INNOVATION IN MEDICAL PRODUCTS

Alan Widgerow is a plastic surgeon who ran a solo private practice in South Africa for over 20 years. He has held various positions in numerous academic and professional associations including that of President of the Association of Plastic and Reconstructive surgery of Southern Africa (APRSSA). He is author of over 180 plastic surgical related publications and 2 books. He was also the founder and medical director of 13 wound clinics in South Africa. Prof Widgerow relocated to Irvine California in Dec 2009 to pursue his interests in medical device innovations, cosmeceuticals and wound care, but he still plays an active role in academic medicine world-wide. In 2012 he was appointed to the Faculty of the University of California Irvine Plastic Surgery Dept as Full Adjunct Professor and Director of the Center for Tissue Engineering and in 2021 was appointed as its Division Chief of Research. He is involved in multiple projects related to adipose derived stem cell and adipose decellularized matrix, wound healing and transplantation. In 2018 he was awarded the Distinguished Faculty Mentor of the year Award by the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, UCI. Dr Widgerow has developed and licensed multiple products in the US and South African markets. In 2015 he joined ALASTIN Skincare, Inc. an early start up professional skin care company as their Chief Medical Officer. Over the past 6 years he has spearheaded the scientific innovations team introducing multiple new products based on novel wound healing pathways. The resulting products have been validated with gene expression, in vitro testing, biopsies, and multiple clinical trials resulting in a range of products that have surpassed previous scientific validations in this space. He continues to pursue patented novel concepts, peptide technologies and vigorous testing thus contributing to Alastin Skincare’s position as the fastest growing professional skin care company in the US for the past 4 years. In 2021 Alastin Skincare was acquired by Galderma and in June 2022 Dr Widgerow was appointed Chief Scientific Officer Galderma where he is involved in Ax, Rx and Cx product science research and development.