Volume 36 | June 10, 2020
Surgical Notes
Annual Report
Please find enclosed the 2018-19 annual report for the Department of Surgery at Virginia Commonwealth University/VCU Health System. We are incredibly proud of our accomplishments and look forward to continued growth in the years to come. 

Hard copies of this report are available. Please contact Jessica Carey to obtain copies.

Thanks to each of you for contributing to our great success! And special thanks to Nikki Meador, Amanda Jabri, Davis Roche, and Joe Morris for your work putting this together!
Diverse Scholars in Surgery Program
From the desk of Dr. Kasirajan:

In the midst of treating patients during the coronavirus pandemic, many of us are now devastated and angered by the shocking deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery.
 
Over the past week, there has been widespread unrest and I recognize how this affects all of us. To our residents especially, we hear you and understand your uncertainty. Please take time to connect and learn from each other, our patients and our community.
 
My wife, Sucharitha, and I feel strongly that something has to change, and we, too, have to change. In an effort to support diversity in the surgical field, we have decided to launch the Diverse Scholars in Surgery Program with a $25,000 gift to establish a new endowed fund at the MCV Foundation.
 
According to the AAS , only 10% of all surgical trainees identify as an underrepresented minority. As many of you know, in certain subspecialties like urology, these statistics are even more disparate. Many minority students never experience external surgical rotations; and we know these rotations enhance the medical education experience while also enhancing residency applications.
 
The Diverse Scholars in Surgery Program will embrace the principles of diversity and inclusion and offer expanded opportunities for medical students. Funds will support VCU medical students who complete external surgical rotations and/or students from other medical schools who complete surgical rotations here at VCU. Surgical rotations include those undertaken during the M4 year, including general surgery, urology and plastic surgery. Funds will be used to reimburse student participants for costs associated with travel, lodging and meals.
 
I would love to see this grow to a large enough endowment that we can support multiple students every year. I hope you will consider joining me in making a gift to this fund. More information will be shared, but if you’d like to make a gift, please reach out to Carrie Mills at [email protected] .
 
Together, we all stand against racism. 
Promotion & Tenure
Congratulations to the following faculty for their recent promotion and/or tenure!
Rahul Anand, MD
Professor
Acute Care Surgical Services
Michael Feldman, MD
Professor
Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Stefan Leichtle, MD
Associate Professor
Acute Care Surgical Services
Kandace McGuire, MD
Professor
Surgical Oncology
Jennifer Rhodes, MD
Professor
Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Charles C. Clayton Scholarship
Congratulations to general surgrey resident Ashley Rosenberg, MD for being named the 2020 recipient of the Charles C. Clayton Scholarship. The C. C. Clayton Award was established in 1978 to reward outstanding rising second year (or beyond) graduate students in School of Medicine advanced degree programs. The award is made in honor of Dr. Charles Clayton, who served as Professor of Biochemistry and Assistant Dean of the School of Basic Sciences and Graduate Studies. Dr. Clayton came to the Medical College of Virginia in 1949. He rose through the academic ranks, making scholarly contributions in the area of lipid biochemistry, while carrying extensive teaching responsibilities in all of the health professions programs at MCV after World War II. The graduate programs had been suspended during the War to devote the entire effort of the faculty to training health professions practitioners in a variety of accelerated programs. Dr. Clayton was also instrumental in developing the first doctoral programs at MCV. Daniel T. Watts tapped Dr. Clayton to serve as Assistant Dean during the period of rapid growth of the graduate programs in biomedical sciences at the newly created Health Sciences Division of Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Clayton served in this capacity, and as Executive Secretary of the A. D. Williams Committee, until his unexpected and untimely death in 1977.

Dr. Rosenberg was also named the recipient of the June Horsman Scholarship which was established by Mr. Charles Crone in honor of his late sister. All awards were announced at the May 2020 commencement celebration during which Dr. Rosenberg received her Masters in Public Health.

Well done, Dr. Rosenberg!
Graduating General Surgery Residents
Graduation didn't look quite the same this year with COVID-19 but we want to take time to celebrate our graduating general surgery residents.

Check out the video linked here created by Joe Morris to honor our graduating general surgery chiefs.

Congratulations, Chiefs! Best wishes on your journey!
Mangino Lab Updates & Accomplishments
Congratulations to the Mangino Lab team for a variety of incredible accomplishments.

Courtney Chmielewski , master's student in the Mangino lab, was recently awarded the Phi Kappa Phi Scholarship award from the School of Medicine.

The Mangino lab also published a paper in the Annals of Surgery, one of the highest impact factor rated journals in biomedical science. Their paper, titled "Superior Survival Outcomes of a Polyethylene Glycol-20k Based Resuscitation Solution in a Preclinical Porcine Model of Lethal Hemorrhagic Shock" was authored by: Jad Khoraki, MD, Niluka Wickramaratne, MD, Hae Sung Kang, MD, Haoxuan Xu, MD, Caitlin Archambault, LVT, Charles Blocher, MS, Ru Li, MD, PhD, Loren Liebrecht, MD, Michel Aboutanos, MD, and Martin J Mangino, Ph.D.

Finally, their abstract "Low Volume Resuscitation with Polyethylene Glycol-20k for Posttraumatic Hemorrhagic Shock in a Hybrid Model of Controlled and Uncontrolled Hemorrhage" has been accepted for oral presentation at the 2020 Clinical Congress Scientific Forum. Authors include: Jad Khoraki, MD, Niluka Wickramaratne, MD, Hae Sung Kang, MD, Haoxuan Xu, MD, Ru Li, MD, PhD, and Martin J Mangino, Ph.D.

Well done, team!
Graduating OMFS Residents
Congratulations to the graduating class of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residents!
Daniel Hawkins, DMD
Faculty
VCU Dentistry - OMFS
Balraj King, DDS
Fellowship
University of Toronto
Dan Tran, DDS
Faculty
VCU Dentistry - OMFS
VCU MSHA Acceptance
Congratulations to Ray Hudson, coding supervisor for the Department of Surgery, for being accepted into the VCU Master of Science in Health Administration (MSHA) program!

Beloved by his team, one colleague writes "Ray is a gem [who] is very committed to [ensuring] accurate coding and billing for the Department of Surgery."

Ray will begin this coming Fall.

Congratulations!
American Association for the Surgery of Trauma
Michel Aboutanos, MD, Professor and Chair for the Division of Acute Care Surgical Services was featured in the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) newsletter. In the article, Dr. Aboutanos details the many accomplishments of the AAST International Relations Committee.

AAST is the highest national academic society for trauma and acute care surgery.

To read the story, click here .

Well done, Dr. Aboutanos!
Bariatric & GI Abstracts & Publications
Congratulations to Dr. Guilherme Campos (Professor & Chair for the Division of Bariatric & Gastrointestinal Surgery) and his team for their recent publications and presentation acceptances.

Gastric Bypass Promotes Faster Enterohepatic Cycling of Bile Acids and Greater Postprandial, but Not Fasting, Systemic Bile Acids Levels
Matthew Browning, PhD, Jad Khoraki, MD, Arnaldo H. de Souza, MD, Mei-i Yen, PhD, Dawn Davis, MD and Guilherme M. Campos, MD PhD FACS.
*TOP 5% abstract – invited to early submission to JACS for expedite review.

Sleeve Gastrectomy Stimulates the Hepatic Nuclear Receptors Signaling Network to Promote Increased Liver Fat Reduction and Bile Formation
Jad Khoraki, MD, Guilherme Mazzini, MD, PhD, Matthew Browning, PhD, Roel Bolckmans, MD, Renato Roriz da Silva, MD, Huiping Zhou, PhD, Elvin Price, PharmD, PhD and Guilherme M. Campos, MD PhD FACS.

Is Routine Preoperative Upper Endoscopy Before Bariatric Surgery Necessary?
Yahya Alwatari, MD, William Hope, MD, Lindsey Ferro, MD, Roel Bolckmans, MD, Dawit Ayalew, BS, Renato Roriz da Silva, MD, Luke Wolfe, MS and Guilherme M. Campos, MD PhD FACS.

Laparoscopic Conversion of Sleeve Gastrectomy to RYGB for Severe GERD after Remote Open Left Hepatectomy and Incisional Hernia Repair with Mesh
Renato Roriz da Silva, MD; Roel Bolckmans, MD; Ashley Wohler Gerrish, MD; Yahya Alwatari, MBBCh; Jad Khoraki, MD; Guilherme M. Campos, MD PhD FACS

Laparoscopic Repair of an Iatrogenic Left Lateral Diaphragmatic Hernia with Intrathoracic Colonic Closed-Loop Obstruction after Remote One Stage Conversion of a Lap Band to Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy
Renato Roriz da Silva, MD; Roel Bolckmans, MD; Yahya Alwatari, MBBCh; Jennifer Salluzzo, MD FACS; Guilherme M. Campos, MD PhD FACS

Laparoscopic Revision of a Giant Kissing Chronic Gastrojejunal Marginal Ulcer Eroded into the Abdominal Wall and into the Sleeve Remnant after Remote Laparoscopic Conversion of a Sleeve to Gastric Bypass
Renato Roriz da Silva, MD; Roel Bolckmans, MD; Ashley Gerrish, MD; Jad Khoraki, MD; Guilherme M. Campos, MD PhD FACS
Monthly Wellness Note
During stressful and anxious times, research shows that deep breathing and relaxation can help provide some relief. Please take a moment to enjoy CommonHealth's new video on  Compassion through Interconnectedness . Also included is information on EAP support and the importance of making and keeping to-to lists
Upcoming Events
Research Open Forum
Monthly, 2nd Mondays
4:00 - 5:00 PM
West 16 Conference Room (16-103)

All are encouraged to attend!
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Have a story to tell? Contact [email protected]
Top Photo: Dr. Kate Klein, Cardiac Fellow. Photo taken by Joseph Morris.
Department of Surgery | Virginia Commonwealth University | (804)828-7874 | [email protected]