Yelena Akelina, DVM, MS is a Research Scientist and a Co-Director/Instructor in Clinical Microsurgery at the Microsurgery Research and Training lab at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Columbia University. This program teaches microsurgery to more than 200 surgeons and researchers a year from many institutions throughout the US and more than 70 other countries. Under her direction, the main goal of the training program is to teach surgeons to perform surgery on very small (1mm diameter) vessels and nerves under the microscope to enable them to perform similar surgical procedures in the clinic, and ultimately save lives. To this end, she has been teaching microvascular surgery to different medical personnel from all over the US and abroad since 1996.

Dr. Akelina completed her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at the Moscow Veterinary Academy in 1987 and obtained her Master of Science in Toxicology in 1991. She is one of the founders of IMSS (International Microsurgery Simulation Society) and an active member of many other domestic and international societies for microsurgery such as WSRM (World Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery), ASRM (American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery), RAMSES (Robotic Assisted Microsurgery Society), and ISEM (International Society for Experimental Microsurgery). In addition, she is an Honorable Member of the Serbian Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery and Honorable Faculty Member of the Queen Mary’s Hospital in London, UK. As a principal investigator for many microsurgical research projects, she is well-published in many peer-review journals.