Harry J. Buncke (1922 – May 18, 2008) was an American plastic surgeon who has been called "The Father of Microsurgery" for his contributions in the history and development of reconstructive microsurgical procedures.
Buncke's work began in a laboratory which he set up in his garage, using instruments and sutures he developed.
[1] This was the first report of successfully using blood vessels on millimeter in size, an achievement previously considered to be technically improbable.
In 1966, Buncke and colleagues reported the transplantation of a monkey great toe to hand using microsurgery, a second landmark that ushered in an era where replantation of amputated digits and extremities was more widely performed.
[2] With Donald McLean, Buncke performed the first successful microvascular transplant using omentum to fill a large scalp defect In 1969.