Our Team

Max V Wohlauer MD

Associate Professor of Surgery

Office Hours: Max Wohlauer, MD, RPVI, is a Vascular Surgeon at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical campus in the Department of Surgery (DoS) at the University of Colorado. He is the Medical Director of the Vascular Diagnostic Lab. He served on the University of Colorado Department of Surgery venous thromboembolism Taskforce and the University of Colorado Hospital Anticoagulation Subcommittee. He co-founded the Vascular Surgery COVID-19 Collaborative (VASCC), along with Robert Cuff, MD, at Michigan State University in March of 2020 to evaluate the effect of the systematic, widespread, and immediate postponement of vascular surgery on patient outcomes around the world.

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Robert Cuff MD, FACS

Assistant Professor of Surgery, Michigan State University

Email:robert.cuff@spectrumhealth.org

Office Hours: Robert Cuff, MD, RVT, FACS, is an Assistant Professor of Surgery, at MSU-CHM and Spectrum Health Vascular Surgery. He is the Program Director for the Vascular Surgery Integrated Residency and Fellowship. He serves as Director, Jacob and Lois Mol CV Simulation Center and Medical Director, Vascular Sonography Program, GVSU. Dr. Cuff co-founded VASCC with Dr. Max Wohlauer in March 2020. He practices at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Michigan, specializing in vascular and endovascular (minimally invasive) surgery. Dr. Cuff received his medical degree from Michigan State University, completed his general surgery residency at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in Wisconsin, and went on to do a vascular surgery fellowship at the University of Kansas Medical Center. He has special interests in cerebrovascular aneurysm and lower-extremity vascular disease.

Kathryn Colborn PhD, MSPH

Associate Professor, Dept. of Medicine (03/2020 to 12/2022)

Email:kathryn.colborn@cuanschutz.edu

Office Hours: [As of 2020] Dr. Colborn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Biostatistics and Informatics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She also co-directs the Surgical Outcomes and Applied Research (SOAR) Program in the Department of Surgery. In her role as SOAR co-director, she collaborates with investigators conducting surgical outcomes and health services research and mentors surgeon faculty, residents, and other graduate students. Her research currently focuses on development and validation of statistical methodologies for clinical prediction models. These lines of inquiry typically involve machine learning and high dimensional model selection. She also leads the Data Informatics and Statistics Core of the Palliative Care Research Cooperative Group. She has received extramural funding for her research and has collaborated on numerous extramural research grants.

Bio

My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

The opportunity to work with surgeons and health services researchers to develop project aims and analytic plans that will answer important questions about how we can improve patient care during a pandemic.

Duties

Biostatistician

Quintin W. O. Myers PhD

Research Services Senior Professional (03/2020 to 06/2021)

Email:william.myers@cuanschutz.edu

Office Hours: Quintin is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology and a Clinical Research Coordinator with the department of surgery at the University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus. His academic interests are social inequalities and access to healthcare and research methodology. He lives with his fiancée and his dog in Denver, CO.

Bio

A little bit about myself

I am currently writing my dissertation. My research is focused on the relationship between informal social control and assimilation. I have been with the department of surgery for a little over a year. I grew up playing ice hockey, and outside of COVID I still play in adult hockey leagues. Outside of that, my favorite activities are hiking with my fiancée and my dog and trying new breweries.

My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

My favorite part about being on the VASCC team is the ability to work with people from different departments and get to know a software that I had limited experience with before this project.

Duties

Building and maintaining the REDCap for Project Two
Maintenance of REDCap for Projects One and Two
Creating and conducting trainings for sites
Doing missing data analysis on specific records

Zeus Barqawi

Research Services Professional (03/2020 to 06/2021)

Email:zuhair.barqawi@cuanschutz.edu

Primary Phone:303-724-2755

Office Hours: Zeus has been working in the Department of Surgery at the CU School of Medicine for over a year now. He specializes in database building along with data entry and management. He has also worked on training remote sites on entering data for VASCC.

Bio

A little bit about myself

I'm a Colorado native and love the outdoors. In my free time, I like to hike and run. I am currently applying to medical school and I'm interested in potentially pursuing surgery in the future.

My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

I love seeing how far the project has come since its inception and how well the team works together. This data can prove tremendously useful in seeing how much COVID-19 and other pandemics can alter the healthcare landscape.

Duties

working with Monica and Quintin on training sites to utilize the REDCap optimally. I have been creating a PowerPoint presentation and we plan on presenting to the sites in the following weeks.
The majority of my work was centered on creating and updating Project 1, but this has since finished.
I am still available to make additional changes to the data collection tools as needed.

Mohammed H Al-Musawi MD

Research Instructor (03/2020 to 11/2023)

Email:mohammed.al-musawi@cuanschutz.edu

Primary Phone:720-758-0174

Office Hours: Mohammed is a cardiovascular surgeon, currently working as research instructor for the Office of Clinical Research.

Bio

A little bit about myself

I was working with the Principal Investigator from the first day to develop a protocol and start the project.

My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

Working with PI on Protocol development and getting the IRB approvals for that.

Duties

Getting initial IRB approvals and following up with IRB about amendments
Follow up with sites about DUAs
Checking the VASCC inbox with Mahmood to provide sites with guidance about IRB approval and providing them with copies of current approvals

Mahmood Kabeil MD

Research Scholar

Email:mahmood.kabeil@cuanschutz.edu

Primary Phone:202-677-1101

Office Hours: Mahmood has been participating in clinical research with the Division of Vascular Surgery at the CU for over a year. He is applying for Surgical Residency.

Bio

A little bit about myself

In my free time I like the outdoors, enjoying the beauty of Colorado nature, and volunteering to teach my language here to the community kids. I enjoy horseback riding and swimming.

My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

I have the privilege of participating as the research resident for this robust international registry. Working with surgeons all over the world, interacting with this enthusiastic collaboration, makes me excited to pursue a career as an academic surgeon.

I am grateful to be mentored and trained by Dr. Wohlauer, who took ownership and responsibility to provide data to better guide healthcare policy planning during a future crisis; he started the Vascular Surgery COVID-19 Collaborative (VASCC).

Duties

VASCC Inbox review: answer their questions, route questions about redcap to Monica and the DUA questions to Mohammed, sending the introduction package, and communicate with sites with the update emails
REDCAP: Adding redcap usernames, DAGs, and Alerts for the survey sites
RB, DUA, and Investigator agreement: follow up with all the sites on their DUA status , IRB approvals, Investigator agreements
VASCC Folder: uploading all the IRB approvals, Completed DUA, and all the excel sheets
Working with the international sites and CPC to facilitate getting the international data

Jaimie Burke CCRC

Regulatory Manager

Email:jaimielyn.burke@cuanschutz.edu

Primary Phone:303-724-0333

Ethan Moore

Professional Research Assistant

Email:ethan.2.moore@cuanschutz.edu

Office Hours: Ethan grew up in Minnesota. He graduated from Colorado College with a degree in Biochemistry in May 2019. Since graduation, he has been living in Denver, gaining experience in both clinical and research settings. He plans to apply to medical school in June of 2021 to continue pursuing his dream of becoming a surgeon.

Bio

A little bit about myself

In my free time, I enjoy everything outdoors that Colorado has to offer. In the summer that consists of weekly hiking or camping trips, and in the winter I go up to the mountains to ski every chance that I get. I also spend my time volunteering at a food bank and helping teach citizenship classes on the weekends.

My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

I love how collaborative the entire team has been. Everyone is not only passionate about their role on the team, but they are also willing to go the extra mile to see other team members succeed.

Duties

Assist with data quality tracking
Contact sites about incomplete data

Tracey MacDermott BA, BS, CCRC

Clinical Research Manager

Email:tracey.macdermott@cuanschutz.edu

Primary Phone:303-724-2757

Office Hours: Tracey has been with the Department of Surgery for 24 years and has helped build research throughout the Department. Tracey has several publications and shares the Department of Surgery's vision to Improve Every Life.

Bio

A little bit about myself

I am an avid environmentalist and believe that in order to have healthy patients, we need a healthy planet. I am a Paul Harris Fellow with the Rotary Foundation, I write a column for my local paper, and I have received several awards for my community work.

My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

The dedication from each team member to complete this large project.

Duties

Oversees the department's research work.

Riley Gillette

Research Assistant

Email:riley.gillette@cuanschutz.edu

Office Hours: Riley is a research assistant working with the VASCC team and the data manager at the Palliative Care Research Collaborative. She earned her B.S. in Statistics from the University of Central Florida and is currently working towards an MPH in Applied Biostatistics at the University of Colorado Anschutz. Post-graduation, she has goals to pursue a career in public health research as a biostatistician.

Bio

My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

My favorite part of being a part of the VASCC team is getting to be a part of the necessary research to develop understanding of the collateral effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Duties

My duties include conducting statistical analyses on collected data and preparing reports to summarize and visualize our findings.

Shelbi Boggs

Grant Coordinator

Email:shelbi.boggs@cuanschutz.edu

Office Hours: Shelbi is a proud Colorado native. She graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Leadership Studies (Emphasis in Multicultural Leadership) in May of 2021. She is hoping to attend law school in August of 2022 to pursue her goal of re-shaping healthcare policy.

Bio

A little about myself

I was a competitive figure skater for nearly a decade, but I still enjoy skating for fun. My other hobbies include crafting, baking, and re-watching the Harry Potter movie series. Most of all, I enjoy learning new skills. For example, early on in the pandemic, I learned how to sew in order to make face masks for friends and family.

My favorite part about being on the VASCC team

I love being part of such a caring and committed team. Everyone is incredibly welcoming and more than willing to help others to achieve collective success. Additionally, I am grateful to have the opportunity to contribute to the success of such important work.

Duties

Searching for applicable external funding opportunities
Developing/preparing grant proposals during the pre-award phase

Tools & Resources

CU Campuses

CU Anschutz Medical Campus

Department of Surgery

School of Medicine

My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

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A little bit about myself

My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

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A little bit about myself

My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

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A little bit about myself

My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

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A little bit about myself

My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

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A little bit about myself

My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

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A little bit about myself

My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

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My favorite part about being part of the VASCC team

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A little about myself

My favorite part about being on the VASCC team

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Surgery