Department of Surgery News

The UCSF Department of Surgery is delighted to introduce our new General Surgery, Plastic Surgery, and Integrated Vascular Surgery residents! We are proud to welcome this exceptional, diverse group of future surgeons to UCSF Surgery and congratulate each new intern for matching into our programs. We are excited to partner with these new colleagues as they begin their training in June, 2024. General Surgery Categorical Interns Plastic Surgery Categorical Interns Vascular Surgery Integrated Categorical Intern General Surgery Preliminary Interns

  Visit the Parenting in Surgery website   Annie having a great time at the Mentorship event. Becoming a parent is hard work, especially when balancing the new role as a parent with surgical training. We have created a New Parent Mentorship Program in the UCSF Department of Surgery to provide a support network of trainees and faculty. The Mentorship program was successfully launched with a social gathering at Spark Social SF. The event included a kid's play area, an abundance of food, and the opportunity for medical students, trainees, faculty, and their families to meet, mingle, and [...]

The UCSF Department of Sugery is very pleased to introduce our new General Surgery, Plastic Surgery, and Integrated Vascular Surgery residents! We warmly welcome this extraordinary, diverse group to UCSF Surgery and congratulate each incoming intern for matching into our programs. We are honored to partner with these future surgeons as they begin their training in June, and are thrilled that they will be joining the UCSF Surgery family.

The UCSF Department of Surgery held the 34th Annual J. Engelbert Dunphy Resident Research Symposium on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. The program honors the life and accomplishments of J. Engelbert Dunphy, M.D., a legendary surgeon and former chair of the UCSF Department of Surgery, by showcasing the scholarly work of residents, fellows, and medical students in the Department of Surgery. This year's virtual symposium featured one plenary session and three concurrent sessions, where over 40 learners had the opportunity to present their work. Jayme Locke, M.D., MPH, Professor of Surgery and the [...]

The UCSF Department of Surgery is pleased to host the 34th annual J. Engelbert Dunphy Resident Research Symposium, to be held virtually on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, beginning at 7:00am PDT. The program will showcase the research of residents, fellows, and medical students in the Department of Surgery, and honors the life and accomplishments of J. Engelbert Dunphy, M.D., a legendary surgeon and former chair of the UCSF Department of Surgery. The symposium will feature the 2021 Dunphy Professor Jayme Locke, M.D., MPH, who will present the Keynote Lecture, "Surgery, Science & Advocacy: [...]

The UCSF Plastic Surgery Residency Program is pleased to announce three new categorical residents, the newest members of our UCSF Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery family. The class of 2028 is a diverse, talented group, ready to begin their journey to becoming innovative surgeons and leaders. We congratulate our new interns and look forward to their arrival at UCSF in June.  UCSF Department Of SurgeryPGY-1 Categorical Plastic Surgery Residents (2021-22) Greta DavisUCSD Oblaise MercuryEmory University Casey Tompkins-RhoadesUniversity of Pittsburgh

      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 Department of Surgery is pleased and honored to welcome our new class of incoming residents to the UCSF family! This outstanding group of doctors, drawn from diverse backgrounds, includes (49) surgical interns and one new PGY-3 resident. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, resident orientation was predominantly virtual. Nonetheless, despite the challenges, our residents navigated these unchartered waters with creativity and resourcefulness. We are truly inspired by their boundless enthusiasm and can-do spirit as they hit the ground running! We are thrilled to have them aboard with their [...]

"Leaders at a 150-bed community hospital in California partnered with a collective of human-centered designers to rapidly address a sudden drop in emergency department visits after a statewide stay-at-home order was issued. The initiative developed targeted messaging to assuage patient fears about safety and remind patients not to ignore heart and stroke symptoms." Coauthors of this NEJM Catalyst paper include plastic surgery resident Dr. Laura Wong (first author), trauma surgeon & Exec. Dir. of TheBetterLab, Dr. Amanda Sammann and trauma and critical care fellow Dr. Simone Langness.     [...]

The UCSF Plastic Surgery Residency Program welcomes our three new categorical residents. The class of 2027 is an accomplished, diverse group, ready to begin their journey to becoming remarkable surgeons and leaders. We congratulate our new residents and look forward to their arrival at UCSF in June.  UCSF Department Of SurgeryPGY-1 Categorical Plastic Surgery Residents (2020-21) Santiago GonzalezUniversity of Arkansas Alap PatelUniversity of Rochester Jacquelyn WithersUCSF

Original Investigation Association of Demographic and Program Factors With ABS Qualifying and Certifying Examinations Pass RatesJAMA Surg. Published online October 16, 2019.Heather L. Yeo, MD, MHS, MBA, MS; Patrick T. Dolan, MD, MS; Jialin Mao, MD, MS; Julie A. Sosa, MD, MARead Abstract Key Points Question  Is there an association between sociodemographic factors and American Board of Surgery board examination passage rates? Findings  In this study of 662 individuals, trainees of Hispanic ethnicity were more likely to not attempt either of the board examinations (qualifying and [...]

The Department of Surgery is pleased to announce that Adnan Alseidi, MD EdM FACS has been named the inaugural Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Surgery, effective April 1, 2020.  As Vice Chair, Dr. Alseidi will work collaboratively with our educators and teachers to strengthen the Department's educational enterprise, including our residencies, fellowships, the Surgical Skills Center, and medical student clerkships and integration into the pre-clinical years. In addition, Dr. Alseidi will work closely with the Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs and the Vice Chair for Research to [...]

The Department of Surgery is pleased to announce that Elizabeth C. Wick, M.D. and Jason H. Pomerantz, M.D. have been appointed Co-Chairs of the Department of Surgery Research Committee. Dr. Wick is a professor of surgery in the Section of Colorectal Surgery. She is an experienced laparoscopic surgeon, treating the entire spectrum of colorectal conditions including diverticular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, colon and rectal cancer, anal cancer, and perianal disease with a patient-‐centered approach. Dr. Wick has contributed to the understanding of almost every aspect of perioperative [...]

Faculty members Mary McGrath, M.D. and Carter Lebares, M.D., and general surgery resident Courtney Green, M.D.,MAEd each received the UCSF Excellence and Innovation Award in Graduate Medical Education (2018-19) at the end-of-year GME Celebration on June 17th at the Kalmanovitz Library on the UCSF Parnassus Heights campus.  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 in his/her department, [...]

Jason H. Pomerantz, M.D., associate professor of surgery and surgical director of the UCSF Craniofacial Center, has been awarded a 5-year $1.7M R01 grant from National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) to study muscle stem cells, a subpopulation of muscle progenitors that are focal points of vulnerability in muscle dysfunction from disease, trauma or aging. Project Narrative "Muscle dysfunction from disease, trauma or aging, a major health care burden not adequately alleviated by available therapies, could be greatly reduced by treatments that directly [...]

James M. Gardner, M.D., Ph.D. and Nicole Conkling, M.D. have been awarded prestigious research grants by the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) for its 2017 funding cycle.  Dr. Gardner, who just completed his Chief Residency in General Surgery at UCSF and is a rising fellow in the Division of Transplant Surgery, was the only transplant fellow in the country to receive the prestigious ASTS-Astellas Fellowship. The award will fund Dr. Gardner's research, which he pursued throughout his residency with the support of Department of Surgery funding, during his clinical fellowship [...]

UCSF News reports on research in the UCSF Program in Craniofacial Biology using stem cells from patients with craniofacial deformities to better understand how these design flaws occur in fetal development. Among other research projects, the article reported on the work of Jason H. Pomerantz, M.D., Surgical Director of the UCSF Craniofacial Center, who is using stem cells and regenerative techniques to reconstruct tiny muscles in the face using a humanized organ in a mouse model. Together, these members of the UC San Francisco faculty are cultivating organs of the craniofacial complex – [...]

Alvin Wong, M.D., a plastic surgery research fellow in the Pomerantz Lab, was awarded a grant by the Plastic Surgery Foundation (PSF) to study "skeletal muscle regeneration by human satellite cells following denervation". The award, funded by a National Endowment for Plastic Surgery Grant, was one of eleven representing the "newest, clinically relevant research in plastic surgery".  The grant to Dr. Wong is also notable in that most such awards go to established principal Investigators with faculty appointments, a testament to the unique quality and scientific promise of the underlying [...]

UCSF News reports on research by Xiaoti Xu, M.D. and a team in the Pomerantz Lab showing that human muscle stem cells could be transplanted into a new environment and have the capacity to regenerate lost muscle tissue. Dr. Xu is a UCSF Plastic Surgery Resident and former research fellow in the lab.  The image shows cross-sectioned muscle fibers as black shapes outlined in green. The catch: these are human muscle fibers, grown from human stem cells. Xiaoti Xu, MD, a resident physician in UC San Francisco's Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, studies a type of stem cell called [...]

The San Jose Mercury News reports on the remarkable recovery of Gustavo Cabrera from a potentially catastrophic injury to his right hand in 2013 sustained while at home in the Dominican Republic. Cabrera's injury threatened not only his baseball career, but the loss of function, if not the loss of the hand itself. A team comprised of Scott L. Hansen, M.D. (pictured right), Chief of Hand and Microvascular Surgery at UCSF,  Charles Lee, M.D., Director of Microsurgery at St. Mary's Medical Center, and San Francisco Giants' chief surgeon Dr. Robert Murray, repaired the damage to Cabrera's hand [...]

UCSF News reports on a new science image and video competition, the first of its kind at UCSF.  An image submitted by Xiaoti Xu, M.D., UCSF Plastic Surgery Resident and alumni of the Pomerantz Lab, developed with the help of Hua Tian, Ph.D., a specialist in the lab, was among the top 15 finalists out of more than 140 entries and appeared in the accompanying slideshow to the story. A mouth forms as a single celled animal prepares to multiply, a mutant heart stutters and within a lung, a cell shatters into fragments that keep blood healthy. These are only a sampling of the stunning visuals [...]