About this event

  • Date and time Mon 22 Sep 2025 from 8:30am to 5:20pm
  • Location Royal Society of Medicine
  • Organised by Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Join us for our Maxillofacial Surgery, Ballistic Injuries & Forensics Meets Law event!

This event explores the challenges of managing maxillofacial war and ballistic injuries, from emergency care and surgical reconstruction to long-term rehabilitation. Through a multidisciplinary approach, we will examine how surgery and law intersect in the restoration of facial aesthetics and function after severe trauma.

Highlights & Speakers

  • Stephen Vullo KC - Leading UK criminal barrister, who has represented some of the most high-profile defendants to have come before the courts in the last decade will share with us some of his experiences and cases that we can all learn from.
  • Professor Nadey S. Hakim FRCS FRCSI FACS FASMBS -Professor of transplant surgery at Imperial College London and general surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic London, he is also a writer, musician, and sculptor. He is known for kidney and pancreas transplantations and was part of the surgical team that performed the world's first hand transplantation in 1998 and the double arm transplantation in 2000. 
  • Dr Abdulhakim Zaggut - CEO, Hakim Hospital, with extensive experience in craniofacial trauma and building services for war injuries.
  • Professor Nick Maynard - Consultant Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeon, Director of Surgery, Oxford University
  • Dr Andrew Gibbons - Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, Peterborough Hospitals NHS Trust, former RAF Defence Advisor, with expertise in facial trauma, orthognathic surgery and facial pain

 

Who Should Attend?

Maxillofacial, aesthetic, and plastic surgeons; lawyers; trauma and emergency clinicians; advanced nursing practitioners; and anyone interested in the clinical and legal aspects of facial trauma.

Why Attend?

  • Learn from leading experts with real-world experience
  • Gain practical insights into surgical, forensic, and legal challenges
  • Network with professionals across surgery, law, and trauma care

Join us for a day of expert presentations and cross-disciplinary discussion at the cutting edge of surgery, law, and facial reconstruction.

Prizes:

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We would like to thank our sponsors Materialise, Stryker and Total TMJ for their support of this meeting.
Please note that the scientific programme and content has not been influenced in any way by the sponsors.

Agenda

View the programme 22 September 2025

Registration, tea and coffee

Session one

Chair: Francine Ryba

Welcome and Introduction

Mr Ashraf Messiha, Section President in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Consultant in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, St George’s Hospital, University of London

Historical and current concepts in ballistic facial injury management

Dr Andrew Gibbons, Consultant in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Peterborough Hospitals NHS Trust 

My experience in Gaza

Professor Nick Maynard, Consultant Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeon, Director of Surgery, Oxford University 

Tea and coffee break

Session two

Devastating craniofacial, head & neck ballistic trauma. How I did it from scratch!

Dr Abdulhakim Zaggut, Senior Lecturer and Chief Executive Officer, Craniofacial Hakim Hospital, Libya 

Forensic maxillofacial surgery meets law

Mr Stephen Vullo, King’s Counsel, Founder & Counsel, Mayfair, London 

The surgeon’s gaze is one that sees more than just skin. Sculpting the face

Professor Nadey Hakim, Professor of Surgery, Cleveland Clinic London

Lunch

Poster viewing and sponsor exhibition

Session three

Panel discussion

Moderator: Mr Ashraf Messiha 

Oral presentations

3 x 18 min - Maxillofacial presentations relating to Ballistic Injuries

To be judged by Ashraf Messiha, Ambika Chadha, Muskan Nafis and Stavroula Stavropoulou-Tatla

Airbag-related ballistic trauma to the head and neck

Thomas Pepper

Maxillofacial ballistic injuries

Bishoy Yassa

Surviving self-inflicted maxillofacial ballistic injury: a staged approach to physical and mental recovery

Stavroula Stavropoulou-Tatla

Oral presentations

3 x 18 min - Maxillofacial Presentations relating to Medicolegal Implications

To be judged by Ashraf Messiha, Ambika Chadha, Muskan Nafis and Stavroula Stavropoulou-Tatla

The 'before', the 'after', and everything in between - exploring the blurred lines between the practitioner, patient expectations and consent as a result of the increasing presence of cosmetic surgery on social media

Nilofar Samadi

Maxillofacial surgery medico-legal implications

Thangavelu Senthil Kumar

Two thirds of the worlds population have no access to safe and affordable surgery. Should all surgical specialties in the uk expand their training numbers to teach and train more overseas surgeons?

Bishoy Yassa

Tea and coffee break
RSM prize awards
  • Best Presentation on Maxillofacial Ballistic Injuries  
  • Best Presentation in Maxillofacial Surgery Medico-Legal Implications
Close of meeting

Sponsors

Materialise Stryker Total TMJ

Location

Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole St, Marylebone, London, W1G 0AE, United Kingdom

Registration for this event will close at 1:00am on Sunday 21 September 2025. Late registrations will not be accepted.

The agenda is subject to change at any time. 

If the event is recorded, we are only able to share presentations that we have received permission to share. There is no guarantee that all sessions will be available after the event, this is at the presenter’s and RSM’s discretion.

All views expressed at this event are of the speakers themselves and not of the Royal Society of Medicine, nor the speaker's organisations.

This event will be recorded and stored by the Royal Society of Medicine and may be distributed in future on various internet channels.

Checking in Domus Medica 3

While you’re attending this event

If you're an RSM member, why not stay in the comfort of our hotel, Domus Medica, book dinner in the restaurant, or even hire one of our private dining rooms to socialise with your peers?

RSM members enjoy access to our enviable club facilities. For more information, please contact our team at [email protected] or [email protected].

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