Shared Content Block:
Surgery Styles -- directory
In addition to the five years of clinical general surgery training, categorical residents are expected to spend two to three years as a resident in research/academics. Most spend two years in research or academics. Opportunities for clinical as well as basic-science research abound. Several of our residents have completed master's degrees during the two research years. Occasionally residents spend three years in order to satisfy the requirements for a Ph.D.
Residents are also encouraged to participate in various clinical research projects in collaboration with the faculty. Diverse research opportunities are available to individuals seeking careers in academic surgery. Most surgical residents spend a two-year research fellowship working with established surgical faculty investigators. Those entering the program with a Ph.D. are given the opportunity to set up an individualized curriculum. Residents pursue research spanning the full range of investigation from basic science to translational investigations, and clinical and outcomes-based research.
I work with Dr. Peyman Benharash in the Cardiac Outcomes Research Laboratory (CORELAB) at the Division of Cardiac Surgery at UCLA. We are involved in a variety of projects ranging from surgical outcomes and resource utilization to biomedical engineering. I am specifically focused on analyzing adult heart transplantation outcomes in patient with congenital heart disease, increasing the donor organ pool, and using CAD simulations to evaluate the effectiveness of certain surgical techniques.
I work with Dr. Marco Del Chiaro on cystic disease of the pancreas and its progression to cancer. I work closely with his team of international fellows. We perform clinical research while also working to develop consensus guidelines on the management of cystic disease of the pancreas.
I also work with Dr. Camille Stewart on the impact of cannabis use in liver cancer and melanoma patient outcomes. Cannabis has been legal recreationally in Colorado for almost a decade, but its influence on surgical outcomes is poorly understood.
Finally, I work with Dr. Yihan Lin on global surgical education. We have developed a low-cost surgical simulator that has been used in our own residency program, as well as in Kenya and Rwanda. We are designing a curriculum for essential surgical skills to be integrated in the orientation of new Rwandan interns to better standardize their learning.
I work with Dr. Chapman and Dr. Vogel on clinical research projects in the field of colorectal surgery. Most recently, we have started a national multicenter rectal surgery research collaborative with 40+ other centers around the United States. One of the initial projects is focused on practice patterns and outcomes in non-operative management of locally advanced rectal cancer in the United States. We are also conducting a randomized trial comparing 2 different TAP block formulations in postoperative pain control at UC Health, as well as participating in a national multicenter randomized trial on operative vs nonoperative management of left sided diverticulitis. Finally, we are working on a few other retrospective outcomes-based studies in colorectal patients as well.
I work with Dr. Ken Liechty supported by the Laboratory for Fetal and Regenerative Biology. Our lab in conjunction with a group of collaborators developed a novel therapeutic consisting of a nanoparticle conjugated to a microRNA that we are now testing in different injury models including a lung injury model (ARDS), diabetic wound healing model, pressure ulcer injury model, and a colitis model. I am also working on various clinical outcomes projects in multiple areas including congenital diaphragmatic hernia, myelomeningocele, surgical necrotizing enterocolitis, and duodenal atresia.
I work with Dr. Chris Huang on various projects focused on transplant immunology and tolerance. We are testing novel therapeutic approaches to inducing tolerance and treating acute rejection in a pig kidney transplant model. We are also investigating novel treatments to mitigate ischemia-reperfusion injury in vascularized composite allograft transplantation in rodent models. We also have various projects focused on the role of galectin-3 in liver disease, transplantation, and coagulation, and are collaborating with Dr. Cara Mack to study galectin-3 in biliary atresia. I am also working with Dr. Megan Adams to conduct outcomes and mixed methods research in pediatric liver and kidney transplantation.
I work with Dr. Meguid on a multi-disciplinary team on health outcomes research. We are working on many large population level analyses using the NSQIP database. I have focused on the assessment of a patient's surgical risk in various ways, such as the impact of certain factors on mortality or the impact of obesity on surgical risk. We meet once a week with our team to discuss projects. We work closely with biostatisticians who perform our statistical analyses.
I work with Dr. Stewart on a prospective trial evaluating pain medication use in cannabis users. We will be enrolling patients in the trial in order to collect blood samples and quantify levels of cannabinoids, we will be comparing non-cannabis users and cannabis users to assess surgical outcomes as well as pain medication usage.
I work with multiple mentors, focusing on surgical outcomes research around violence prevention, access to care, healthcare inequalities, vulnerable populations and geriatrics/frailty. I work with Dr. Robinson at the VA, with research focusing on characterizing underlying fitness and activity levels prior to and following surgical operations. I also work with Dr. Velopulos, with research on the social determinants of health as they pertain to surgical outcomes and healthcare inequalities, violence prevention with a focus on intimate partner violence, as well as use of geographic information systems (GIS) in exploring access and quality issues. I also do some outcomes and access research with the UCH Burn unit. Finally, I'm very interested in Surgical Education and am involved in work with the medical school curricular reform and the 1st year anatomy course.
I work in Dr. Ernest "Gene" Moore's trauma research lab, composed of an interdisciplinary team that studies trauma-induced coagulopathy. Within this topic, i have developed an interest in sex dimorphisms in coagulation and how this may confer differential resuscitation strategies and clinical outcomes in trauma. This has led to several clinical projects focused on coagulation profiles of sex hormone-specific states and differential coagulation-related outcomes in trauma and basic science projects focused on the effects of sex hormones on coagulation in vitro. I recently received a $35,000 grant from the Foundation for Women and Girls with Bleeding Disorders to support this work. In addition to this work, I have conducted basic science research projects to better understand mediators of fibrinolytic shutdown and to characterize thrombin generation in trauma patients.
I work with Dr. Trevor Nydam and the Transplant Surgery Research Group. Our research group has several active clinical and transplantation projects related to the study of coagulopathy and transplantation and quality improvement metrics surrounding the transplantation process. In addition to working on these projects, I am also helping to evaluate and potentially implement an uncontrolled donation after cardiac death program. This includes working on feasibility studies in conjunction with surgeons, medical specialists and hospital administrators.
I am supported by the Laboratory for Fetal and Regenerative Biology (Dr. Ken Liechty) as well as the pediatric surgery division (Dr. Thomas Inge). I split my time between basic science and clinical outcome projects. In my basic science work, I have focused on the role of macrophage polarization in wound healing. We are also testing applications for an anti-inflammatory nanoparticles in various models including wound healing and inflammatory bowel disease. In my clinical outcomes work, I have focused on patient centered outcomes after adolescent bariatric surgery using a prospective, national database.
I am working with the UCH Trauma Department under Dr. Frank Wright, the UCH Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery Department under Dr. Matt Iorio, and with Surgical Quality Improvement under Dr. Ethan Cumbler. I am specifically working on validating scoring systems to activate MTP in the pre-hospital setting, extremity reconstruction clinical outcomes, and hospital wide quality improvement initiatives. I am also participating in several training programs on campus including the Hospitalist Training Program and the Certificate Training Program with the Institute for Healthcare Quality, Safety and Efficiency.
I am currently working with Dr. Steven Abman, a pediatric pulmonologist interested in bronchopulmonary dysplasia. My research is currently focused on developing ways to improve and/or prevent lung disease in neonates through different types of drug administration. This includes working with primary cell culture and small animal models to determine what mechanisms are involved in the development and prevention of neonatal pulmonary disease.
I work with Dr. Michael Weyant in the Cardiothoracic Surgery Lab which is a basic science lab. Pat Kohtz is my co-resident and we collaborate on some projects but also work independently. I work with lung and esophageal cancer cell lines to determine cell signaling pathways that influence cancer cell growth. We also have a mouse model and I will perform in vivo studies looking at a cell signaling pathway inhibitor and its effect on lung cancer tumor growth this coming year.
In addition to our basic science projects, we also perform clinical projects in the area of Thoracic Surgery. We have just completed a review of outcomes in lung transplant for patients with Interstitial Lung Disease and we are also looking at factors effecting oncologic outcomes for esophagectomy using the NCDB with Dr. Gleisner in Surgical Oncology. Dr. Weyant is also one of the national PIs on a study which examines the outcomes for patients who have received an Ex-Vivo lung transplant (where marginal lungs are placed on an Ex Vivo machine and monitored for their ability to ventilate- this technique could improve the numbers of lungs available for transplantation). My personal interests include Thoracic Surgery and Surgical Oncology.
I work with Dr. Liechty in the Laboratory for Fetal and Regenerative Biology. I work on both basic science and clinical projects in areas including diabetic wounds, pediatric and fetal surgery. Some of my projects include 3D printing for fetal repair of myelomeningocele, outcomes in congenital diaphragmatic hernia, and applications for nanoparticles in wound healing.
There are two main focuses in the aortic surgery research lab. Our basic science research revolves around protection of the spinal cord from ischemia reperfusion injury which can occur during complex thoracoabdominal aortic repairs and lead to paraplegia. This work includes neuron cell culture, a mouse model of spinal cord ischemia and more recently a pig model to evaluate techniques of augmenting collateral circulation to the spinal cord. In addition, as the aortic program has continued to grow, we have started a database looking at outcomes and interventions in aortic surgery that are paving the way for advancement of treatment of aortic disease.
My research areas are basic oncology/tumor immunology research as well as clinical outcomes research in oncology. My basic science research is focused on elucidating the function of a novel G-protein coupled receptor that may play an important role in tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. Concurrently, I am doing several clinical projects using the National Cancer Database and multiple University of Colorado surgical oncology databases. I am pursing a PhD in Clinical Science while I am in the lab.
Lab | Specialty | Current Resident / Lab Alumni |
---|---|---|
Dr. Abman | Pediatrics | Christina Kim Bradley Wallace |
Dr. Chapman/Dr. Vogel | Colorectal | Samuel Lai |
Dr. Christian | Surgical Education | Keval Tilva |
Dr. Cohen | Trauma | Terry “TJ” Schaid Jamie Hadley William “Morgan” Hallas Otto Thielen |
Dr. Cumbler | Surgical Quality & Executive Leadership (UCH) | Viviane Leite-Abud |
Dr. Del Chiaro | Surgical Oncology | Michael Kirsch |
Dr. Derderian | Pedi Surg | Lauren Gallagher |
Dr. Fullerton | CT Surgery | Michael Jarrett |
Dr. Gleisner | Surgical Oncology | Madeline “Maddy Thomas Laura Leonard |
Dr. Iorio | Plastics | Alexandra Kovar |
Dr. Eddie Jones | VA Quality Improvement | Danielle Abbitt |
Dr. Teresa Jones | VA Quality Improvement | Laura Leonard Joshua Billings Danielle Abbitt |
Dr. Kovacs | Burn, Alcohol Research | Kevin Choy John Frankel |
Dr. Liechty | Pediatric Surgery | Alyssa Vaughn Amanda Louiselle Lindel Dewberry Sarah Hilton Maggie Hodges Bailey Lyttle |
Dr. Meguid | CT Surgery | Adam Dyas Abhinav Singh Christina Stuart |
Dr. Moore | Trauma | Margot DeBot Navin Vigneshwar Matthew Bartley Julia Coleman Geoffrey Nunns Jason Samuels Gregory Stettler Peter Einersen Anthony Bacon Hunter Moore |
Dr. Nehler | Vascular/CPC | Robert “Wilson” King Ryan Gupta Nicholas Govsyeyev |
Dr. Nydam | Transplant | Dor Yoeli Rashikh Choudhury |
Dr. Raeburn/Dr. Pozdeyev | Endocrine | Martin Barrio |
Dr. Reece | CT Surgery | Cenea Kemp Christian Ghincea Mohamed Eldeiry Adam Carroll |
Dr. Robinson | Surgical QI, Outcomes | Alexandra Kovar Heather Carmichael |
Dr. Jessica Rove | CT outcomes | Jake Cotton Alejandro “Alex” Suarez- Pierre |
Dr. Schroeppel | Trauma | Janet Lee Joshua Billings Eliza Moskowitz |
Dr. Schulick/Dr. Yuwen Zhu | Surgical Oncology | Felix Ho Robert Torphy Ellott Yee |
Dr. Stone | Pediatric Cardiac Surgery | John Iguidbashian |
Dr. Tevis | Breast/QI | Sudheer Vemuru Laura Leonard Victoria “Tori” Huynh |
Dr. Wright | QI | Alexandra Kovar |
Dr. Velopulos | Outcomes, Healthcare Disparities | Danielle Abbitt Madeline “Maddy” Thomas Heather Carmichael Denise Garofalo |
Dr. Weyant | Thoracic Surgery | Helen Madsen Keval Tilva Anna Gergen Allana White Alison Halpern Patrick Kohtz Kweku Hazel |
Brandon Chapman (Brandon.Chapman@cuanschutz.edu)
Mitchell Cohen (Mitchell.Cohen@cuanschutz.org)
Katie Colborn (Kathryn.Colborn@cuanschutz.edu)
Ethan Cumbler (Ethan.Cumbler@cuanschutz.edu)
Marco del Chiaro (Marco.delChiaro@cuanschutz.edu)
David Fullerton (David.Fullerton@cuanschutz.edu)
Ana Gleisner (Ana.Gleisner@cuanschutz.edu)
Christene Huang (Christene.Huang@cuanschutz.edu)
Juan-Pablo Idrovo (Juan.Idrovo@cuanschutz.edu)
Matthew Iorio (Matthew.Iorio@cuanschutz.edu)
Donald Jacobs (Donald.L.Jacobs@cuanschutz.edu)
Edward Jones (Edward.Jones@cuanschutz.edu)
Teresa Jones (Teresa.Jones@cuanschutz.edu)
Elizabeth Kovacs (Elizabeth.Kovacs@cuanschutz.edu)
Lacey LaGrone (Lacey.LaGrone@UCHealth.org)
Kenneth Liechty (Kenneth.Liechty@childrenscolorado.org)
David Mathes (David.Mathes@cuanschutz.edu)
Martin McCarter (Martin.McCarter@cuanschutz.edu)
Robert Meguid (Robert.Meguid@cuanschutz.edu)
Ernest “Gene” Moore (Ernest.Moore@dhha.org)
Steven Moulton (Steven.Moulton@childrenscolorado.org)
Mark Nehler (Mark.Nehler@cuanschutz.edu)
Trevor Nydam (Trevor.Nydam@cuanschutz.edu)
James Pomposelli (James.Pomposelli@cuanschutz.edu)
Christopher Raeburn (Christopher.Raeburn@cuanschutz.edu)
Brett Reece (Brett.Reece@cuanschutz.edu)
Thomas Robinson (Thomas.Robinson@cuanschutz.edu)
Jessica Rove (Jessica.Rove@CUAnschutz.edu)
Thomas Schroeppel (Thomas.Schroeppel@uchealth.org)
Richard Schulick (Richard.Schulick@cuanschutz.edu)
Matthew Stone (Matthew.Stone@cuanschutz.edu)
Sarah Tevis (Sarah.Tevis@cuanschutz.edu)
Catherine Velopulos (Catherine.Velopulos@cuanschutz.edu )
Jon Vogel (Jon.Vogel@cuanschutz.edu)
Kia Washington (Kia.Washington@cuanschutz.edu)
Arek Wiktor (Arek.Wiktor@cuanschutz.edu)
Franklin Wright (Franklin.Wright@cuanschutz.edu)
Yuwen Zhu (Yuwen.Zhu@cuanschutz.edu)
Dr. David Fullerton serves as Vice Chair of Surgical Research for the Department of Surgery.
Two- to three-year specialized public health graduate degree program including capstone project and studies within statistics, epidemiology, environmental health, policy, and behavioral sciences. Website
Contact: Admissions@CSPH@ucdenver.edu or 303-724-4613
CU Residents who have completed this program:
One- to three-year translational research graduate degree program including thesis and studies within statistics, clinical epidemiology, and health outcomes. Website
Contact: Lisa Cicutto (program director) / Galtin Mankin (program coordinator)
CU Residents who have completed the MSCS program:
CU Residents who have completed the PhD program: