David Colen

Dr. David Colen is an Assistant Professor of Surgery and Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon at Yale School of Medicine, specializing in hand and extremity reconstruction. He holds dual undergraduate degrees in Neuroscience and Spanish Linguistics from the University of Virginia (2009), completed medical school (2013), and residency in Plastic Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania (2019). His fellowship training in Hand and Microsurgery at Harvard Medical School (2020) focused on pediatric and adult hand surgery. He participates in groundbreaking work like the world’s first bilateral pediatric hand transplant during his residency at Penn.

Research interests include optimizing outcomes in congenital and traumatic hand reconstruction, tendon injury management, and microsurgical techniques. He has authored multiple peer-reviewed articles and textbook chapters. Awards include two Young Leader Awards (American Society for Surgery of the Hand, 2022) and the Owen Langsteen Award for Research Excellence (2016).

Dr. Colen is actively involved in professional organizations: serving on the Ethics Committee of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, editorial boards of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Journal, and lecturing nationally on topics like lower extremity reconstruction and orthoplastic surgery principles. His clinical practice emphasizes restoring both form and function to patients through advanced microsurgical techniques.