Communications Team spearheads website renovation

Consisting of Dr. Alan Kirk, Dr. Keith Delman, Dr. Denis Foretia, Dr. Chris Larsen, Dr. David McClusky, Dr. John Sweeney, Heather Hamby, Sean Moore, and Eileen Murphy, the recently convened Surgery Communications Team is considering methods and measures to strengthen the department’s communications culture and is distilling their conclusions into specific and concrete initiatives. One of their first projects will be overseeing the upcoming rollover of the Surgery website to Emory’s newly standardized web template and content management system, already in place on the web sites of Emory University, Woodruff Health Sciences Center, and The Office of the President. This project will constitute a comprehensive redesign of the site’s entire architecture, navigation scheme, and content distribution, making it more responsive to the needs and interests of our audiences and more in step with the web standards of today. Faculty and staff will be kept informed as the effort moves forward, and many of you will be asked to be involved in aspects of the planning process as well as content maintenance once the new site goes live. For more information on this effort and the Communication Team’s activities in general, contact Sean Moore.

Dr. Kirk appointed Vice Chair of Research for Surgery

Alan D. Kirk, MD, PhD, was the 57th scientist attracted to Georgia research universities by the Georgia Research Alliance.

In addition to being Scientific Director of the Emory Transplant Center (ETC) and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Transplantation Immunology, Dr. Allan Kirk has been named Vice Chair of Research of the Department of Surgery. A gifted clinician and adult and pediatric kidney surgeon, Dr. Kirk is also an outstanding scientist and leader in the top tier of transplantation research. Since joining our faculty in April 2007, he has successfully competed for significant extramural funding from the NIH, FDA, JDRF, and others. His primary investigational focus is translational and clinical research in immune tolerance, with the final goal of transitioning therapies from the laboratory into proof of concept clinical trials. For example, Dr. Kirk was PI of a study published in the July 2009 issue of Nature Medicine, "Alefacept promotes co-stimulation blockade based allograft survival in nonhuman primates," that found that a combination of treatments could effectively replace calcineurin inhibitors in preventing graft rejection following kidney transplants in rhesus macaques, concluding that the data supported the development of a human clinical trial in the regimen.

Before coming to Emory, Dr. Kirk was a Senior Investigator and the Founding Director and Chief of the Transplantation Branch at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the NIH. During his tenure he was awarded two Bench-to-Bedside Awards by the NIH Clinical Center and developed the NIH into an influential kidney transplant research center that contributed major new scientific information to the field. Clinically, the NIH center maintained exceptional results with graft and patient survival rates exceeding those typical for kidney transplantation in the United States.

Dr. Kirk's integration of the ETC's research and clinical components showed exceptional scientific and organizational leadership, and he recently provided highly effective administrative oversight in the restructuring of the Surgery Research Administration Team. Undoubtedly, he is more than up to the task of managing the continued expansion of our robust basic, translational, and clinical research programs.

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Living kidney transplants

Dr. Tom Pearson's team transplants Marlene Valentine's healthy kidney into Andrew Helms.

11Alive News reported on the successful transplant of Marlene Valentine’s kidney into her five-year old grandson Andrew Helms by Dr. Kenneth Newell’s and Dr. Tom Pearson’s teams. Since transplanted kidneys typically last approximately 10-12 years, Ms. Valentine volunteered to donate one of hers first so that Andrew’s mother Jenni could save her kidney for Andrew in the future. See the story here and read more about it here.

11 Alive also reported on Hollie Johnson's transplant, performed by Dr. Larsen and Dr. Paul Tso. Only 20 years old when she was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease, she then struggled through six years of treatment and 33 surgeries. In July, she received a much-needed kidney from her fiancee Jerold Daniels. Watch the feature here.

Both Fox 5 News and the Atlanta Journal Constitution did stories on 7-year-old Nicholas Story receiving a donor kidney from Army Ranger First Sergeant Corey Meyers, Nicholas’ baseball coach, his best friend's father, and a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. When Meyers learned of Nicholas’ need for a kidney and that his O-positive blood type was an acceptable match, he offered himself as a donor. Dr. Nicole Turgeon’s transplant team removed Myers’ kidney, and Dr. Larsen and Dr. Pearson transplanted it into Nicholas. Watch Fox 5's coverage here (Dr. Turgeon is interviewed) and read Emory's account here.

Spotlight

Recognition and achievements

Thirteen of our faculty were included in Atlanta Magazine's July 2009 "Top Doctors" survey, a listing compiled by the New York-based research firm Castle Connally Medical Ltd., whose physician-led team of researchers use a rigorous screening process to select doctors named to the list. Congratulations to Drs. Elliot Chaikof, David Feliciano, Seth Force, Sheryl Gabram, T. Roderick Hester, Kirk Kanter, Christian Larsen, Daniel Miller, Kenneth Newell, Richard Ricketts, John Sweeney, William Wood, and Mark Wulkan.

Dr. Carrie Kai-Cheng Chu, a general surgery categorical resident doing a two-year clinical pancreatic and hepatobiliary research sabbatical under the supervision of Dr. David Kooby, was accepted into the prestigious Master of Science Clinical Research (MSCR) program of the Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Her mentors will include Dr. Kooby, Dr. Theresa Gillespie, and Dr. Guillermo Umpierrez.

As the first-ever community editor for the General Surgery Section of the American College of Surgeons Web Portal, Dr. David Feliciano will manage the identification and quality control of general surgery-related intellectual content published on the portal. He will also continue designing educational programs for surgeons worldwide as the recently re-elected Chair of the ACS Advisory Council for General Surgery.

Dr. Kirk Kanter was a finalist in the physician category of the Atlanta Business Chronicle's 2009 Health-Care Heroes Awards. Dr. Kanter performed the first pediatric Berlin Heart surgery in Georgia on a five-month old patient last December, the most recent first in a series that began when Dr. Kanter joined Emory in 1988 and was on the team that performed Georgia's first "domino" heart transplant. That same year, he did the state's first pediatric heart transplant.

The investigations of Dr. David Lefer's lab into hydrogen sulfide therapies to reduce cell damage were described in "Emissions Control," published in the May 28, 2009, issue of Nature, particularly Dr. Lefer's goal of producing a therapy from the process that could be taken by patients before major heart surgery. In July 2009, Dr. Lefer was awarded a $300,000 grant from the American Diabetes Association for "Cardioprotective mechanisms of hydrogen sulfide in the diabetic heart."

Dr. Jana Macleod was the lead author of "Evaluation of training of surgical interns to perform brief alcohol interventions for trauma patients," Journal of the American College of Surgeons, November 2008, describing an American Trauma Society-funded medical education controlled trial she managed in collaboration with the CDC and Dr. Chris Dunn. Due to additional work stemming from this article, Dr. Macleod was named co-medical director of a two-site, five year grant totaling $12.5 million from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Dr. Barbara Pettitt received the Association for Surgical Education's 2009 Philip J. Wolfson Outstanding Teacher Award. Dr. Pettitt directs the department’s Surgical Clerkship (M3) and M4 programs and and the educational component of the Emory Endosurgery Unit, co-chairs the School of Medicine committee that is developing methods to assess competency of EUSOM graduates of the new curriculum, sits on the committee developing the new curriculum for the M3 and M4 years, and is participating in a national needs assessment of volunteer surgical faculty from over 250 surgical training programs.

Published July 1, 2009, in Cancer, "Characteristics and treatment modalities for African American Women diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer," a study led by Dr. Monica Rizzo, found that nearly one in four African American women with late stage breast cancer refused chemotherapy and radiation therapy, concluding that additional studies were needed to examine the roles and degrees that demographic factors, cultural beliefs, healthcare access, additional illnesses, and patient choice have in this decision.

Dr. Grace Rozycki's 13-year-old mentorship program at Grady Hospital guides high school students up to post-graduate trainees through medical/surgical specialties and subspecialties, clinical and social activities with residents and faculty, participation in research projects and educational conferences, and co-authoring multiple publications. In 2009, Dr. Christopher Dente mentored Charles Ghee, a second year medical student from Morehouse, and Dr. Rozycki mentored Clarisse Tallah, an engineering student from GA Tech.

Dr. Jeffrey Salomone received the Emerald of the Year Award at the Metro-Atlanta Police Emerald Society's 2009 Annual Awards Banquet for "outstanding service to law enforcement and to the metro Atlanta community." Dr. Salomone has been the official trauma surgeon for the City of Atlanta Police Department since 1997.

Dr. Gary Vercruysse, who did a tour of duty in Balad, Iraq, from September 2008-January 2009 as chief of surgery of the 332nd United States Air Force Theater Hospital, was a finalist in the military service category of the Atlanta Business Chronicle's 2009 Health-Care Heroes Awards. In an Atlanta Journal Constitution feature, Dr. Vercruyssee said that becoming a reservist was "an opportunity to give back" and that he couldn't have done it without the help of his colleagues at Grady and Emory.

At Egleston, Dr. Mark Wulkan is among the first surgeons in Georgia to perform single-site incision surgery on pediatric patients for such routine procedures as appendectomy, removal of the spleen, and stomach surgery. The method is considered scarless because only one incision is made in the navel and is typically difficult to see.

Dr. Lily Yang and Dr. Shuming Nie designed an artificial antibody capable of being attached to nanoparticles and delivered as a tumor-targeting agent, described in the January 2009 issue of Small. In the May 2009 issue of Gastroenterology, they described nanoparticles designed with co-investigator Dr. Hui Mao that could be used as tools in the early detection of pancreatic cancer. Dr. Yang and Dr. Mao also led a team that investigated the use of enhanced nanoparticles as molecularly targeted, dual modality imaging agents for in vivo imaging of breast cancer, reported in Clinical Cancer Research, July 2009, concluding that the nanoparticles could serve as novel imaging agents for the early detection of breast tumors.

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new arrivals

Cardiothoracic Surgery

Faculty

Michael E. Halkos, MD

(Assistant Professor of Surgery) Dr. Michael Halkos received his MD and did his general and cardiothoracic surgical training and two year research fellowship at Emory. He was administrative chief resident during both residencies, presented as first author at 13 national meetings, published 36 journal manuscripts (17 as first author), was a finalist for the Young Investigator Award from the American College of Cardiology, and received the New Investigator Award from the American Heart Association. He is currently Editor of the Resident Section of CTSNet and serves on the Executive Committee of the Thoracic Surgeons Residents Association. His clinical specialties include off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery, valve repair/replacement surgery, and minimally-invasive valve and coronary surgery, and his research interests are stroke after cardiac surgery and surgical outcomes.

Richard J. Myung, MD

(Assistant Professor of Surgery) Dr. Richard Myung finished his cardiothoracic surgery residency at Emory this summer. He received his MD from New York Medical College and began his general surgery residency at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, DC. After completing a three year cardiothoracic research fellowship at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, he finished his general surgery residency at the University of Pennsylvania. His special interests are minimally invasive valve surgery, off pump and minimally invasive coronary bypass, and aortic surgery.

House staff

New residents: Bryon Boulton, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine; Daniel Eiferman, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago; and Azeem Khan, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The new adult cardiac fellows are Loay Kabbani, University of Michigan, Takashi Nishimura, Shin-Katsushika Hospital, Tokyo, Japan, and Adil Sadiq and Chandrabhanu Parija, both from Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Kerala, India. Jonathan McGuinness, the new congenital pediatric fellow, is from Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland.

General Surgery

Incoming general surgery categorical residents

Douglas Anderson, Vanderbilt	Jennifer Avise, Emory	Jeremy Fisher, Emory
Sarah Fisher, University of Missouri-Columbia	Timothy Love, University of Miami	Bryant McIver, Johns Hopkins
Ximena Pinell, Emory	Jamil Stetler, Wake Forest University	Preeti Subhedar, Marshall University

Non-designated, general surgery preliminary residents

Hesham Abdelfattah, Texas Tech	Jose Avila, University of Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela	Ali Charafeddine, American University of Beirut
Rachel Medbery, Emory	Vikash Mishra, Georgetown University	Naren Venkatesan, Texas Tech

The incoming surgical subspecialty residents (urology) are Lindsey Herrel, Washington University, St. Louis; Geraldine Shue, UT Southwestern; and Adam Shrewsberry, Emory.

The incoming endosurgery fellows are Eric Paul, University of Oklahoma College of Tulsa, and John Weaver, University of Colorado.

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

House Staff

Ajay Ganti, Columbia University; Lauren Johnson, University of Michigan; Damien Jimenez, University of Arizona; and Brian Tallent, New York University.

Pediatric Surgery

House Staff

The new fellow is Samir Pandya from New York Medical College, Westchester Medical Center.

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

House Staff

Bahair Ghazi, Emory; Hunter Moyer, Emory; and Garrett Harper, Medical College of Georgia.

Surgical Oncology

House Staff

Sharla G. Patterson, the incoming breast cancer fellow, did her general surgery residency at the University of South Alabama.

Trauma/Surgical Critical Care

Faculty

Timothy G. Buchman, PhD, MD

(Professor of Surgery) In addition to his departmental appointment, Dr. Timothy Buchman is the founding director of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center's newly created Emory Center for Critical Care (ECCC). The ECCC will integrate ICUs throughout Emory Healthcare, create a new section of critical care in The Emory Clinic, engage clinicians and investigators from diverse disciplines to conduct research that will define best clinical practices and inform public health policy, and oversee the educational and training experience for clinicians and scientists in critical care.

Dr. Buchman received his PhD in virology in 1978 and MD in 1980 from the University of Chicago, then completed his general surgery residency at Johns Hopkins in 1984 and did a fellowship in traumatology/critical care at the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems in 1987. He returned to Johns Hopkins, becoming co-director of its SICU in 1989. Prior to coming to Emory, he was Professor of Surgery and Director of Acute and Critical Care Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis.

House Staff

Incoming trauma fellows: Bryan Morse, Greenville Hospital System, Greenville, SC, and Mitchell Chaar, University of Illinois College of Medicine. Patrick McGann and Brian Williams, the former Emory trauma fellows, are the new surgical critical care residents.

Transplantation

Faculty

Steven I. Hanish, MD

(Assistant Professor of Surgery) Before coming to Emory, Dr. Steven Hanish was a Clinical Instructor in Surgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He earned his MS in biophysics and physiology and his MD from Indiana University School of Medicine, completed his general surgery residency and a research fellowship at Duke University School of Medicine, and did his transplantation fellowship at University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. His clinical focuses are treating end stage liver disease and surgical management of primary liver tumors, while his research interests include genetic markers of cholangioarcinoma and outcomes of liver transplant patients.

John C. Shires, PhD

(Instructor of Surgery) Dr. John Shires, who earned an MPhil in Immunology in 1998 and a PhD in Immunology and Molecular Biology in 2002 from Yale, has joined the department's transplant immunology lab to work on developing a method for tracking and studying specific populations of alloreactive T lymphocytes that mediate rejection of transplanted tissues and organs. He comes to us from Yerkes, where he was the Technical Director of the NIAID Tetramer Facility, which provided custom synthesis and distribution of soluble MHC-peptide tetramer reagents for staining antigen-specific T cells.

House Staff

David Bruno, incoming transplant fellow, did his general surgery residency at Georgetown University Medical Center.

Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy

Faculty

Matthew A. Corriere, MD

(Assistant Professor of Surgery) Dr. Matthew Corriere earned his MD from Mercer University School of Medicine in 1999 and an MS in Health Sciences Research from Wake Forest University in 2008. His residency training at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, completed in 2006, included two years of basic and clinical research. He completed a fellowship in vascular surgery at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in 2009. His primary interests are atherosclerosis, renovascular disease, carotid disease, and venous thromboembolism.

House Staff

The incoming residents are James Reeves, Emory; and Luke Brewster, Loyola University School of Medicine.

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House Staff Transitions

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UPCOMING

Events calendar

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