Continuing the Department of Surgery’s long-standing tradition of excellence in research, innovation, surgical education, and surgical testing, the Cottrell Surgery Innovation Suite is located in Sanger Hall, 1101 East Marshall Street, 9th floor, the same location where Drs. Richard Lower and David Hume made history 50 years ago. See VCU News: "50 years after Virginia’s first heart transplant, $1M gift breathes new life into historic lab."

See video rendering of The Christine B. and David E. Cottrell Surgery Innovation Suite

https://www.support.vcu.edu/give/

joy.sanders@vcuhealth.org 

Join VCU Institute of Engineering and Medicine, the C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research, and the VCU Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation for an ongoing educational series teaching the steps involved to get your ideas and discoveries turned into a clinical practice — from Bench to Community. Learn more about the 2021–22 series.

For more information, please contact Laura Osborne, Program Coordinator.

Please join us in congratulating Jennifer Salluzzo, MD, FACS on being elected Vice-President of the Virginia Bariatric Society (VBS) for 2021-2023 and President for 2023-2025 term.

Dr. Salluzzo is an assistant professor and bariatric surgeon in the Division of Bariatric and GI Surgery and the Program Director of the Advanced GI, MIS and Foregut Surgery Fellowship Program. She succeeds Dr. Guilherme Campos, MD, who's term (2016-2021) ended at the completion of their annual meeting in August.

We are very excited to share the announcement that Walker Julliard, MD has been awarded the AATS Foundation’s F. Griffith Pearson Fellowship for 2021. Dr. Julliard is an assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery.

The Pearson Fellowship is known as one of the most prestigious fellowships in thoracic surgery for young faculty members. It includes a $9000 grant to be used as travel and living expenses during training with Dr. Shaf Keshavjee at Toronto General Hospital. Dr. Keshavjee is the current president of the American Association of Thoracic Surgeons (AATS).

The AATS Foundation F. Griffith Pearson Fellowship provides an educational experience for general thoracic surgeons who have recently completed their residency or fellowship to spend a focused period of six to eight weeks time studying clinical techniques at a host institution in North America. At this time travel to initiate this fellowship may be delayed until restrictions associated with the current global pandemic are lifted. 

Published: August 20, 2021 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2021.03.061

Congratulations to Nancy Valencia-Rojas, Michel B. Aboutanos, Edgar B. Rodas on your recent publication in the Panamerican Journal of Trauma, Critical Care, and Emergency Surgery, titled: "Fostering Knowledge Transfer to Strengthen the Surgical Workforce in LMIC: Lessons Learned from an International Observership Program"

The VCU ACCESS Program is "an inspired team of VCU School of Medicine students and faculty interested in acute care, global health, and health systems strengthening.

Learn more about the VCU ACCESS

September's guest speaker featured Dr. Peter Jackson, assistant professor in the VCU Division of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine.

About the Seminar Series:

Check out the schedule on the Work/Life home page!

VCU HR have a well-being blog which provides information on what is available to VCU employees as well as encourage employees toward living a healthy lifestyle. View or subscribe to the blog here.

Mindfulness can be described as a mental state achieved through nonjudgmental awareness and acknowledgment of thoughts and physical/feelings in the present. VCU faculty and staff experience pressures at work, from family responsibilities or from financial stress. Try attending the ICA mindfulness sessions every first and third Tuesday from 12:15–12:45 p.m. Find the next session on the ICA event calendar.

Artfulness - Artfulness is a short web based curriculum developed here at VCU to help practice mindfulness and stress relief through the arts. There are 20 art based activities to choose from (and could be great for a whole family activity) Artfulness information

The Community Health Education Center (CHEC) located on the 1st floor of the Gateway Building on the MCV Campus is a free library of health and wellness information staffed by a knowledgeable consumer health librarian. The library is jointly sponsored by VCU Libraries, VCU Health, and the MCV Auxiliary. They offer access to high-quality health information in easy to read and understandable formats, promote health literacy initiatives and sponsor educational opportunities for employees and staff at at VCU and VCU Health. They can be reached at 804-828-0626 or ejhurst@vcu.edu — Visit CHEC website

Reflecting this transdisciplinary field, professionals from academic, industry, government, and the community are brought together to promote the exchange of novel ideas, discuss the latest findings in the field, and stimulate the development of new research on cancer health disparities. Jose Trevino, MD, Chair of the Division of Surgical Oncology, and Surgeon-in-Chief at VCU Massey Cancer Center is serving as a co-chair at this year's conference.