James P. Higgins, MD

Dr. Higgins serves as the fourth chief in the 70+ year history of the Curtis National Hand Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

Dr. Higgins completed his undergraduate studies at Williams College in Massachusetts, his medical school training at the University of Rochester, and his plastic surgery training at the University of Rochester. He then completed a hand surgery fellowship at the Curtis National Hand Center in 2002 and became a faculty member. In 2011 he began his tenure as Chief of the Hand Center.

His clinical and research interests include vascularized bone/cartilage reconstruction of extremity nonunions, functioning muscle reconstruction of the upper limb, toe transfer digital reconstruction, complex reconstruction of upper extremity trauma and vaso-occlusive disease of the hand.

Dr Higgins is an active member of multiple professional societies, serving on executive council and administrative committees for the ASSH, AAHS, ASRM, & ABPS. He has served as program chairman of the national meetings of the ASRM (2013) and ASSH (2019). He is the current Vice President of the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery

Dr Higgins has also been granted travelling fellowships by national societies including:

• The2010MarcoGodina Traveling Fellow by the American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery (ASRM)
• 2010 Dr Higgins travelling Visiting Professor for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH)
• The2013-2014 Sterling Bunnell Traveling fellow for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH).
• The 2024 Zamboni Travelling Professor for the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery (ASRM)

Dr Higgins dedicated   much of his clinical and research efforts to the advancement of microsurgical reconstructive of upper extremity traumatic injuries with a focus on vascularized bone and cartilage transfer. His work was recognized when he was the selected recipient of the2024 Weiland Award by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. This award is granted to a single surgeon for a lifetime contribution of clinical and scientific research for the advancement of hand surgery.

As Chief, Dr Higgins directs the Curtis National Hand Center’s civilian hand fellowship, but also serves as the site director of the joint Walter Reed/Curtis Hand military fellowship that has provided hand surgery training for the US Army hand surgeons since the 1960’s. He also serves as a team leader for the collaborative hand transplantation program with the Department of Plastic Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

R. Glenn Gaston, MD

Dr. R. Glenn Gaston has been the Chief of Hand Service for the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Atrium Health - Carolinas Medical Center since 2008 and he is the Program Director for the OrthoCarolina Hand & Upper Extremity Fellowship.

Dr. Gaston earned his bachelor's degree with honors from the University of Georgia where he was also inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He then returned to his home state of Tennessee where he received his medical degree from the University Of Tennessee College Of Medicine at Memphis. His internship and orthopedic surgery residency were completed at the Atlanta Medical Center. He was awarded a distinguished hand surgery fellowship at the Indiana Hand Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Dr. Gaston is heavily involved in upper extremity research and has received numerous honors, including awards from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) and American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH). He serves as the hand consultant for the Carolina Panthers and NASCAR. He was named one of the top 45 hand surgeons in the U.S. by Becker’s ASC in 2011 and has received the Faculty Teaching Award for Carolinas Medical Center Department of Orthopedic Surgery three of the last 10 years. Dr. Gaston gained national recognition for the development and implementation of the starfish procedure which allowed the first amputee in the world to have individual finger control of a myoelectric prosthesis. Dr. Gaston started the OrthoCarolina Congenital Hand Clinic, Brachial Plexus Clinic and the Reconstructive Center for Lost Limbs clinic.