A NEWSLETTER FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston
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Department Becomes Gold Institutional Member of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons | |
On behalf of the UTHealth Department of Surgery, we are proud to announce our acceptance as a Gold Institutional Member of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons for the 2022-23 academic year.
The Society of Black Academic Surgeons (SBAS) was formed after a 1987 meeting of five surgeons who aimed to address the paucity of Blacks and African Americans in academic surgery as well as the lack of mentorship available for young Black surgeons interested in academic surgery. SBAS is committed to closing the gap on health care disparities, acknowledging and addressing matters of professional equity within academic surgery, as well as the advancement of Black and underrepresented minority surgeons through networking, mentorship and promotion of scientific excellence among its members.
As an institutional member, the UTHealth Department of Surgery demonstrates its support for the mission of SBAS in fostering the careers of Black and other underrepresented minority surgeons at our institution. We look forward to being an active member of SBAS this coming academic year.
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From left to right:
Highest Resident in-service scores: Dr. David Hopkins and Dr. Arvind Manisundaram
Resident Teacher of the Year: Dr. Cassie Hartline
Faculty teacher of the year: Dr. Erik Marques
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General Surgery Resident Awards | |
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From left to right:
Chief resident of the year – Shuyan Wei, MD with Program Director, Sasha Adams, MD.
Surgery Intern of the year – Kylie Holden, MD with Sasha Adams, MD.
Award for the most Gallbladders removed at LBJ – Torrey Lubkin, MD with Curtis Wray, MD.
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From left to right:
Award for fastest time for a Cholecystectomy performed at LBJ – Henry Caplan, MD, with supervising faculty, Jonah Stulberg, MD.
Harriest Trauma Awards – Co-recipients Chief residents involved in the craziest trauma case of the year in which the patient left the hospital alive. Jade Kumar, MD and Kyle Mitchell, MD with Program Director, Sasha Adams, MD.
Golden Chopsticks Award for Chief resident with the best laparoscopic skills – Francisco Guerra, MD with Curtis Wray, MD.
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UTHealth Co-Hosts Firearm Injury Prevention Conference | |
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On June 21, 2022, UTHealth put on a conference in conjunction with Baylor College of Medicine and the Baker Institute Center for Health and Biosciences entitled “Preventing Firearm Injury in the Greater Houston Area Through Purpose and Policy.” The program was co-chaired by UTHealth’s Dr. Sandra McKay from the Department of Pediatrics, and Dr. Bindi Naik-Mathuria from Baylor College of Medicine. The conference reviewed statistics around firearm violence in the Greater Houston area; discussed evidence for interventions to prevent unintentional shootings, suicides, school-based violence, and interpersonal violence; and hosted a panel which addressed potential policy-based solutions. The Honorable Sylvester Turner, Mayor of Houston, was in attendance and spoke as well (photo).
Dr. Lillian Kao, Chief of Acute Care Surgery, moderated a session. She notes that the number of firearm injuries being treated by trauma faculty has risen significantly, particularly among children. She states that the Departments of Surgery and Pediatric Surgery at UTHealth are committed to working with Memorial Hermann Hospital System and Harris Health System as well as others to implement hospital-based violence prevention programs to address this growing problem.
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Research Fellow Awarded Pilot Grant | |
Dr. Alfredo Cepeda received a Pilot grant from the Plastic Surgery Foundation for an ongoing randomized controlled trial of ketorolac in palatoplasty. Cleft lip and or palate occurs in approximately 1 in 700 live births in the United States annually, making it one of the most common birth defects worldwide. Dr. Cepeda and his mentor, Dr. Matthew Greives, had previously published a recent manuscript on novel ERAS (Enhanced Recovery After Surgery) pathways for patients with cleft palate. By utilizing non-narcotic oral medication, they demonstrated a significant decrease in the need for narcotic prescriptions in these pediatric patients. The PSF grant will fund the second phase of this study, specifically the prospective trial of the use of ketorolac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, and its effect on post-operative pain and feeding in patients following their cleft palate repair. Historically ketorolac has been avoided in cleft palate repair due to concerns for increased post-operative bleeding, but an ongoing open-label investigation at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital has demonstrated no such risk over the past two years. Dr. Cepeda recently presented our results of this study at the American Cleft Palate Association Meeting in Fort Worth, TX in April.
The PSF Pilot grant will fund the randomized controlled trial for the next two years for patients with cleft palate who are treated by the Texas Cleft -Craniofacial Team. This team is one of the oldest and largest cleft teams in Texas, with Dr. Greives and Dr. Phuong Nguyen serving as surgical directors. Dr. Cepeda recently completed a 2-year Master’s Degree Program in Clinical Research at UTHealth Houston, and this trial was designed as part of his degree requirements. The PSF Pilot Grant program is intended to support residents and junior faculty in their efforts to address focused research question, obtain preliminary data to support larger grant proposals in the future, and develop a line of research that can be carried forward into an academic career. This grant program is sponsored by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
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ASTS Awards Research Grants for 2022 | |
This year, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) Foundation along with the generosity of their corporate partners and members, has awarded $845,000 in research grants to 23 transplant professionals. Sherene Lattimore, MD, has been awarded the Jonathan P. Fryer Resident Scientist Scholarship to fund a research grant for Directing Tryptophan Immunometabolism to Ameliorate Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury.
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Resident Research Day 2022 | |
Surgery Research Day took place on June 9th. Traditionally focused on resident research presentations, this half-day event included for the first time medical student and faculty presentations. In particular, faculty shared results of their clinical trials as well as pearls of wisdom about incorporating research into a surgical career. In addition, Dr. Jonah Stulberg, Vice-Chair of Research in the Department of Surgery, shared his vision for the future of surgery in the department.
Congratulations to the winners of the resident research competition:
- 1st place, Basic Science: Michael Scott Collins, MD
- 2nd place, Basic Science: Joseph Krocker, MD
- 1st place, Clinical: Shah-Jahan Dodwad, DO
- 2nd place, Clinical: Menghan Zhao, MD
Congratulations to everyone who presented that day and their mentors for their outstanding work!
Click to see more photos from Resident Research Day...
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Center for Surgical Trials and Evidence-based Practice (C-STEP) Research Fellows Graduate from the Master’s Degree Program in Clinical Research | |
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The Center for Surgical Trials and Evidence-based Practice (C-STEP) aims to promote high quality surgical research and to mentor the next generation of surgeon scientists. Participating research fellows concomitantly obtain a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research through UTHealth Houston’s Center for Evidence-Based Medicine and Clinical Research while performing mentored research projects. Graduating C-STEP research fellows this year include:
Heather Kregel, MD, MS
Home Institution: Methodist Hospital/Weill-Cornell College of Medicine
Mentors: Thaddeus Puzio, MD and Lillian Kao, MD, MS
Shah-Jahan Dodwad, DO, MS
Home Institution: McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston
Mentors: Michael Wandling, MD, MS and Lillian Kao, MD, MS
Hope Feldman, MD, MS
Home Institution: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Mentors: Mara Antonoff, MD and Wayne Hofstettor, MD
Alfredo Cepeda, MD, MS
Home Institution: McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston
Mentor: Matthew Greives, MD, MS
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From left to right:
Heather Kregel, MD, MS, Shah-Jahan Dodwad, DO, MS, Hope Feldman, MD, MS, and Alfredo Cepeda, MD, MS
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Congratulations Graduates | |
Acute Care Surgery Graduating Fellows | |
2022 Graduating Acute Care Surgery Fellows. From left to right: Krislynn Mueck, MD, MPH, MS, John Griepentrog, MD, and Rushbah Dev, MD. Not pictured is graduating Trauma Fellow: Thomas Clements, MD. | |
General Surgery Graduates | |
2022 General Surgery Chief Resident Graduates from top to bottom. Elias Chamely, MD, Kyle Mitchell, MD, Francisco Guerra, MD, Ryan Gunter, MD, Logan Konty, DO, Akshita Kumar, MD, Shuyan Wei, MD, and Cristina Perez Viso, MD. | |
Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Graduates
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Dr. Matthew Greives and Dr. Phuong Nguyen with chief fellows Berry Fairchild and George Washington. | |
Chief fellows Berry Fairchild and George Washington. | |
Dr. Matthew Greives and Dr. Phuong Nguyen with research fellow Alfredo Cepeda. | |
2022 UTMIST Fellowship Graduates from top to bottom. Mark Smith, MD (BMI Fellow), Victor Maciel, MD (CSA Fellow), Greg Vereb, MD (HMNC Fellow), Kelly Shortridge, DO (Davis Fellow), Steven Schulberg, DO (CSA Fellow), Josh Weis, MD (UTHealth Fellow), Jessica Mormando, DO (HMNC Fellow), Thuyvan (Vanessa) Hoang, MD (COMMP Fellow), Sara Monfared, MD (UTHealth Fellow), and Cristina Guerra, MD (BMI Fellow). | |
Chief residents, Albert Geskin, MD, Courtney Chang, MD, and Nathaniel Coddington, MD with Dr. Justin Gregg (MD Anderson Faculty) who received the Resident Teaching Award. | |
Group photo of graduating and current Urology residents with Dr. Gregg. | |
RESIDENT & STUDENT CORNER
Spotlight on Star UTHealth Medical Students
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Clarissa Hoffman MD/PhD candidate, UTHealth McGovern Medical School Class of 2027, is the first author of the article “Opioid-Free Anesthesia and Same-Day Surgery Hiatal Hernia Repair”, Journal of the American College of Surgeons. 235(1):86-98, July 2022. Hoffman, Clarissa MS; Buddha, Mrinalini MD, MPH; Mai, Megan MPH; Sanjeevi, Srinivas MD; Gutierrez, Rigoberto MS; O’ Neill, Colleen MS; Miller, Andre CRNA; Banki, Farzaneh MD.
Two co-authors Gutierrez, Rigoberto MS; O’ Neill, Colleen MS, are former students who graduated from UT Medical School.
Clarissa started clinical research at Memorial Hermann Southeast in March 2020. The focus of her research is on assessing the outcomes of patients who undergo hiatal hernia repair at Memorial Hermann Southeast. The research is performed on Saturday mornings in parallel to her duties in the Medical School and without taking dedicated time off for research. As the result of her research at Memorial Hermann Southeast, she presented at the Western Surgical Association meeting on 11/2021, and at the Digestive Disease Week, in the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract on 05/2022. Clarissa is the co-author of two abstracts and the first author on a surgical video submitted to the upcoming Western Surgical Association meeting on 11/2022 and the first author of a paper submitted to the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery.
Clarissa continues to perform stellar research at Memorial Hermann Southeast. She has been a role model and a leader for 5 other medical students who have been working at Memorial Hermann Southeast and an example for UTHealth medical students who can consider the option of clinical research at the Department of Surgery, during their time at the Medical School.
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IN MEMORIAM: Anil Kulkarni, PhD
Anil Kulkarni, MSc, PhD, retired professor of surgery and internationally known leader in immunonutrition, died June 18, 2022. He was 79.
Born in Miraj, India, Kulkarni came to Texas in 1970 to pursue his education, following his wife who came to the United States for a postdoctoral fellowship. He earned his PhD in immunology from the Queen’s University of Belfast, Ireland. Once in Texas, he joined The University of Texas at Austin, where he worked for two years as a research assistant before joining the Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine.
Read more about Dr. Kulkarni's life and career at UTHealth...
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