Ernest K. Manders is a plastic surgeon best known for designing a tool that vastly improved breast reconstruction operations, revolutionizing the procedure worldwide.
Using silicone filled balloons, Dr. Manders came up with a way of stretching the patient's skin to create a more life-like breast shape for those who were undergoing reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy. Until then, standard skin expanders could only make a sphere breast shape, which had an abnormal appearance for the patient.
Dr. Manders also formed Uptown-based Promethean LifeSciences Inc. in 1997, which makes skin graft products that he says have helped save the lives of injured soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. The company employs three people and involves 30 others in the manufacture of its products.
