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Recently, an editorial in Nature highlighted a trend that surgeon interest in conducting research is decreasing in the U.S. The article cited two recent studies that document this trend and called for improvements to the environment of academic surgery to again recognize the value of scientific research.

Dr. Greg KennedyShoutout to Greg Kennedy, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, who will soon serve as the recorder for the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract.

Dr. Renata Jaskula-SztulCongratulations to Renata Jaskula-Sztul, Ph.D., and Manabu Nukaya, Ph.D., who recently received grant funding for their research projects.

General surgery resident Dr. Margaux Mustian and her husband Will sightsee in Australia during their free time.General surgery residents now have the opportunity to get international surgical training at Australian hospitals. This year, general surgery residents Matthew Giglia, M.D., and Margaux Mustian, M.D., spent a month in the resident training program at Westmead Hospital in Sydney.

The Department of Surgery Resident Research Day is coming up soon! Submit your abstracts to Allison Moss via ammoss@uabmc.edu no later than May 15. Case presentations will be at 1 p.m. on June 5 in the West Pavilion Board Room.

Medical student Kevin Cofer presents at the 2017 Academic Surgical Congress.Congrats to Kevin Cofer, a rising third-year medical student at UAB, for receiving an American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons Medical Student Research Initiation Grant for his research pertaining to ERAS— enhanced recovery after surgery, a perioperative surgical protocol. Cofer will work with the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery’s Daniel Chu, M.D., to study the effects of ERAS on surgery outcomes for black patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Dr. Martin HeslinThe Robert E. Reed Gastrointestinal Oncology Research Foundation and the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center will host the Second Annual Living with Cancer Symposium on Monday, May 15, at the UAB Alumni House from 1-4 p.m. The Division of Surgical Oncology’sMartin Heslin, M.D., and Sushanth Reddy, M.D., will give talks, as well as a number of other speakers. CME credit is available.

Congratulations to the following faculty members who were listed in the 2017 Top 100 Providers for Patient Care at UAB, as ranked by overall MPCAHPS rating of 0-10:

The UAB Department of Surgery and the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery would like to welcome two new faculty members, Elie Ghanem, M.D., and Sameer M. Naranje, M.D., M.R.C.S.

Dr. Jayme LockeThe Division of Transplantation’s Jayme Locke, M.D., has been appointed to the new position of assistant chief medical officer for inpatient quality and patient safety with UAB Medicine.

James Hwang, M.D.The Division of Acute Care Surgery is pleased to announce the addition of James Hwang, M.D., as an associate professor effective July 1, 2017. Hwang will also be director of the UAB Burn Center.

Dr. Branessa LindemanAugust faculty recruit Brenessa M. Lindeman, M.D., M.E.H.P., and her team of fellow authors from Brigham and Women's Hospital recently had their abstract examining the impact of NIFTP on malignancy rate for indeterminate thyroid nodule FNA cytology accepted for a podium presentation at the 24th Annual New England Surgical Society Surgical Resident and Fellow Research Presentation Day. The event will be held Tuesday, May 16, 2017, at the Conference Center at Waltham Woods in Waltham, Massachusetts.

UAB medical student Richard Seeber was recently awarded a 2017 Presidential Student Mentor Grant by the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and will join Xenotransplant Program Director Joseph Tector, M.D., Ph.D., in his lab later this year.

Dr. Brad WillsOrthopaedic surgery resident Brad Wills, M.D., won first place at the Medical Association of the State of Alabama poster symposium for his work, "Outcomes with Overlapping Surgery at a Large Academic Medical Center."

The Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery’s Benjamin Wei, M.D., has been selected to serve on the editorial board of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

The departments of Surgery, Pathology and Biomedical Engineering have come together to form a new research seminar series. The purpose is to provide a prestigious venue for world-recognized leaders in biomedical research to present their work and learn about the research programs in our departments. It also aims to foster more interdepartmental interactions, training and career development, while facilitating the academic year’s speaker schedules.

Undergraduates, medical students, residents and faculty throughout the Birmingham medical community met earlier this week to discuss the personal and professional experiences of women in surgery and the various obstacles they face in the field.

This week, women in surgery went viral on social media. After the New Yorker published their April 3 animated cover featuring an illustration of four women in an OR, dubbed “Operating Theatre” by the French artist Malika Favre, women surgeons all over the world took to Twitter and Instagram to recreate the photo using the hashtag, #NYerORCoverChallenge.

Dr. Martin HeslinExecutive Vice Chair of the Department of Surgery Martin Heslin, M.D., was recently awarded a $140,000 grant by the Robert E. Reed Gastrointestinal Oncology Research Foundation for his research, “Non-canonical Wnt signaling in colorectal cancer.”

Ashley Thorburn, M.D. presents at the March 27 AAPS meeting.Plastic Surgery Resident Ashley Thorburn, M.D., recently presented her research, "Negative Pressure Dressings Over Free Muscle Flaps: A 6 Year Experience," at the March 27 American Association of Plastic Surgeons meeting in Austin, Texas.

Thorburn’s talk highlighted her experience using negative pressure dressings as a post-operative bolster in free muscle flaps with skin grafts. Thorburn said this dressing facilitated close monitoring of the flaps through direct visualization and Doppler signal and had no apparent adverse events that could be directly attributable to the dressing itself.

Courtney Balentine, M.D.The Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery’s Courtney Balentine, M.D., has accepted a full-time position at the Birmingham VA Medical Center. Balentine will continue to devote a portion of his time to research and clinical surgery; however, he is adding an administrative role as assistant chief of surgery. His primary focus will be improving operating room efficiency in collaboration with VA anesthesiologist Christopher Key, M.D., and VA Nurse Manager Mark Sorensen, RN.

Benjamin Wei, M.D.Last month, the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery’s Benjamin Wei, M.D., initiated the Thoracic Surgery VA Robotic Surgery Program. Other UAB groups and departments are already using the robot at the VA, including the General Surgery Residency Program, the Department of Urology, the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Laura Allen, M.D.
Margaux Mustian, M.D.

General Surgery Residents Laura Allen, M.D., and Margaux Mustian, M.D., have been named to the Young Members Committee of The Transplantation Society. This committee’s focus is on career development of young transplantation professionals. Allen and Mustian will represent U.S. trainees within the greater international community of transplantation.

Match Day 2017 ushered in a new group of surgery residents, while saying goodbye to others who will soon leave UAB for different programs across the country.

According to the UAB School of Medicine Office of Graduate Medical Education, 220 medical students from 63 U.S. universities and 27 international universities will join UAB as residents in 2017.

In a new series, the Department of Surgery will feature incoming and outgoing trainees for all UAB Surgery programs. This week, learn about those joining and leaving the Vascular Surgery Integrated Residency Program and the Vascular Surgery Fellowship.

The Department of Surgery welcomes two new faculty this April, Jon William Jones, Jr., M.D., F.A.C.S., and Zdenek Novak, M.D., Ph.D., M.S.H.I.

Dr. Robert RussellCongratulations to the Division of Pediatric Surgery’s Robert T. Russell, M.D., who was recently selected to receive the 16th C. James Carrico, M.D., F.A.C.S., Faculty Research Fellowship for his project, “Coagulation Abnormalities after Severe Pediatric Trauma: Bench to Bedside.” As part of this fellowship awarded by the American College of Surgeons, Russell will receive $40,000 per year for two years to support his research.

James K. Kirklin, M.D.Dr. James Kirklin, professor in and former director of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, was recently asked to serve as vice president of the American Heart Association’s Greater Southeast Affiliate beginning in July 2017. Kirklin is expected to transition from vice president to president-elect in July 2018 and from president-elect to president in July 2019.

Match Day 2017 ushered in a new group of surgery residents, while saying goodbye to others who will soon leave UAB for different programs across the country.

In a new series, the Department of Surgery will feature incoming and outgoing trainees for all UAB Surgery programs. This week, learn about the General Surgery Residency Program’s new eight categorical interns and three preliminary interns from all over the country and the world.

Laura Allen, M.D.Laura Allen, M.D., a third-year general surgery resident, recently received a resident travel award to attend the Leadership & Advocacy Summit hosted by the American College of Surgeons. The summit will be held May 6-9, 2017, in Washington, D.C., and offers participants specialized sessions to teach leadership and advocacy skills, as well as the opportunity to meet with members of congress and their staff about current healthcare priorities.

Dr. Timothy KingUAB will host the 2018 annual meeting of the Plastic Surgery Research Council from May 17-19, 2018. The event will be hosted by the Division of Plastic Surgery's Timothy King, M.D., Ph.D., the current president of the PSRC, and will be held at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel. The UAB Department of Surgery is proud to host next year’s PSRC meeting, which will focus on stimulating fundamental research in plastic surgery. With a history dating back to the 1950s, the PSRC has established itself as a reputable society within the specialty of plastic surgery.