Prof. Dr. Onur Erol

Born in Söke, Dr. Onur Erol completed his middle and high school education at Istanbul Saint Joseph High School. In 1965, he graduated from the Faculty of Medicine and began his General Surgery residency at Hacettepe University in the same year. After completing this process, he transitioned to Plastic Surgery specialization in 1969 and received his specialization in “Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery” in 1971. In 1974, he attained the title of Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at the same university; his associate professorship thesis, which included a new discovery in this field, was awarded an honorable mention in the “Young Scientist” category at an international competition in 1975, and the award was presented to him in the United States.

In 1976, Dr. Erol went to the USA with a six-month scholarship from TÜBİTAK, serving consecutively at Eastern Virginia School of Medicine (1976), Miami University School of Medicine (1977), and Baylor College of Medicine (1977-1980) over a 3.5-year period; he earned the title of “Associate Professor” at the latter institution.

During his time in America, Dr. Erol completed 21 research projects, receiving a “GRANT” twice from NIH and once from the American Cancer Society. In 1978, he received an international first-place award in the “Senior Scientist” category for a method and research he developed, which was a world first.

Returning to Turkey in 1980, Dr. Erol was promoted to professor in April of the same year.

Prof. Dr. Onur Erol, who won the SEDAT SİMAVİ Foundation‘s Health Sciences Award in 1981, has developed 28 new methods in medicine and authored a total of 114 articles (84 foreign, 30 domestic) and 417 scientific papers presented at various congresses. The number of citations to his scientific works exceeds 650.

Prof. Dr. Onur Erol, married with two children, left his professorship at Hacettepe University’s Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in February 1989 and moved to Istanbul. Today, Erol continues his work as a private practitioner at his own clinic, ONEP, and delivers lectures and seminars at various faculties both domestically and internationally. Despite his busy schedule, he presents at least 3-4 original scientific papers as an invited speaker at major international congresses each year, contributing to Turkey’s recognition in this field through his conferences.

In 2007, Prof. Dr. Erol was unanimously awarded the title of “The Maliniac Lecturer” by the selection committee of ASPS-PSEF, becoming the 30th recipient of this award, which has only been given to 29 plastic surgeons to date — he is the first and only Turkish plastic surgeon to achieve this honor.

As an internationally recognized plastic surgeon, Prof. Dr. Onur Erol is a member of many international associations and served as a visiting professor at the Akdeniz University Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Marmara University Faculty of Dentistry between 1990 and 1994.

Throughout his career, Prof. Erol also held various institutional positions, serving as Chief of the Plastic Surgery Department at American Hospital from 1985 to 2006; Head of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Kadir Has University from 1999 to 2006; and Head of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Istanbul Bilim University Faculty of Medicine from 2006 to 2009.

Aiming to cultivate qualified scientists and successful plastic surgeons, Prof. Dr. Onur Erol has provided post-specialization training to 33 plastic surgeons who have completed their specialization to date, and he continues this educational activity.