Speakers
Tahir Khan
Muhammad Adeel Akhtar
Richard Neville Villar
Amir Qureshi
Specialist Society
Modern humanitarian crises and conflict environments present some of the most demanding challenges in trauma and orthopaedic surgery. Surgeons working in these settings must manage complex high-energy injuries, mass casualty scenarios, delayed presentations, limited resources, and disrupted healthcare infrastructure, often while operating in austere and high-risk conditions.
This session will explore the evolving role of trauma and orthopaedic surgery in humanitarian and conflict settings, examining how principles of damage control, limb salvage, fracture stabilisation, infection management, and rehabilitation are adapted when conventional systems of care are compromised. It will consider the unique clinical, logistical, and ethical challenges faced by orthopaedic teams delivering care in field hospitals, resource-limited environments, and areas affected by war or displacement.
The session will also discuss how innovation is shaping practice at the frontline, including the use of telemedicine, digital health platforms, remote decision support, and artificial intelligence to extend specialist expertise, improve triage and planning, and support safe surgical care in challenging environments.
By highlighting the realities of orthopaedic practice at the edge of conventional healthcare delivery, this session will provide insight into the lessons, innovations, and future directions of trauma surgery in humanitarian and conflict settings, and their relevance to both military and civilian trauma systems worldwide.
Chair: Professor Tahir Khan, M Adeel Akhtar & Turab Arshad Syed
Agenda:
08:30 - 08:35 Welcome
08:40 - 09:00 Turab Arshad Syed, Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon - NHS Forth Valley
The Changing Face of Trauma and Orthopaedics in Modern Conflict
09:00 - 09:20 Amir Qureshi, Consultant Knee and Limb Reconstruction Surgeon, University Hospital Southampton, President, British Limb Reconstruction Society (BLRS)
Orthopaedics at the Edge: Trauma Surgery in Humanitarian & Conflict Settings
09:20 - 09:40 Richard Villar, Orthopaedic Surgeon, Villar-Bajwa Practice, London
Broken Bones in Broken Lands
09:40 - 10:00 Panel Discussion
Professor Tahir Khan is a distinguished consultant orthopaedic surgeon currently based in the Young Adult Hip Unit at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. He holds a specialist interest in paediatric orthopaedics and routinely carries out hip and knee procedures, including arthroscopy and realignment osteotomies.
His clinical work primarily focuses on treating children, adolescents, and young adults, with particular expertise in hip preservation surgery.
Appointed as a consultant in 2002 at Central Manchester University Hospitals, Professor Khan brings over two decades of experience to his role. While at Manchester, he established clinics dedicated to lower limb and paediatric orthopaedics before transitioning to his current position.
His medical training took place across leading institutions in Sheffield, Birmingham, and Manchester, and he further enhanced his expertise through prestigious international fellowships in the USA, Toronto (Canada), and Mainz (Germany). Notably, he was awarded the highly regarded American-British-Canadian (ABC) fellowship by the British Orthopaedic Association during his time in Canada.
In addition to his clinical work, Professor Khan is actively involved in research, focusing on arthroscopic hip surgery in both paediatric and adult populations, joint replacement in younger adults, and gait analysis for children with cerebral palsy. He frequently shares his research at international conferences and contributes to professional education by teaching on various specialist courses.
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Richard is an author and surgeon, based between London and the Lake District. He was formerly doctor to the Special Air Service and has undertaken more than three decades of work in many of the world’s conflict and disaster zones, and in over 35 countries. He was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in Cambridge, London, and Dubai and has cared for many of the world’s premier athletes. |
Mr Amir Qureshi is a Consultant Knee and Limb Reconstruction Surgeon at University Hospital Southampton, a major trauma centre serving the Wessex region. His clinical practice includes complex knee surgery, sports injuries, osteotomy, cartilage restoration, limb reconstruction, deformity correction, problem fractures, bone infection, and primary and revision knee replacement.
He is President of the British Limb Reconstruction Society and has previously served as Education Secretary. He is actively involved in surgical training, national education and service development within limb reconstruction and complex trauma.
Alongside his UK practice, Mr Qureshi has worked with NGO and humanitarian teams in austere and resource-limited environments, giving him direct experience of trauma and orthopaedic care outside standard surgical infrastructure.
His wider interests include complex limb salvage, pragmatic decision making in difficult environments, and developing safe reconstructive pathways for patients with challenging injuries.
Mr Turab Syed is a Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon based at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Scotland, with established private and medicolegal practices across Stirling, Manchester, and Harley Street, London. Fellowship-trained in lower limb arthroplasty, foot and ankle surgery, and complex diabetic foot reconstruction—with advanced international surgical fellowships in Strasbourg, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam—he combines high-volume clinical practice with extensive medicolegal expertise.
Active at the forefront of the medicolegal sector, Mr Syed serves on the British Orthopaedic Association Medico-Legal Committee, sits on the Council of The Academy of Experts, and serves as Honorary Treasurer of the Scottish Medico-Legal Society (SMLS). He is Cardiff University / Bond Solon (CUBS) and Aberdeen University / Bond Solon (AuBS) certified, regularly preparing independent expert reports and providing expert witness testimony across English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, and Republic of Ireland jurisdictions.
Dedicated to surgical academia and clinical governance, he serves as a Senior Clinical Lecturer at Glasgow Medical School and served as Academic Tutor and Examiner for the Master of Surgery (ChM) in Trauma & Orthopaedics at the University of Edinburgh from 2019 to 2025. A former Consultant at the Royal Free London and lecturer at UCL Medical School, he is a founding member of the UK Diabetic Foot Surgeons Forum and regular faculty on national cadaveric reconstruction workshops. He holds an MSc in Sports & Exercise Medicine and previously served as team doctor for elite sports organisations, including England C Football and ECCA.
Mr Syed maintains an active research portfolio as Principal Investigator on two randomised controlled trials and co-investigator on the multi-centre FAME trial. A recognized international speaker and recipient of academic and presentation accolades, he has authored dozens of peer-reviewed scientific publications and delivered over 90 podium and poster presentations across major forums, including the BOA Annual Congress, EFORT, SICOT, the Royal Society of Medicine, and Imperial College London.