Tuna Özyurekoglu, MD

Dr. Ozyurekoglu graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey in 1994. He completed Orthopedics and Traumatology residency in Ankara Emergency Care and Traumatology Hospital in 1998. He is certified in Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology by the Turkish Ministry of Health. He completed a hand and microsurgery fellowship at Manus Hand Surgery Center, Istanbul, Turkey. He also completed a hand and microsurgery fellowship at the Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery, Louisville, Kentucky in 2001. Later he served as a senior fellow in 2002 and 2003.

Dr. Ozyurekoglu was awarded an educational grant by Danish Government during his residency and had training in hand surgery at Rigshospital of Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark. He also received the basic science research grant award of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand in 2001. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Louisville Department of Surgery, Division of Hand Surgery and the University of Louisville Department of Orthopedics.He is an active member of the American Association for Hand Surgery and the American Society for Peripheral Nerve.

Dr. Ozyurekoglu is the current president of the Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery, and he serves as Principle Investigator and head of Louisville’s Hand Transplant Program.

His special interests include sports and traumatic injuries of the wrist and elbow joints, wrist and elbow arthroscopy and arthroplasty, treatment of the peripheral nerves, and microsurgical reconstruction of upper extremity defects.

Michelle D. Palazzo, MD

Dr. Palazzo is a board-certified plastic surgeon who earned a bachelors and master’s degree in engineering from the University of Illinois. She received her medical degree from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in 1999. She then completed a residency in General, Plastic, and Reconstructive Surgery of St. Louis University, followed by a Fellowship in Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery of the Breast at Georgetown University in Washington DC. In 2006, she completed a one-year fellowship at the Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery in Louisville, Ky.

In September 2006, Dr. Palazzo joined Kleinert Kutz as staff and has since become a partner in the practice. She is a clinical instructor with the University of Louisville Department of Surgery, Division of Hand Surgery. She received a certificate of added qualification in Surgery of the Hand in 2011. In 2015, Dr. Palazzo became the program director of the Kleinert Institute for Fellowship, the largest of its kind in the country for hand and microsurgery.

Her special interests include soft tissue injuries and tumors of the hand, cosmetic and reconstructive surgery of the breast, fat injections, and body contouring. As a breast cancer survivor since age 34, Dr. Palazzo has a personal interest in managing and treating breast cancer patients who desire breast reconstruction.

Currently, Dr. Palazzo is the 2021-2022 president of the Ohio Valley Society of plastic surgeons and the Kentucky Society of plastic surgeons. She is an active member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgeons, and the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.

Dr. Tien graduated from Chung Shan Medical University in 1986 and completed orthopedic residency at Taiwan Tao-Yuan General Hospital in Taiwan. He then served a one-year fellowship as a research fellow, one year as a clinical fellow, followed by another year as a senior fellow with the Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery. He then completed a residency at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in General Surgery, with his final year serving as Administrative Chief Resident

He is board certified in General Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery and Hand Surgery in Taiwan, and is board certified in General Surgery and Hand Surgery in the United States.

He is currently an associate clinical professor at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Surgery and Department of Orthopedic Surgery. He is also the Chief of the Division of Hand Surgery in the Department of Surgery, School of Medicine at the University of Louisville. Dr. Tien is also a member of AO Musculoskeletal Trauma “Hand” Faculty and a fellow with the American College of Surgeons.

He specializes in arthritis, trauma, microsurgery, and nerve issues involved in upper extremities with a special interest in brachial plexus injuries.

Rodrigo Moreno, MD

Dr. Moreno graduated from the Colombian School of Medicine “Bosque University” in 1993. He then completed a residency in Orthopedic and Trauma surgery where he received a National Research Award. In 2001, he completed a one-year fellowship at the Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery in Louisville, Kentucky then continued as a Senior Fellow until 2004 and ultimately as Hand Scholar.

In February 2004, Dr. Moreno joined Kleinert Kutz as staff. In addition, he accepted the appointment as physician to the Commission for Children With Special Health Care Needs. He was appointed Assistant Clinical Professor with the University of Louisville Department of Surgery, Division of Hand Surgery.

His special interests include distal radius fractures, long bone fractures, wrist arthroscopy, biceps tendon ruptures, carpometacarpal arthritis, elbow trauma/pathology, and congenital surgery.

Sunil Thirkannad, MD

Dr. Thirkannad graduated from Bangalore Medical College, India in 1990 and completed his Internship in 1991. He subsequently completed his Residency in Orthopedic Surgery in 1996 where he was awarded the Lupin Gold Award and Natarajan Gold Medal. He obtained a Masters Degree in Orthopedic Surgery in 1996 and was certified by the National Board of Examinations in 1997. He completed a Fellowship in Hand and Microsurgery from the National University of Singapore in 2003 and from the Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery in 2004.

Dr. Thirkannad is currently a Clinical Professor in Hand Surgery at the University of Louisville and the Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery. He is a member of many Orthopedic and Hand Societies and has served on the Executive Council of the Indian Society for Surgery of the Hand. He has published many articles in peer reviewed journals and has authored chapters in textbooks, including Sabiston’s Textbook of Surgery. He has developed many new surgical procedures which have been published in peer reviewed journals. He is a reviewer for many journals in the fields of Hand Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, and Plastic surgery. Dr. Thirkannad is regularly invited to deliver lectures and presentations at National and International conferences around the world.

His special interests include wrist injuries, rheumatoid arthritis, congenital hand deformities, and microsurgery

Elkin J. Galvis, MD

Dr. Galvis was born in Bogota, Colombia. He graduated from the National University School of Medicine in 1999. He then joined the Colombian Air Force where he worked three years in active duty as a medical commissioner officer. After honorable discharge, he began his residency in Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, and graduated from Javeriana University School of Medicine in 2008. In 2011, he completed a one-year fellowship at the Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery in Louisville, Kentucky. He then continued as a Senior Fellow until June of 2013.

Laxminarayan Bhandari, MD

Dr. Laxminarayan Bhandari graduated from Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore affiliated to Manipal Academy of higher education in India securing distinction and Gold Medal. He completed his General Surgery residency in 2011 followed by Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery residency in 2014; both at Calicut Medical College, India. He went on to do a fellowship in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Rotterdam Netherlands, sponsored by the Dutch Association of Facial Plastic Surgeons. Dr. Bhandari completed his fellowship in Hand and Microsurgery at Christine M Kleinert Institute in 2016 followed by senior fellowships in 2017 and 2018. He completed a fellowship in Craniofacial and Pediatric Plastic Surgery at the University of Tennessee, Memphis 2019. In July 2019 Dr.Bhandari joined Kleinert Kutz and associates as a Hand surgeon. He was appointed Assistant Professor (Gratis) at the University of Louisville.

Claude Muresan, MD

Dr. Muresan graduated magna cum laude from the University of Maryland in 2005. During his time there, he was granted a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship for his genetics research. He went to medical school at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and graduated in 2010. He then trained and completed his general surgery training at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, MD, in 2016. During his training, he scored in the ninety-fifth percentile on national exams and was awarded the Viresh Patel Award for outstanding knowledge and commitment to patient care. He then came to Louisville and completed a fellowship at the University of Louisville in Plastic Surgery in 2019. During this time, he was awarded the Clinical Excellence Award in 2018 for his dedication to patient care and the Teaching/Mentoring Award in 2019 for his devotion to teaching junior resident’s surgical skills. During his plastic surgery training, he was exposed to hand surgery and became fascinated with the field. He subsequently completed a fellowship in Hand Surgery at Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery in 2020 and then stayed on as faculty.

Haiqiao Jiao, MD

Dr. Jiao was born in Beijing, China and immigrated to the United States in 1988 where his father pursued a PhD in chemistry and his mother was a teacher. Growing up, education was always emphasized as well as empathy and compassion for others. It is with this strong family support that he decided to devote himself to helping others in the most direct way possible and pursued a career in medicine. Dr. Jiao completed his residency in an integrated plastic surgery program at Louisiana State University in New Orleans where he worked with renown plastic surgeons, such as Dr. Robert Allen. He gained experience in the breadth of plastic surgery including hand, microsurgery, extremity reconstruction, and aesthetic surgery. It was while under the guidance of Dr. Kelly Babineaux that he discovered his special interest in hand surgery. “Dr. Babineaux showed me how you can restore someone’s life and their livelihood,” said Dr. Jiao.

In his final year of training, Dr. Jiao served as chief resident and was given the Arnold P. Gold Humanitarian Award for exemplifying the qualities of a caring and compassionate mentor in teaching and advising.

After completing residency, he pursued additional specialization training in the field of hand and microsurgery while serving as a fellow at the Christine M. Kleinert Institute. The experience was so impactful, Dr. Jiao was pleased to return and join the practice in March of 2021. “Kleinert Kutz is a special place for taking care of people, and I am honored to be a part of this world class center,” stated Dr. Jiao.

Dr. Jiao’s interests include Hand Surgery: fractures, nerve injuries and compression, tendon and soft tissue injuries, skin and nail lesions, microsurgery, and Dupuytren’s contracture. Plastic Surgery: body contouring, injectables, facial aesthetics, and breast surgery.

Dr. Jiao completed his undergraduate education at Vanderbilt University and went on to medical school at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. It was there that he met two doctors who would be influential in his future path in medicine – Dr. Bill Hickerson and Dr. George Maish. It was through their mentorship that Dr. Jiao learned how powerful plastic surgery could be.

Dr. Jiao completed his residency in an integrated plastic surgery program at Louisiana State University in New Orleans where he worked with renown plastic surgeons, such as Dr. Robert Allen. He gained experience in the breadth of plastic surgery including hand, microsurgery, extremity reconstruction, and aesthetic surgery. It was while under the guidance of Dr. Kelly Babineaux that he discovered his special interest in hand surgery. “Dr. Babineaux showed me how you can restore someone’s life and their livelihood,” said Dr. Jiao.

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