Dr. Erik Wilson and Connie Klein recognized for outstanding achievement by ASMBS

The American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) announced that Erik B. Wilson, MD, professor of surgery at UTHealth Houston, won The Surgical Innovation Award. The award was created to recognize ASMBS members that have provided technological breakthroughs in the areas of bariatric and metabolic research, in particular with new devices and methods. 

The innovation award highlights Dr. Wilson’s career emphasizing the development of techniques and technology that has furthered the utilization of robotics and advanced endoscopic platforms leading to improved patient outcomes. 

In addition, ASMBS also announced that Connie Klein NPC, CBN is the winner of the Advanced Practice Provider award. The award is given to practitioners for a longstanding history of program support and development and outstanding patient care. 

Both received their awards at the recent ASMBS conference in Las Vegas. We are proud of their accomplishments and lifelong commitment to developing a robust elective surgery program!

UTHealth Houston study on repeated radiofrequency ablation in combination with chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer supported with $3.3M HHS grant

A combination strategy of endoscopic ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation (EUS-RFA) with chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer will be studied at UTHealth Houston through a $3.3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The survival rate of pancreatic adenocarcinoma, or pancreatic cancer, remains low, around 10%, because of its poor response to current chemotherapies.

The five-year grant will continue the established six-year clinical and translational research collaboration between Jennifer Bailey-Lundberg, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine; and Nirav Thosani, MD, associate professor in the Department of Surgery, both with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.

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ASCRS Annual Scientific Meeting

The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons held their Annual Scientific Meeting from June 3-6 in Seattle, WA. Not only is it the largest national meeting of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, but it boasts a solid international attendance, with more than 55 countries represented this year among the 2300 attendees. Dr. Millas was our department's representative at the COSMID Diverticulitis Trial's investigators meeting. He discussed the trial’s progress, and we were happy to learn that LBJ Hospital has had the highest enrollment rate of any center in the country, which our research team is very proud of. 

Drs. Chamely, Stulberg, Van Eps, and Millas at the ASCRS Conference. 

Drs. Chamely and Stulberg enjoying dinner on the Puget Sound.

Dr. Cusick discussed "Strategies for Insurance Negotiations" during the Practice Management session, while Dr. Snyder was involved in the Pelvic Floor Disorders Consortium Meeting. Dr. Van Eps began his two-year term as a member of the Awards Committee, and Dr. Belizaire was inducted as an ASCRS Fellow. 

Our department's research was well represented, with four presentations.

• Incidence of Incisional Hernia at the Site of a Previous Ostomy: A Systematic Review - Drs. Elias Chamely and Jonah Stulberg
• Augmented Surgical Repair of Complex Anal Fistula Using Autologous Platelet-Rich Plasma and Acellular Biological Matrix: A Pilot Study - Drs. Jose Muniz Castro and Jeffrey Van Eps
• Incisional Hernia After Ostomy Takedown: Surgeon Perspectives and Prevention Strategies - Drs. Elias Chamely and Jonah Stulberg
• Single Center Experience with Expansion of Same-Day Discharge Colectomies - Drs. Stephen Chiang, Erik Askenasy, and Jeffrey Van Eps

Training four colorectal fellows a year, the UTHealth Houston fellowship is one of the largest in the country. Drs. Snyder and Cusick hosted an alumni reception at the conference, which was well attended by many prior fellows now scattered across the USA. 

Department of Surgery Research Day

Our annual Research Day took place on June 8th this year, moderated by Dr. Jonah Stulberg, Vice Chair of Research. We had fantastic participation from medical students and residents, representing a wide range of topics in both Clinical and Basic Science Research. Dr. Stulberg's address gave insight into the research opportunities here at McGovern Medical School and highlighted some of the major activities within the Department of Surgery. This includes nearly $13 million in federal grant funds, awarded to Dr. Charles Cox and his co-investigators within the department from the Department of Defense this year for their TBI research. Dr. Matthew Greives closed off the official agenda with his insightful talk, "Developing a Research Culture in Plastic Surgery, " highlighting how his department has incentivized and driven research engagement and encouraged more inter- and intra-departmental collaboration. 

We had eight residents present their work, representing a variety of surgical specialties.

Drs. Michael Scott, Jacob Schriner, and Areeba Saif presenting their work at the podium.

Chioma Obinero, MD, took 1^st Place in the Clinical Research category for her project titled "We Are Moving the Needle: Improving Racial Disparities in Access to Immediate Breast Reconstruction."

Dr. Jonah Stulberg moderating Chioma's presentation. 

Chioma with her research mentor, Dr. Matthew Greives.

Kelly Sanders, DO, was awarded 1^st Place in the Basic Science category. Her work was titled "Inflammatory Activation Promotes Prothrombotic Endothelial Dysfunction in Hemorrhagic Shock After Trauma."

Kelly at the Podium presenting her work.

Kelly with her research mentor, Dr. Jessica Cardenas.

A complete list of Resident Presentations is listed here:

• Impact of Travel Distance on Receipt of Indicated Adjuvant Therapy in Resected Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer - Michael Eisenberg, MD
• We Are Moving the Needle: Improving Racial Disparities in Access to Immediate Breast Reconstruction - Chioma Obinero, MD
• Povidone-Iodine Intra-Abdominal Irrigation vs. No Irrigation in PEdiatric Perforated Appendicitis: A Secondary Economic Analysis of a Bayesian Randomized Controlled Trial - Dalya Ferguson, MD
• Released Intracellular Contents May Contribute to Presenting Hypocalcemia in Trauma - Jacob Schriner, MD
• Inflammatory Activation Promotes Prothrombotic Endothelial Dysfunction in Hemorrhagic Shock After Trauma - Kelly Sanders, DO
• Cytokine Release by Microglia Exposed to Neurologic Injury is Amplified by Lipopolysaccharide - Michael Scott, MD
• Using an Ex-Vivo Human Tumor Platform to Perform Dynamic Liver Tumor Imaging - Areeba Saif, MD
• PEGylated IDO Therapy: A Novel Anti-Inflammatory Approach for Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury - Sherene Lattimore, MD

The medical students were also extremely well represented, producing high-quality research. Remarkably, all four have also presented their works at national meetings, which is particularly impressive given that two of the four students are MS1s. With this level of work our students are doing at such an early stage of their careers, we know our profession is in good hands!

Medical students Clarissa Hoffman, Joshua Haag, Delani Woods, and Atharwa Mankame at the McGovern Medical School Department of Surgery Research Day.

A complete list of Medical Student Presentations is listed here:

• Optimal Management of High-Risk Choledocholithiasis: Does Procedural Order Matter? - Delani Woods, MS3 (Mentored by Michael Wandling, MD. Presented at Academic Surgical Congress)
• Time-Dependent Changes in Proinflammatory Mediators are Associated with Trauma-Related Venous Thromboembolism - Atharwa Mankame, MS3 (Mentored by Jessica Cardenas, PhD. Presented at Shock Society)
• Feasibility and Outcomes of Same-Day Surgery in Primary and Reoperative Laparoscopic Hiatal Hernia Repair - Clarissa Hoffman, MS1 (Mentored by Farzaneh Banki, MD. Presented at SSAT Digestive Disease Week)
• Voltaren Application and Arm Exercises to Decrease Shoulder Pain and the Need for Opioids Following Laparoscopic Hiatal Hernia Repair - Joshua Haag, MS1 (Mentored by Farzaneh Banki, MD. Presented at SSAT Digestive Disease Week)

Shock Society Annual Conference

Established in 1978, The Shock Society aims to improve the care of victims of trauma, shock and sepsis. They held their 46th Annual Conference on Shock from June 17-20 in Portland, OR. Dr. Kelly Sanders, under the mentorship of Jessica Cardenas, PhD, presented her project "Inflammatory Activation Promotes Prothrombotic Endothelial Dysfunction in Hemorrhagic Shock After Trauma". 



Atharwa Mankame, MS3 also attended the conference with Drs. Sanders and Cardenas. He gave a podium presentation on "Time-Dependent Changes in Proinflammatory Mediators are Associated with Trauma-Related Venous Thromboembolism". His presentation earned him one of the Society's highly competitive "New Investigator Awards", which included a cash award, as well as a travel grant.

Improving Quality Improvement Education for General Surgery Residents

The Department of Surgery Quality Improvement Curriculum Workgroup continues to support real-world, resident-led quality improvement in our partnership hospitals. The workgroup’s approach provides didactic training on QI and has each PGY class, from 2s to 5s, select a project for each to work on for the entire academic year. On June 1, 2023, the residents presented their projects and outcomes.

The PGY2s, along with faculty mentors, Dr. Tamara Saunders and Dr. David Kim, presented their work on implementing a standardized guideline for the management of small bowel obstruction when a patient presents to the ED at the Lyndon B Johnson Hospital (LBJ). The PGY3s, along with faculty mentor, Dr. Michael Wandling, presented hand-offs from the OR to the STICU with a focus on how to standardize what is discussed in the handoff and assure continuity of care. The PGY4s, with faculty mentor Dr. Akemi Kawaguchi, presented their efforts to reduce G-Tube leakage by educating on using hashtag taping configuration for properly securing the G-tube to reduce leakage, dislodgement, and non-emergent night calls from floor staff among pediatric patients at Children’s Memorial Herman Hospital. And finally, the PGY5s, along with faculty mentors, Saunders and Kim, presented on using a standard note template for diabetic foot assessments with the goal of reducing amputations in the general surgery population at LBJ Ambulatory Surgery Center.

The QI Curriculum Workgroup wishes to extend a heartfelt ‘great job’ to each class member for all the work invested in each project. All of the resident-led QI projects are available for review. If anyone would like a copy of the presentation for each class, please reach out to Terry Fisher, in the Department of Pediatric Surgery, at terry.fisher@uth.tmc.edu. You can view the entire presentation here.

The Texas Educator's Academies Collaborative for Health Professionals-Southeast 

(TEACH-S) is a joint venture between UTHealth Houston, MD Anderson Cancer Center, the University of Houston College of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, and UTMB Galveston. The one-day symposium is focused on the learning environment of the future and showcases scholarly innovations of the regional community of educators. Michael Eisenberg, MD, presented his work done at MD Anderson on "Implicit Bias and Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident Recruitment." 

A surgical procedure trial compares efficacy of two reliable procedures to repair a hiatal hernia and put an end to heartburn and GERD symptoms

'Go Bananas'

The Houston Botanic Garden celebrated its annual “Go Bananas” event on June 2-4. An inaugural banana bread baking competition was part of the event. Dr. Casey Duncan’s dark chocolate chip banana bread won first place among 12 entries! Drs. Grubbs, Villafañe, and Belizaire came out to show their support.

Professor’s son aids wounded on Ukraine frontline

A son’s spirit of adventure meant an early Thanksgiving for Emily Robinson, MD, professor of surgery, and her family this past year.

“Chris told me two days before he left Houston that he was off to volunteer as a critical care paramedic in Ukraine,” she said. “He said he was leaving the Monday before Thanksgiving, so I told him we would change Thanksgiving to Sunday, and he could explain the news to his grandmother.”



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Publications of Note

Cardenas JC, Dong JF, Kozar RA. Injury-Induced Endotheliopathy: What You Need to Know. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. June 12, 2023. PMID: 37314417.

Gerard J, Mueck K, Lubkin D, Hatton G, Wade C, Cotton B, Brill J, Boukas K, Cox C. An assessment of the safety, hemostatic efficacy, and clinical impact of low-titer group O whole blood in children and adolescents. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. June 20, 2023. PMID: 37337326.

Jacobs MA, Schmidt S, Hall DE, Stitzenberg KB, Kao LS, Wang CP, Manuel LS, Shireman PK. Differentiating Urgent from Elective Cases Matters in Minority Populations: Developing an Ordinal "Desirability of Outcome Ranking" to Increase Granularity and Sensitivity of Surgical Outcomes Assessment. J Am Coll Surg. June 8, 2023. PMID: 37288840.

Koh EY, Fox EE, Wade CE, Scalea TM, Fox CJ, Moore EE, Morse BC, Inaba K, Bulger EM, Meyer DE. RESUSCITATIVE ENDOVASCULAR BALLOON OCCLUSION OF THE AORTA AND RESUSCITATIVE THORACOTOMY ARE ASSOCIATED WITH SIMILAR OUTCOMES IN TRAUMATIC CARDIAC ARREST. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. June 29, 2023. PMID: 37381147.

Meyer DE, Harvin JA, Vincent L, Motley K, Wandling MW, Puzio TJ, Moore LJ, Cotton BA, Wade CE, Kao LS. Randomized controlled trial of surgical rib fixation to non-operative management in severe chest wall injury. Ann Surg. June 15, 2023. PMID: 37317861.

Sanders KE, Holevinski S, Zhang X, Cotton BA, Cardenas JC. Soluble endothelial protein C receptor is an independent predictor of venous thromboembolism after severe injury: Secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study. Surgery. June 1, 2023. PMID: 37270299.

Schriner JB, Van Gent JM, Meledeo MA, Olson SD, Cotton BA, Cox CS, Jr., Gill BS. Impact of Transfused Citrate on Pathophysiology in Massive Transfusion. Crit Care Explor. June 2023;5(6): e0925. PMID: 37275654. PMC10234463.

Schriner JB, Mankame A, Olson SD, Cox CS, Jr., Gill BS. Citrate Phosphate Dextrose Alters Coagulation Dynamics Ex Vivo. J Surg Res. June 16, 2023; 291:43-50. PMID: 37331191.

Scott MC, Haase CM, Olson SD, Cox CS, Jr. Dexmedetomidine Alters the Inflammatory Profile of Rat Microglia In Vitro. Neurocrit Care. June 2023;38(3):688-697. PMID: 36418766.

Treffalls RN, Scheidt J, Lee C, Laverty RB, DuBose JJ, Scalea TM, Moore LJ, Podbielski JM, Inaba K, Piccinini A, Kauvar DS. Arterial Access Complications Following Percutaneous Femoral Access in 24-Hour Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta Survivors. J Surg Res. June 2, 2023; 290:203-208. PMID: 37271068.

Deboever N, Eisenberg MA, Antonoff MB, et al. Perspectives, Risk Factors, and Coping Mechanisms in Patients with Self-Reported Financial Burden following Lung Cancer Surgery J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. June 23, 2023. 2023;S0022-5223(23)00533-0. doi:10.1016/j.jtcvs.2023.05.044

Serrano E, Voldal EC, Machado-Aranda D, DeUgarte DA, Kao L et al. Trial Participation and Outcomes Among English-Speaking and Spanish-Speaking Patients with Appendicitis Randomized to Antibiotics: A Secondary Analysis of the CODA Randomized Trial. JAMA Surg 2023 Jun 28. PMID: 37379001.

Deborah Horn, DO, MPH, was quoted in a Healthline article about the side effects of Ozempic.

Hassan Ibrahim, MD, was featured in a KHOU-TV Channel 11 story about a man who received a kidney from his daughter before Father’s Day.

Deborah Horn, DO, MPH, appeared on CNBC’s Last Call to speak about insurance coverage of obesity medications. The show also shared a piece of the interview on their Twitter page.

Deborah Horn, DO, MPH, spoke to USA Today about how Ozempic works for weight loss, and to Clear Health Costs about the price of weight loss drugs.

Todd Huzar, MD, was interviewed by KHOU-TV Channel 11 about fireworks safety.

Farzaneh Banki, MD, and colleagues appeared in The South Belt-Ellington Leader for the Thoracic Surgical Teams' 1,000 hiatal hernia success.

RESIDENT & STUDENT CORNER

Congratulations Graduates

Drs. Justin Gerard, Tiffany Weidner, Scott Assen, and Michael Van Gent celebrate the completion of their Acute Care Surgery/ Trauma Fellowships!

On June 17th, the Department of Surgery residents, faculty, and family gathered together to celebrate the graduation of the 2023 general surgery chief residents. It was a time of celebration to mark the journeys of our accomplished and diverse chief residents. It was also an opportunity to acknowledge all those who have supported the chief residents along their journeys – family, friends, and faculty. Additionally, there was a passing of the torch, or in this case, footprints, to the rising chief resident class. A new tradition was started whereby the outgoing class “pinned” the rising class with footprints representing Dr. Red Duke’s legacy of outstanding patient care.

The Department wishes all of the graduating chief residents wonderful careers and successes!

Program Director, Dr. Sasha Adams, with the graduating chief class.

Continuing a tradition – the Graduating Chief Class caricature.

Starting a new tradition – “Pinning” the rising Chief Class with footprints representing Dr. Red Duke’s legacy.

2023 Resident Awards

From left to right:

Trauma "Lazarus" Award: Dr. Howell Finch, with Dr. Michael Wandling and Trauma Medical Director, Dr. Michelle McNutt.

ER "Excellence in Trauma" Award: Drs. Robert Seniors, Zack Timmons and Audrey Sharp presented by Dr. Van Meter, Program Director of Emergency Medicine

Golden Gallbladder Award for the most Lap Chole's at LBJ: Dr. Alfredo Cepeda, MD photographed with Dr. Curtis Wray.

From left to right:

Fastest Gallbladder Award with the shortest operative time at LBJ: Dr. Luke Crawford with Dr. Curtis Wray.

1st place for basic science presentation: Kelly Sanders, DO with Dr. Jonah Stulberg

Golden Chopsticks Award: Dr. Oscar Olavarria with Dr. Todd Wilson

1st place for Clinical Science presentation: Chioma Obinero, MD (not present)

Intern Social

The intern social for incoming surgical interns perfectly blended wellness and relaxation. The day started with wellness training at the gym, where they engaged in stretching and strength exercises to promote physical well-being. Next, they visited the home of Dr. Sasha Adams, associate professor, and surgical education program director, for an interactive cooking class led by a professional chef who taught them how to prepare delicious and nutritious homemade meals while emphasizing the importance of meal prep. Finally, the new interns enjoyed a well-deserved break with pool time, allowing them to unwind and recharge before embarking on their residency journey.

Editorial Team: Dr. Lillian S. Kao, Dr. Casey B. Duncan, Dr. Peter A. Walker, and Dr. Elias A. Chamely

For content submissions, email Sophia.M.Solis@uth.tmc.edu.