Department of Surgery News

Valerie Weaver, Ph.D., Professor of Surgery in the Departments of Surgery, Anatomy, and Bioengineering & Therapeutics Sciences, and Director of the Center for Bioengineering & Tissue Regeneration, is the recipient of a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award (OIA) (R35), supporting a 7-year $6.7M grant for Dr. Weaver's project entitled, "Tissue mechanics reprograms the tissue to malignancy and metastasis." This NCI Outstanding Investigator Award provides long-term support to experienced investigators with outstanding records of research productivity and [...]

We are pleased to announce that Joseph Cuschieri, MD, FACS, currently Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington, has been appointed the next Trauma Medical Director at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG), commencing March 1, 2021. He also will be a Professor in the Department of Surgery. Dr. Cuschieri currently serves as the Associate Medical Director of Surgical Services at Harborview Medical Center, and Program Director for the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Washington. His national service has included active roles in the [...]

Hueylan Chern, M.D., Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of the UCSF Surgical Skills Center, has been inducted into The Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educators Class of 2020. The Academy's core value is "supporting the people who advance the education mission of UCSF by fostering an organizational culture that values education and accelerates advances in teaching and learning to improve health with an emphasis on community, diversity, advocacy, service, and innovation." Dr. Chern follows in the footsteps of past Department of Surgery inductees into the Academy including Drs. [...]

We are excited to announce that Tom C. Nguyen, MD, FACS, FACC has been named the new Chief of the Division of Adult Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Helen and Charles Schwab Distinguished Professor of Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco.  Dr. Nguyen comes to UCSF from the University of Texas Houston (UT-H), where he is Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Chief of Cardiac Surgery, Director of Minimally Invasive Valve Surgery, and Co-Director of Structural Heart Disease.    At UT-H, Dr. Nguyen flourished in a productive practice, with more than [...]

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Ryutaro Hirose has been named the inaugural Vice Chair of Clinical Operations and Value in the Department of Surgery. In his new role, Dr. Hirose will foster excellence and integration of our clinical practices within the UCSF Health System and its partners, and he will work together with surgical leaders at ZSFGH and the SFVA for clinical program development. He will promote efficient, cost effective, and accessible patient care, working to maximize revenues and ensure that faculty and staff have the systems and support they need to do their jobs [...]

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Elizabeth Wick will serve as the inaugural Vice Chair of Quality and Safety for the Department of Surgery. As Vice Chair, Dr. Wick will be responsible for oversight of the Department's quality and patient safety enterprise, focused in the perioperative space. She will collaborate with UCSF Health and the School of Medicine, managing interactions with other departments, centers and programs to promote collaboration that is focused on quality and patient safety.  Dr. Wick is a professor of surgery and Co-Chair for our Department's Research Committee.  She [...]

It is with deep gratitude that we announce Dr. Hobart Harris will be stepping down as Chief of the Division of General Surgery, effective August 31, 2020. Dr. Harris has served as Chief of General Surgery with distinction since 2002. He also served in the capacity of Vice-Chair of the Department from 2002-2008 and 2013-2018. He will continue as a Professor of Surgery and active faculty member.  Dr. Harris has received regional and national recognition for his clinical expertise, as evidenced by his leadership roles and reputation in the clinical field of surgery.  Nationally, he has a robust [...]

General surgery resident Elizabeth Lancaster, M.D. and Surgery Education Office Administrative Director Rachelle Bresnahan each received the UCSF Excellence and Innovation Award in Graduate Medical Education (2019-20) at a virtual GME reception on June 15th. Award recipients have demonstrated a commitment to advancing graduate medical education at UCSF through educational and clinical quality improvement, service excellence, and innovation, and have demonstrated excellence in:  Educational leadership at UCSF or nationally; Participation in innovative GME-related [...]

Nichole Starr, M.D., MPH, a general surgery research resident, was awarded an NIH Fogarty Global Health Scholars Fellowship for the 2020-21 year. Dr. Starr will spend her fellowship year at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the mentorship of Milliard Derbew, M.D., Tom Weiser, M.D., MPH, Andi Tenner, M.D., MPH, and Doruk Ozgediz, M.D., MSc. Her research will focus on building and implementing trauma quality improvement programs in Ethiopian public hospitals. Dr. Starr's team will establish trauma registries at three hospitals in the city of Addis Ababa to collect and [...]

The UCSF Department of Surgery invites all interested medical students* to join a virtual tour of the UCSF General Surgery Residency with program leadership and residents. Three virtual tours are scheduled for 5:45PM-7:00PM PT: Session 1: Tuesday, August 25th Registration: https://tinyurl.com/UCSFGS-0825 Session 2: Tuesday, September 1st Registration: https://tinyurl.com/UCSFGS-0901 Session 3: Thursday, September 10th Registration: https://tinyurl.com/UCSFGS-0910 Interested medical students should register for their preferred session by following the links above or QR codes [...]

The July 2020 issue of the UCSF Department of Surgery newsletter is now available. Learn about the latest developments in the department including key leadership appointments, a welcome to our newest faculty members, and our new "Message from the Chair Video." Also included are links to the many accomplishments of our faculty, residents, fellows, and medical students, including awards and honors, research grants, and appointments to positions of distinction. There is also a special section devoted to meeting the challenges of COVID-19. Finally we honor the memories of those we have lost: Evan [...]

Dr. Sanziana Roman, Professor of Surgery and Dr. Elizabeth Ozer, Professor of Pediatrics, and Director of the Faculty Equity Advisors program in the Office of Diversity and Outreach, are the recipients of the UCOP "Advancing Faculty Diversity, Improved Climate and Retention" award of $225,000 through President Napolitano's allocation to improve campus climate and retain our faculty for 2020-2022. Their project entitled "Leadership Equity Advances Diversity (LEAD): Increasing Women and Underrepresented Minority Faculty in Leadership Positions" builds naturally onto the Differences Matter [...]

UCSF surgeon-scientist Johannes R. Kratz, M.D. was awarded a Junior Clinical Investigator Award from the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Care Center. This mentored award is given to a junior clinical investigator to support their research efforts in the early stages of their career. Dr. Kratz was given this prestigious award to pursue the study of the tumor immune microenvironment in high-risk early-stage lung cancer.   The Kratz lab focuses on the genetic and immunological mechanisms that drive early-stage, surgically resectable thoracic malignancies. These malignancies include lung [...]

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has announced that Linda M. Reilly, M.D. and Julie Ann Sosa, M.D., M.A. will be inducted into its prestigious Academy of Master Surgeon Educators. Dr. Reilly is Professor of Surgery in the Division of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery and Director of the UCSF General Surgery Residency Program. Dr. Sosa is Chair of the Department of Surgery at UCSF and Leon Goldman, MD Distinguished Professor of Surgery.  The  Academy of Master Surgeon Educators is a landmark program of the American College of Surgeons Division of Education created to recognize the [...]

Jade Hiramoto, MD, Professor of Surgery in the UCSF Division of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery, has been named President-Elect of the UCSF Medical Staff. The appointment began on July 1, 2020 and will continue for the next two years. In this role, Dr. Hiramoto will serve as Chair of the Credentials Committee, as well as member of the Executive Medical Board (EMB) and Governance Advisory Council (GAC). Beginning in July 2022, Dr. Hiramoto will become President of the Medical Staff where she will Chair the EMB, attend the GAC and a number of various committee meetings across the medical [...]

Laura J. Esserman, MD, MBA and her research team have been awarded a $9.1M NIH R01 grant from the National Cancer Institue (NCI). The focus of the grant is to enable expansion of The WISDOM Study to new recruitment sites/partnerships including Louisiana State University, the University of Chicago, the University of Alabama, and a women's health clinical care network in Florida. This will advance the goal of increasing diversity in the study, provide the benefits of the study to underserved populations, and enable generalizability of study results to the demographics of the US. Project [...]

Hannah Decker, M.D., a General Surgery PGY-2 resident, was presented with the 2020 Krevans Award in recognition of her clinical and professional excellence throughout her intern year at the Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG). The Krevans Award recognizes "excellence in patient care, as exemplified by clinical competence, professional conduct, concern for patients and interaction with all level of staff, including peers." Recipients are selected by the chiefs of the various medical departments at the Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg [...]

      Mark Barry, M.D. Zachary Matthay, M.D.  Adam Wallace, M.D. Ava Yap, M.D.. M.H.Sc.  UCSF Surgery residents were well-represented as awardees of the UCSF CTSI Spring 2020 Resident Research Funding Award. Mark Barry, M.D., Zachary Matthay, M.D. (General Surgery research residents), Adam Wallace, M.D. (Plastic Surgery research resident), and Ava Yap, M.D.. M.H.Sc. (General Surgery PGY3 resident) were all recipients of this highly competitive award. Dr. Barry's award will support his project, "Mitigating Vascular Dysfunction and Lung Injury in Trauma with Human [...]

The UCSF Department of Surgery has just been awarded a paradigm-shifting NIH T-32 training grant for Surgical Oncology. The goal of this new innovative program is to train future leaders in surgery and oncology to be change agents in driving science and value-based medicine by giving them a foundation in translational science, regulatory science and implementation science. Training in these areas will further help move great ideas from bench to bedside. Improving care in the next decade requires scientific creativity, as well as knowledge of the factors that enable and impede change, and the [...]

The Department of Surgery celebrated the many achievements of our UCSF Surgery trainees and educators at Surgery Grand Rounds on June 10, 2020, recognizing the tireless hard work and extraordinary talent displayed each and every day by these recipients. In addition, there was a tribute to the late Chief Resident Evan Werlin, MD, the inaugural "Evan Werlin Lodestar Award," accepted by his fiancée, Dr. Alyssa Perez. Junior Resident Faculty Teaching Award The award was presented by our interns to Dr. Huey Chern, Director of the UCSF Surgical Skills Lab in recognition of her extraordinary and [...]