Francesco Puma, MD

Research Interests: Thoracic surgery, lung cancer, and minimally invasive surgery

He received his medical degree from “La Sapienza” University of Rome in 1981 with a first-class honor’s degree (110/110 cum Laude). He was a general surgery resident at “La Sapienza” University of Rome from 1981 to 1986 and “Research Fellow” in General Thoracic Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA USA, Thoracic Surgery Unit in the period 1989-90.

He received the following academic titles at the University of Perugia: 1998: Assistant Professor in General Surgery; 2000: Associate Professor in General Thoracic Surgery; 2006: Full Professor in General Thoracic Surgery; 2007: Director of the General Thoracic Surgery Residency Program; 2014–2016: Director of the Department of Surgical and Biomedical Sciences; 2017: Rector Deputy for the academic relations with the public Institutions.

From July 2000 to December 2014 he was Chief of the Thoracic Surgery Unit at the Santa Maria Hospital in Terni; since November 2008 he is Chief of the Thoracic Surgery Unit in Perugia.

Prof. Puma has performed over 4000 major thoracic surgery procedures, with very low morbidity and mortality rates (at the lower levels of many international series). Many of such procedures were highly complex surgery, in different fields of thoracic surgery: advanced lung cancer (pulmonary resections with carinal and vena cava reconstruction); conservative lung procedures (carinal, bronchial and vascular reconstruction); treatment of locally advanced thymomas, surgery of the trachea. From 2012 he developed a minimally invasive surgery program, which brought to an intensive activity of anatomical VATS pulmonary surgery.

Prof. Puma has published over 200 scientific articles and many book chapters. He developed several original techniques in many fields of the thoracic surgery: chest wall reconstruction, pulmonary artery reconstruction, laparoscopic omentoplasty, surgical approach in selected Pancoast tumors, anaesthesia management in operative rigid bronchoscopy He received some National and International Prizes and Awards. He is member of several Italian and European Society of Thoracic Surgery and he has held a number of positions in National Medical organizations.