Leadership

Dr. Rui Fernandes is Medical Director of Oncology for the UF Health Northeast Region, where he provides strategic leadership for cancer care delivery across the four-hospital system in Northeast Florida. In this role, he oversees clinical quality initiatives, oncology program development, physician recruitment, and strategic growth in alignment with national accreditation standards. As Professor of Surgery at the University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville, he holds appointments in multiple departments and serves as Associate Chairman of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Chief of the Division of Head and Neck Surgery, and Director of the Center for Reconstructive Surgery.

Dr. Fernandes is Board Certified with a Certificate of Added Qualification in Head and Neck Oncology and Microvascular Reconstructive Surgery. A Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (ad hominem), he completed his medical degree at the University of Alabama, dental degree as valedictorian at Boston University, and fellowship training in maxillofacial oncology and microvascular surgery at the University of Maryland. He also completed the Surgical Leadership Program at Harvard Medical School with distinction.

Dr. Fernandes has authored the textbook "Atlas of Local & Regional Flaps in Head and Neck Surgery" and co-edited "Oral, Head & Neck Oncology and Reconstructive Surgery." He serves as Consulting Editor for the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Clinics of North America and has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals. His contributions have earned him Presidential Lectureships at major international conferences, multiple teaching awards including the University of Florida International Educator of the Year, and honorary fellowships from surgical societies in Spain, Mexico, Pakistan, Panama, and Costa Rica.

Dr. Fernandes currently serves as President of the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (IAOMS) and is Past President of the American Academy of Craniomaxillofacial Surgeons. His leadership extends across multiple professional organizations, and he maintains an active clinical practice focusing on complex head and neck oncologic resection and microvascular reconstruction. Through his role as Program Director of the Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery and Microvascular Fellowship, he has trained numerous surgeons who have advanced to leadership positions nationally and internationally.

• Earned degrees at Baylor College of Dentistry, Dallas (1987) and LSU School of Medicine, Shreveport (1994)
• Residency - Parkland Memorial Medical Center, Dallas, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (1991)
• Fellowship - Emanuel Hospital, Portland, Head and Neck Surgery (1995)

Dr. Ghali has lived and practiced in Shreveport, Louisiana since 1993. He and his wife, Hope, have four children. Dr. Ghali’s practice spans the full scope of craniomaxillofacial surgery. His professional interest lies in the treatment of pediatric craniofacial deformities including craniosynostosis, cleft lip and palate, and dentofacial deformities. However, his surgical and teaching interests also include cosmetic surgery, head and neck oncology, and maxillofacial trauma.

Dr. Ghali served as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (2004-2021), Dean of LSU School of Medicine (2016-2018), and Chancellor of LSU Health Sciences Center (2016-2021). He has been very active in resident, fellow, and student education. Dr. Ghali currently serves as the Vice President Elect of the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. He also continues to serve in leadership positions in other organizations such as the ACS, AAOMS, and ABOMS. Dr. Ghali’s association with these organizations is recognized in shaping the profession of oral and maxillofacial surgery, as well as providing international recognition for this community.

Dr. Ghali has numerous research interests including clinical and basic science research. He has published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, written many book chapters and has edited textbooks that are vital to the knowledge base of many in the specialty.

Dr. Brett L. Ferguson is a nationally recognized oral and maxillofacial surgeon, educator, and healthcare leader based in Kansas City, Missouri. A Cum Laude graduate of Lane College with a degree in Biology and minor in Chemistry, he earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery from the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) and completed the 48-month Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residency program at UMKC. He currently serves as Treasurer for the IAOMS Association and Foundation.

With more than three decades of clinical and academic experience, Dr. Ferguson made history as the first African American Chairman of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Truman Medical Center (now University Health). He currently serves as Chairman of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the UMKC School of Dentistry. Under his leadership, the graduate training program earned accreditation with approval without reporting requirements.

A Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dr. Ferguson has held numerous national leadership roles, including serving as the 100th Centennial President of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS), Chair of the AAOMS Foundation, and Treasurer of the IAOMS. He has lectured nationally and internationally, published in peer-reviewed journals, and contributed extensively to resident education and national training standards.

Dr. Ferguson has received multiple honors for clinical excellence and leadership, including recognition as a Top Doctor by Ingram’s Magazine, induction into the International College of Dentists and the American College of Surgeons, and prestigious awards for service and commitment to patient care.

Larry W. Nissen received his undergraduate and dental degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and did his oral and maxillofacial surgery training at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida; completing that residency in June, 1981. He has maintained a private practice in oral and maxillofacial surgery in Merritt Island and Titusville, Florida, since 1985.

Dr. Nissen currently serves as the Executive Director of the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. He served as Chairman of the IAOMS Foundation from 2011 to 2023. He is a past president of the Florida Dental Health Foundation, the Florida Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, the Florida Dental Association and the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. He previously was a member of the ADA Commission on Dental Accreditation and General Chairman of the Florida National Dental Congress.

Dr. Nissen is the recipient of Florida Dental Association’s Dentist of the Year 2000, the Leon Schwartz Lifetime Achievement Award, the AAOMS Committee Person of the Year, and the Robert V. Walker Distinguished Service Award of the AAOMS. He holds Honorary Fellowship in the Faculty of Dental Surgeons of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Honorary Fellowship of the International Board for the Certification of Specialists in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and is a Distinguished Fellow of the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.

Dr. Nissen and his wife, Carol reside in Merritt Island, Florida and have two children, Shannon and Ryan and two granddaughters, Jennifer and Amelia; and two great grandchildren, Carter Haley and Avery Grace Haley.

Dr. Alfred Lau works in a private day surgery center and private hospitals. He is appointed as an honorary clinical associate professor of OMFS, HKU. He is currently the honorary consultant in OMS at Queen Mary Hospital and the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital.

Dr. Lau held the position of the president of the HK Association of OMS from 2016 to 2019. He is the founder and past president of the Young OMS Group of HK.

Currently, he is elected as an Executive Committee member (Member-atLlarge) of the IAOMS, appointed as the Co-chairman of the Membership Committee IAOMS, advisor of the NextGen section of IAOMS as well as a member of the Board of Trustees of the IAOMS Foundation.

Regionally, Dr. Lau is elected as the Member-at-Large for the Asian AOMS. He is also a Councilor of both the Asian and IAOMS. He holds the position of an International Faculty of the AOCMF and as a founding member of the Hong Kong Association of Dental Sleep Medicine (HKADSM) and the founding board of directors of the Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Implantologists (AOMI). He serves as a Hong Kong Dental Council examiner, as well as a trainer and examiner in OMS in Hong Kong and an OMS specialty board member. He was appointed as the Hong Kong Convention Ambassador by the Hong Kong Tourism Board in 2020-2022.