LECTURE: Assoc. prof. Anne Saarikko, MD, PhD from Helsinki University Hospital
Assoc. prof. Anne Saarikko, MD, PhD, a leading Finnish expert in plastic and reconstructive surgery, particularly in the field of orofacial cleft surgery, will give a lecture at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine entitled “Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery in Finland”.
Dr. Saarikko introduced the operating microscope and the most advanced contemporary techniques for cleft palate surgery into Finnish cleft surgery practice, after years of training and travelling across Europe alongside the legendary British plastic surgeon Dr. Brian Sommerlad.
In her lecture, Dr. Saarikko will discuss modern approaches to cleft lip and palate treatment, the outcomes currently achieved in Finland, and the ongoing challenges in managing the most common congenital malformation of the head and neck region. She will also share her personal professional journey - from medical student and plastic surgery resident, to a leading figure in lymphovascular microsurgery in Finland, and ultimately to plastic-reconstructive and cleft surgery, where she now operates on children in Helsinki and international patients in Tallinn, achieving outstanding results.
In addition to an exceptional professional lecture, attendees will have the opportunity to speak with one of the world’s leading experts in the field - inspiration guaranteed.
Dr. Saarikko’s visit has been organized through the collaboration of the University of Zagreb School of Medicine, the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery with Dentistry, and the Student Surgical Section, with the support of Prof. Davor Ježek, MD, PhD, Vice Dean for the Medical Studies in English, and Prof. Ivica Lukšić, MD, PhD, Head of the Department of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery and Director of University Hospital Dubrava. Dr. Saarikko is also visiting Zagreb as part of an ongoing clinical collaboration with Dr. Mia Lorencin Bulić, specialist in maxillofacial surgery at University Hospital Dubrava, with whom she has been collaborating since 2024.
The lecture will take place on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2026 at 3:00 PM in the Mašek Lecture Hall at main building of the University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Šalata 3.
