Division OverviewThe Endosurgery Unit and ESTARFaculty Synopsis

 Division Overview

The division of general and gastrointestinal surgery has been involved in refining and developing minimally invasive surgical methods for treating various general surgical problems as well as ground-breaking diabetes and parathyroid disease investigations. Division faculty practice at Emory Crawford Long Hospital, Emory University Hospital, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston and the Atlanta VA Medical Center — the integration of affiliated hospitals creates a diverse program for research, training and patient care.

John Sweeney, MD, appointed chief of the division in September 2007, came to Emory from the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine where he directed the division of general surgery, the department's Bariatric Surgery Program and the Michael E. DeBakey Minimally Invasive Surgery Center of Excellence. Prior to that, he served as chief of surgery at the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center and director of Minimally Invasive Surgery at the University of Michigan.

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 Endosurgery Unit and ESTAR

The Endosurgery Unit provides patients with state-of-the-art endoscopic and laparoscopic procedures. Interested residents may apply for either the unit's one-year clinical fellowship with the option of a second year of research or its one-year research-only fellowship. The unit also sponsors one and two-day didactic and practical courses in advanced endoscopic and laparoscopic techniques for such procedures as solid organ, foregut, antireflux and natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery.

The Emory Simulation, Training, and Robotics Center (ESTAR) uses a wide array of state of the art simulation systems to train medical students, residents, and professional clinicians in numerous procedures and techniques. At the same time, ESTAR evaluates the educational effectiveness of these various training systems as well as investigates the efficacy of robotic technology already in use or planned for use in actual procedures.

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 Faculty Synopsis

The credentials and interests of division faculty are wide-ranging:

		Previously at the Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery at Ohio State University Medical Center, Dr. S. Scott Davis specializes in a variety of laparoscopic procedures and is interested in the development of minimally invasive surgical devices.
		Dr. David Feliciano is a luminary in the fields of vascular and abdominal trauma; has received over 30 teaching awards; has edited six editions of Trauma, an essential textbook in the field; and is the co-editor of Acute Care Surgery, the first textbook of its type.
		Dr. Aaron Fink has made sentinel contributions to the development of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.
		Dr. John Galloway directs Nutritional Metabolic Services at Emory University Hospital and has received multiple teaching and physician's awards.
		Dr. Nana Gletsu is a research nutritionist at the Emory Bariatric Center and is investigating the pathophysiology of insulin resistance in severe obesity and hypertension.
		Dr. Edward Lin, director of the Emory Endosurgery Unit (among other titles), concentrates on colon, esophageal and bariatric surgery and was the first surgeon in the U.S. to perform endoscopic plication for GERD.
		Dr. Juan Sarmiento focuses on surgical treatment of metastatic liver disease, primary hepatic tumors, gallbladder cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, chronic pancreatitis and reconstruction of the bile duct.
		Dr. Jyotirmay Sharma did his endocrine surgery fellowship at Emory, specializes in such clinical areas as pancreatic endocrine tumors and gastrointestinal surgery and has a variety of research interests that include parathyroid hormone kinetics and parathyroid imaging techniques.
		Dr. Jahnavi Srinivasan did her general surgery residency at Emory and specializes in open and laparoscopic GI surgery and hernia repair and the minimally invasive Lap Band system for weight management.
		Dr. Alexandra Webb, chief of general surgery at the Atlanta VA Medical Center, specializes in colorectal, endocrine and laparoscopic surgery.
		Dr. Collin Weber has had a distinguished career that includes over 25 years of investigations and contributions to the field of diabetes research, including being the first diabetes investigator to examine both cross-species islet transplantation and the protective encapsulation of transplanted islets.

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