Past Symposia
Invited Speaker
Dr. Yuman Fong is the Sangiacomo Chair and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the City of Hope Medical Center.
Dr. Fong is best known clinically for his work helping to prove that resection of liver metastases can provide for long term survival and cure. He helped usher in robotic techniques for surgery. He is editor of the SAGES Atlas of Robotic Surgery. For his clinical work, he was awarded the Layton F. Rikkers Master Clinician Award from the SSAT. He has assisted in the design and deployment of many novel surgical tools. For his contributions to surgical research, he has been awarded the Stanley Dudrick Award from the American Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, The Shipley Award from the Southern Surgical Association, and the Flance-Karl Award from American Surgical Association. His work in medical engineering has led to his election to the American Institute of Medical and Biologic Engineering.
His laboratory focus involves design of gene and immune cell therapies for cancer. His leadership on the national level has included serving as the Chair of the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) of the National Institutes of Health. He is Founding Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Therapy Oncolytics (Cell Press, official journal of the ASGCT). He has co-authored over 1000 papers (h-index=147, citations>89,000), 22 textbooks, and 1 comic book. He has also been elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and to the National Academy of Medicine.
In his free time, Dr. Fong enjoys music, astronomy, and ballroom dancing.
Awardees
Best Presentation in Basic Science or Translational Research
“Developing a Genome Editing Strategy to Deliver Alpha-Globin Transgene to Alpha-Thalassemia Major Hematopoietic Stem Cells”
Simon Chu, MD, MS
Best Presentation in Clinical or Outcomes Research
“Examining the Association of Housing Status with Stage at Diagnosis and Outcomes for Colorectal and Lung Cancer in a National Sample of Veterans”
Hannah Decker, MD
Best Presentation in Medical Student Research
“Characteristics and Outcomes of Hand Infection Patients at an Urban Safety-Net Hospital”
Matthew McLaughlin, Daniel Soroudi and Raymond Yin
Honorable Mentions
Basic Science or Translational Research
“Patterns of Gene Expression and Immune Cell Proliferation Differ Significantly in Liver Transplant Recipients with Hepatocelluar Carcinoma”
Audrey Brown, MD
Clinical or Outcomes Research
“Improving Mortality for Injured Children: Pediatric Readiness in US Trauma Centers”
Caroline Melhado, MD
Medical Student Research
“Traditional Versus Virtual Surgical Planning for Correction of Delayed Presentations of Craniosynostosis”
Elizabeth Danial
Invited Speaker
Dr. Jennifer Waljee is an Associate Professor in the Section of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, at the University of Michigan. Dr. Waljee earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees in public health at the University of Michigan and her medical degree at Emory University. She completed her General Surgery residency training and residency training in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Michigan. She completed a fellowship in Hand Surgery at the University of Michigan and joined the faculty in 2012. Dr. Waljee is board certified in General Surgery and Plastic Surgery with added certification in Surgery of the Hand. She is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, and the Society for Clinical Surgery. Her clinical practice focuses on the management of acute and chronic conditions of the hand and upper extremity. Her research focuses on the use of patient-centered outcomes following surgery for capturing quality across conditions. She currently serves as a Co-Director and Co-Founder of the Michigan Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network, or Michigan-OPEN, an initiative that seeks to transform pain management and curb opioid abuse in the state of Michigan, as well as the Director of the Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Policy.
Awardees
Best Medical Student Quick Shot Presentation
“Single Cell Multi-omics Reveal Novel Cardiac Subpopulation Critical to Valve Morphogenesis”
Alexander Merriman
Best Presentation in Clinical Research
“Assessing the Negative Predictive Value of Cervical Spine CT Compared to MRI in Pediatric Trauma Patients: A Multi-Center Retrospective Cohort”
Caroline Melhado, MD
Best Presentation in Basic Science Research
“Regulation of Vascular Endothelial Integrity in Hemorrhagic Shock by Mesenchymal Stem Cell Extracellular Vesicles”
Mark Barry, MD
Best Medical Student Presentation
“Preclinical testing of AAV capsid transduction efficiency and specificity in ex vivo perfused human liver”
Miguel Nunez
Honorable Mentions
Basic Science Research Presentation
“Nr4al as a Regular of Monocyte Subsets in a Mouse Model of Biliary Atresia”
Sarah Mohamedaly, MD
Clinical Research Presentation
“Endocrine Surgeons Are Performing More Thyroid Lobectomies for Low-Risk Differentiated Thyroid Cancer Since Publication of the 2015 ATA Guidelines”
Patricia Conroy, MD
Invited Speaker
Dr. Locke is an abdominal transplant surgeon specializing in innovative strategies for the transplantation of incompatible organs, disparities in access to and outcomes after solid organ transplantation, and transplantation of HIV-infected end-stage patients. Dr. Locke completed an undergraduate degree in biology and chemistry at Duke University and her medical degree at East Carolina University prior to matriculating to Johns Hopkins Hospital where she received training in general surgery and multi-visceral abdominal transplantation. Dr. Locke completed her Master of Public Health degree with an emphasis in biostatistics and epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Her research interests include complex statistical analysis and modeling of transplant outcomes and behavioral research focused on health disparities. She has authored more than 130 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 20 book chapters, and is an NIH R01-funded investigator. In addition, Dr. Locke is a Deputy Editor for the American Journal of Transplantation, and is an editorial board member for Annals of Surgery. She is also a member of the American Society of Transplantation (AST), American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS), and American Society of Nephrology (ASN), as well as, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), Society of University Surgeons (SUS; Councilor-at-Large), the Southern Surgical Association (SSA), Society of Clinical Surgery (SCS), and the American Surgical Association (ASA). Dr. Locke is the recipient of numerous honors including the UAB Dean’s Excellence Award in Research 2016, and was named the 2016 James IV Association of Surgeons Traveling Fellow, Top 40 Under 40 by the Birmingham Business Journal, AL.com’s 2015 Women Who Shape the State, B-Metro Top Women in Medicine 2017, American College of Surgeons Traveling Fellow 2018, Association for Clinical & Translational Science (ACTS) Distinguished Investigator Award: Translation into Public Benefit and Policy (2018), and the AST Clinical Science Faculty Award 2020.
Dr. Locke is currently Professor of Surgery and the Arnold G. Diethelm MD Endowed Chair in Transplantation Surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and serves as the Director of the Comprehensive Transplant Institute and Chief of the Division of Abdominal Transplant Surgery. She is also the Associate Chief Medical Officer for UAB Hospital Quality and Patient Safety.
Awardees
Best Presentation in Plenary Session
“Acute Rejection After Liver Transplantation: What Can We Learn from Transcriptomic Analysis?”
Hillary Braun, MD
Best Presentation in Concurrent Session 1
“The Current Landscape of Surgical Pipeline Support Programs in the United States”
Chelsie Anderson, MS4
Best Presentation in Concurrent Session 2
“Defining and Validating Flourishing in Surgery: Differences by Race and Gender in a Multicenter Study”
Anya Greenberg, MBA
Best Presentation in Concurrent Session 3
“Extrathymic Aire-Expressing Cells in Cancer Immune Evasion”
Alexander Gupta, MD
Invited Speaker
Melina R. Kibbe, MD, is Professor of Surgery with tenure, and the Colin G. Thomas, Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of North Carolina (UNC). She also is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Prior to UNC, Dr. Kibbe was faculty at Northwestern University where she also served as the Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Surgery and as Deputy Director of the Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology. Clinically, Dr. Kibbe has significant experience with both open and endovascular surgery, including the treatment of carotid stenosis, peripheral vascular disease, and abdominal aortic aneurysms. She is board certified in general and vascular surgery and is RVT and RPVI certified by ARDMS.
Dr. Kibbe’s research interests focus on developing novel drug-eluting therapies for patients with vascular disease while simultaneously studying the mechanism of how these therapies impact the vascular wall. She has been funded as Principal Investigator (PI) by the NIH, DOD, VA, AHA, and AMA among others, in addition to serving as co-Investigator, consultant, or mentor on many other federally supported awards. She has also served as the national PI or site PI for many gene and cell-based clinical trials for patients with critical limb ischemia, as well as consultant for many clinical trials for patients with peripheral artery disease. She holds >10 patents or provisional patents. Her research was recognized by President Obama with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2009.
Dr. Kibbe has assumed national positions of leadership. She is the Editor-in-Chief for JAMA Surgery which is currently the #1 surgery journal in the world with an impact factor of 13.6. She has served as president for the Association for Academic Surgery, the Midwestern Vascular Surgical Society, and the Association of VA Surgeons. She is also an active member in the American College of Surgeons, the American Surgical Association, the Society for Vascular Surgery, and the American Heart Association, among others. She was inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation and most notably, the National Academy of Medicine.
Dr. Kibbe has been a strong advocate for sex inclusion in biomedical research. She was interviewed by Leslie Stahl for 60 Minutes on this topic, and later appeared on the Colbert Report. Her publications on the presence of sex bias in surgical research gained much media attention nationally and internationally, and resulted in policy development with the National Institutes of Health, the Government Accountability Organization (GAO), and the FDA. In addition, a bill has been introduced into the House, “Research for All Act of 2015”, which will hopefully be voted into law.
Her bibliography includes over 300 peer-reviewed manuscripts, review articles, and book chapters. She has authored or co-authored over 240 nationally and internationally presented abstracts. She has received numerous awards, including the Society of Vascular Surgery (SVS) Lifeline Research Award, SVS Women’s Leadership Award, AMWA Gender Equity Award, AMSA Women Leaders in Medicine Award, Northwestern University Tripartite Award, Thomas Sheen Award from the New Jersey Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, Presidential Citation from the Association of VA Surgeons, and the University of Chicago Distinguished Service Award. She is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. In recognition of her passion and dedication for education, she has received 23 awards for teaching excellence as faculty member.
She co-founded and is the Chief Medical Officer for VesselTek BioMedical, LLC, a company that specializes in the development of medical devices to treat vascular disease.
Dr. Kibbe was born and raised in Southern California. She graduated from the University of Chicago College of Biological Sciences in 1990 and Pritzker School of Medicine in 1994. She completed her internship, residency, and research fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in 2002, and her vascular surgery fellowship at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 2003. Dr. Kibbe completed a 1-year fellowship in The Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program for Women at Drexel University College of Medicine in 2012, and Management Skills for Innovative University Leaders at the Kellogg School of Management Business for Scientists and Engineers Program in 2009.
Awardees
Best Abstract Presentation
“Gender Disparities In Presentation, Treatment, And Outcomes Of Critical Limb Ischemia”
Elizabeth Lancaster, MD, MAS
Best Quick-Shot Presentation
“Anesthesia Safety in Ethiopia: Long Term Follow-Up of Lifebox Pulse Oximeters and Current Anesthesia Monitoring Gaps”
Nichole Starr, MD, MPH
Best Medical Student Presentation
“Living in a Food Desert Increases Wound Complication and Readmission Risk after Chronic Limb-threatening Ischemia Revascularization”
Eric Smith, BA