research
So in his retirement Dr. Buncke continues to write papers and do research on composite tissue allografting, the transplanting of tissue without using an immunosuppressant. "We've been able to do it with rat legs," he says, "using immunosuppression for only a couple of weeks and then stopping all drugs. A lot of people are working on this in California, Louisville and New York."
Asked if it will happen in his lifetime, he responds, "We'll be able to do it in the next five to ten years, and I'll be around, the good Lord willing."
The Buncke Microsurgery Research Foundation is directed by one of his three sons, Gregory M. Buncke, M.D. His daughter, Adele Buncke, M.D. '90, chose her parents' medical school after it relocated to Valhalla. Geoffrey Buncke, M.D., also practices microsurgery, and the youngest Buncke, Paul, is a building contractor. One should note, in a return to the "small world" department, that the Buncke good fortune and what has accrued to society has been made possible by the contributions of none other than the aforementioned philanthropist Julius H. Jacobson II, M.D., director emeritus and the Distinguished Service Professor of Surgery at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.
In front of 200 people during the presentation of his award from the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Buncke thanked Dr. Jacobson for his role in the microsurgery story, and for funding the award—one of five prizes Jacobson underwrites at various hospitals in the U.S. and Israel. "Dr. Buncke was very gracious at the award dinner," says Dr. Jacobson. "I think he is one of the great men of this country."