The Comprehensive Hernia and Abdominal Wall Reconstruction Course

July 3, Yerevan, Armenia

Course Director:

Talar Tejirian, MD
Los Angeles, CA, USA

Dr. Talar Tejirian is a board-certified general surgeon practicing in Los Angeles. She received her medical degree from the University of San Francisco, California (UCSF) and currently practices at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, a tertiary care center for 4 million Southern California members. Her special areas of interest include abdominal wall reconstruction and hernia repair. Dr. Tejirian has authored publications on topics such as outcomes after inguinal hernia repair, body mass index and hernias, and biologic mesh. She has also given invited lectures on various hernia related topics such as Botulinum Toxin A use for hernia repair and social media as related to hernia surgery. She is very excited about bringing The International Hernia Collaboration Comprehensive Hernia and Abdominal Wall Reconstruction Course to Armenia.

Invited Faculty:

Shirin Towfigh, MD
Beverly Hills, CA, USA

Dr. Towfigh is a general surgeon and hernia specialist. Her practice at the Beverly Hills Hernia Center focuses on the treatment of hernias and hernia-related complications. She has a special interest in treating chronic groin pain, mesh-related complications, and hernias among women. She received her medical degree at the University of California in San Diego. She completed her surgical residency in at UCLA. She is active on the IHC and hosts #TuesdayswithTowfigh on IHC Premium. You can follow her on Twitter @herniadoc.

Vlad Burdakov, MD
Moscow, Russia

Dr. Vlad Burdakov is a general and laparoscopic surgeon with a special interest in hernia surgery. He is an attending surgeon at that Moscow State Medical University. Dr. Burdakov has acquired special skills and performs minimally invasive repair of complex hernias. He lectures and teaches these techniques both locally and internationally at conferences, online and for master classes. He also performs live surgery demonstrating his superb technique.

Filip Muysoms, MD
Gent, Belgium

Filip Muysoms MD, PHD is the Head of the Department of General Surgery at the A.Z. Maria Middelares Hospital in Gent, Beligum. As the future president-elect of the European Hernia Society, his contributions to the area of hernia and abdominal wall surgery are countless. Dr. Muysoms has authored 38 research articles and has spoken as an invited speaker at surgical meetings over 70 times. He has organized numerous meetings focusing on hernia and abdominal wall surgery, and he has popularized and taught robotic hernia surgical techniques throughout Europe. Dr. Muysoms has expertise in hernia prevention and complex abdominal wall reconstruction, and he is an outstanding teacher of these techniques to surgeons internationally.

Mercedeh Baghai, MD
Torrance, CA, USA

Dr. Mercedeh Baghai is a fellowship trained general and minimally invasive surgeon in private practice in Torrance, California. She attended medical school at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), after which she completed general surgery residency at the Mayo Clinic and minimally invasive fellowship at Emory University. She has a very busy practice which includes many advanced minimally invasive hernia repair techniques. She is active in leadership positions in the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) including the SAGES Hernia Task Force. Finally, she has published scientific articles and lectured at international meetings on various hernia related topics.

Levon Grigoryan, MD
Yerevan, Armenia

Dr. Levon Grigoryan is a general and minimally invasive surgeon practicing at the Slavmed Medical Center in Yerevan, Armenia. Dr. Grigoryan performs many types of minimally invasive operations and is one of few surgeons in Armenia who performs laparoscopic hernia repair. He has an interest in advanced hernia repair and has presented on transabdominal preperitoneal hernia repairs (TAPP) during European and Armenian Congresses. Through International Hernia Collaboration (IHC) networking, he received advanced laparoscopic hernia surgery trainings, and currently performs eTEP hernioplasty for groin hernias. He is also working toward developing laparoscopic methods for ventral and postoperative hernias in Armenia. Dr. Grigoryan is a member of the International Hernia Collaboration and European Hernia Society and is a senior lecturer in the Department of General Surgery at the Yerevan State Medical University.