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As Gillette Children’s orthopedic surgeon and leading pediatric care specialist, Ann Van Heest, MD, prepares to retire this summer after more than 30 years of dedicated service, she continues to generously share her expertise and advance the field of pediatric hand surgery on an international scale.
Earlier this year, thanks to the generosity of donor funds, Dr. Van Heest and her colleague, Gillette orthopedic surgeon Deb Bohn, MD, traveled to Coimbatore, India, to participate in the World Symposium on Congenital Malformations of the Hand and Limb. Held every three years, this gathering is the premier international conference for pediatric hand surgeons worldwide.
This conference holds special significance for the Gillette team. The previous symposium, held in 2023, was hosted right here in Minneapolis by the University of Minnesota and Gillette Children's, with Dr. Van Heest serving as keynote speaker and Dr. Bohn contributing as a speaker as well. Their participation speaks to the depth of expertise Gillette’s providers bring to the global stage.
Gillette Children’s Research Recognized Among the World's Best
The impact of our research program is also earning global recognition. A manuscript authored a team of Gillette Children’s clinicians and researchers titled Syndactyly release with skin graft or skin graft substitute: a within-subject controlled trial was published in the Journal of Hand Surgery - European Volume and selected as the best published paper of 2025 in pediatric hand surgery.
This June, Dr. Bohn will visit Basel, Switzerland, with travel supported by donor funds, to present the paper at the Federation for European Societies for Surgery of the Hand (FESSH) meeting, again bringing Gillette's work to an international audience of hand surgery specialists.
Thirty Years of Impact in Pediatric Care
Dr. Van Heest's contributions will also be shared in Dublin, Ireland, this summer, where she will deliver a keynote address at an international spasticity conference. Her retirement will mark the end of an extraordinary chapter for Gillette Children’s and the broader field of pediatric hand surgery. From training the next generation of surgeons to conducting research that shapes clinical practice worldwide, her legacy is one of relentless dedication. The generosity of Gillette donors has helped make it possible to share that incredible expertise far beyond our walls, and that impact will be felt for years to come.
