A facial muscle today bears his name. It is a deep band that occupies the region below the eye, in the cheek: the ‘Chiara’s band’, for insiders. And she, Chiara Andretto Amodeo, who discovered and studied it for just over a month is the only Italian female plastic surgeon to have joined a committee, strategic for the future, of one of the most important scientific societies in the sector , the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The tricolor specialist is part of the Researcher Education Subcommittee which actually looks after the future of the profession, acting as a beacon for developing the professional figure of the ‘surgeon scientist’. “Because it is important to aim to be more than ‘social influencer'”, she tells time.news Salute: scientists in green coats, not being satisfied with the cumbersome routine of the scalpel, but doing research and helping to evolve knowledge to then be brought into operating room.
Surgeon and scientist, two souls in one, “often difficult to reconcile in terms of time, but it is important to do it”, underlines Andretto Amodeo that his Chiara’s fascia conquered it by investing a decade of studies to identify it, know its qualities, describe it. And that she, after her ‘baptism of name’ in international conferences, recently signed a new scientific publication with a team of American colleagues in which she appears as first author. We talk about the face lifting technique and Chiara’s fascia is widely mentioned. Another consecration, from the pages of a reference scientific magazine in the sector, the ‘Facial Plastic Surgery Journal’. “The path of Chiara’s fascia”, which is proving to be important for better and safer facelifts and is offering hopes of less destructive interventions also in the oncological field, “has continued in a very positive way”, comments the expert.
This is what it means to be a ‘surgeon scientist’. “There are dozens of publications on this figure. Unfortunately, it is in danger of becoming an ‘endangered species’ – reflects Andretto Amodeo – although it is a fundamental lever for the progress of surgery to combine surgery with that of translational research, given the concrete effects it has on the patient in the oncological, reconstructive and aesthetic fields Abroad much attention has been paid to the decline in “scalpel” professionals who are also dedicated to the scientific part.
A drop which is reflected, for example, in the 30% reduction observed in the last 10-15 years also in grants obtained internationally from surgical disciplines. “There are also fewer surgeons asking research questions,” Andretto Amodeo points out. “It should be emphasized that these professionals also work a lot. This is why we speak of protected time. It must be productive time in terms of union between the two activities. This is what makes surgery progress”.
And to protect this figure of the scientist surgeon, “ad hoc training courses are needed, for a career that is made up of commitment and sacrifice. The committee to which I belong is responsible for giving indications on the optimal path for plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery – explains the specialist – referring to the Plastic Surgery Foundation which provides scholarships to continue training this type of figure, hoping not to be overwhelmed in a drift from surgeon scientist to surgeon influencer. Obviously social media can also have a positive value ” precise. Indeed, “there are analyzes on the role of influencer surgeons, but with reference to the value of networking from a scientific point of view, to connect in a professional way for the development of the activity, for the dissemination of progress, to get in touch with whom in another center he deals with the same thing. The international aspect, then, is a crucial element for enriching the experience”.
Andretto Amodeo put it into practice in her own scientific and life journey that took her from Voghera, where she was born, to Paris and the USA. Without forgetting her roots. The city reciprocated her by assigning her the ‘Summa Viqueria’ civic merit last year. “An acknowledgment that I experience as if they were accompanying me on this beautiful journey”, she concludes.