Invited Faculty
Featured Lectures
Dr. Andre Crotti Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession of Surgery
Dr. John L. Cameron is the Alfred Blalock Distinguished Service Professor of Surgery at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. For nineteen years he served as the Chief of Surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Cameron obtained his undergraduate degree from Harvard University in 1958 and his medical degree from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1962. All of his training in General and Thoracic Surgery was obtained at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Cameron has had a long-standing interest in alimentary tract diseases, and specifically in pancreatic cancer. He has operated upon more patients with pancreatic cancer, and done more Whipple resections than any other surgeon in the world. He has been a leader in Alimentary Tract Surgery for many years. National leadership positions held include being President of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, President of the Southern Surgical Association, President of the Society of Clinical Surgery, President of the Society of Surgical Chairman, President of the Halsted Society, and President of the American Surgical Association. And most recently he was President of the American College of Surgeons.
The Dr. Arno A. Roscher Endowed Lecture
Dr. Ara Tilkian was bom in the village of Kesab, Syria. He spent a formative year in Missoula, Montana as an American Field Service Exchange Student and graduated from Missoula County High School with membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. He attended the American University of Beirut, Lebanon and was recognized as an outstanding freshman and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree with Distinction. He received his MD degree with Honors at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Post graduate training included 5 years at Stanford University Medical Center where he completed his cardiology training.
Dr. Tilkian moved to Los Angeles in 1975 and has been an active member of Cardiovascular Consultants Medical Group since then. He has been the director of the Cardiology Program at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, Califomia since 1989.
Dr. Tilkian has been on the clinical faculty of UCLA Medical Center and continues to participate in the teaching of cardiovascular fellows. He has published over 20 abstracts and articles in peer review journals and has written two textbooks in cardiology.
Since 2001 he has developed an interest in Stress Cardiomyopathy and has collected over 250 cases with this syndrome. He presented his observations and experience in this field at the 3rd Intemational Medical Congress in Armenia in 2011. He is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology. He continues the active practice of cardiology, looking for the next case of
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy!
Keynote Lecture Sponsored by the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopaedic Surgeons
Dr. Sergio Canavero is Director of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group, a think tank devoted to the advancement of brain stimulation. He entered neurosurgery with the goal of transcending human limits. In the tradition of Prof. Penfield, he believes the brain only acts as a filter to consciousness which he discusses in his book IMMORTAL.Why Consciousness is Not in the Brain.
Over the past 30 years, he focused on making the first head transplant possible. Along the way he worked out the genesis
of Central Pain at the age of 27 (for which he has been hailed as a “benefactor of mankind” and “Italian genius” by the US
website painonline.org following publication of his Cambridge University Press monograph in 2007), introduced surgical cortical
brain stimulation for Parkinson disease, the vegetative state (featured in several international media outlets in December 2008) and stroke recovery. He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications and several books to his credit, including Head Transplantation And The Quest For Immortality (Dec 2014).
Recently, he made the news for pushing cortical brain stimulation in the rehabilitation of criminal psychopaths in place of the death penalty.
In the century that will see medical technology impact human life like never before, head-body transplantation will be at the cutting edge. In 1970, US neurosurgeon Dr. Robert White carried out the first cephalosomatic anastomosis (CSA) in monkeys, but could not rejoin the spinal cord. His goal: curing intractable medical disorders.
Now, in an unprecedented turn of events, and fulfilling Robert White’s prophecy, Dr. Canavero brings together many lines of research, some from the past, to recast the problem of spinal cord fusion in new terms.
In June 2015, he will push science forward and prove that a severed spinal cord can be reconnected with another one. The consequences? Not only the cure of hopeless disorders, but the opening of a new frontier: life extension. You will hear from him directly why he will be the first to achieve a full head transplant which will hold the key to the future of mankind. And more…
Featured Speakers
In alphabetical order
Andrew Cameron, MD, PhD
Transplant surgeon Andrew M. Cameron, MD, PhD, was born at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he is now an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery. Raised in Baltimore, he attended Harvard University and medical school at Johns Hopkins, as did his father, John Cameron, professor and former surgeon-in-chief at Johns Hopkins. After surgical training at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Dr. Cameron studied liver transplantation in Los Angeles for two years before returning to Johns Hopkins in 2006. He also heads a basic science laboratory studying new drugs for Hepatitis C.
Recipient of an NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship, he was awarded a grant for grant for his proposal on “Immune Tolerance in Chimeric Miniature Swine.” Dr. Cameron also received the Harvard Medical School Excellence in Teaching Award and The William Stewart Halsted Award from the Johns Hopkins University Department of Surgery “for outstanding performance in surgery.”
Meena Nathan Cherian, MD
Dr. Cherian, a professor in Anaesthesiology, graduated from Christian Medical College in Ludhiana, India and then worked a rural hospital in India providing surgical, obstetrics and anaesthesia services. She then specialized in anaesthesiology from Christian Medical College and joined the teaching faculty. She trained, worked and taught anaesthesia in various hospitals in the USA (including Johns Hopkins Hospital), Africa and Southeast Asia. She worked as an anaesthesiologists for various surgical specialities (cardiac, neuro, paediatrics, urology, obstetrics, orthopaedics and trauma) in Christian Medical College Hospital prior to joining the WHO.
Gary Dix, MD
Dr. Gary Dix joined Maryland Brain & Spine November 2004. For four years prior to this, Dr. Dix worked in Baltimore, seeing patients at Sinai Hospital, Good Samaritan Spine Center, St. Josephs Medical Center, Maryland General Hospital and Northwest Hospital.
He has extensive experience with complex spine and brain disorders, incorporating the use of the latest minimally invasive procedures, as well as stereotactic radiosurgery to non-invasively treat conditions of the brain and spine. He is also involved in research and teaching and serves as a consultant for several biotechnology companies. Dr. Dix is available in our Annapolis and Bowie locations.
Dr. Dix was born and raised in South Africa where he received his medical degree from the University of Stellenbosch. After completing his internship at Baragwaneth Hospital in Soweto, he immigrated to Canada where he practiced family medicine in northern British Columbia, providing him a unique perspective in helping patients to make decisions about their surgery. In 1993, Dr. Dix entered the neurosurgery residency program at the University of Calgary, Canada and then completed a spine surgery fellowship at Foothills Hospital in Calgary, where he served as staff neurosurgeon for two years. He passed the certifying boards in neurosurgery (2006).
Mark D. Duncan, MD
Dr. Duncan specializes in gastrointestinal surgery and surgical oncology, including surgery of the esophagus, stomach, intestine, colon and rectum, gallbladder and pancreas, adrenal and retroperitoneal sarcoma. He also works in conjunction with urologic and gynecologic surgical specialists performing major resections of complex pelvic cancers. He chairs the cancer committee and directs the tumor board at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Before joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. Duncan served on the surgical faculty at Georgetown University Medical Center and the Washington, D.C. Veteran's Administration Hospital.
Fred Eckhauser, MD
Frederic E. Eckhauser received his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton and his medical degree from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. He completed all of his surgical training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and spent six months at the Frenchay Hospital and the Bristol Royal Infirmary in England as a Senior registrar in Thoracic Surgery. He served as the Charles G. Child III Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Division of GI Surgery at the University of Michigan for 25 years before returning to Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2001 where he now serves as Professor of Surgery and Director of Clinical Operations. His main clinical interests include alimentary tract surgery, with a special interest in pancreatobiliary diseases, inflammatory bowel disease, GI tract motility disturbances, and complex re-operative surgery of the GI tract.
David Efron, MD
David T. Efron, MD, FACS holds appointments in both the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the School of Nursing. He is the Director of Trauma and Chief of the Acute Care Surgery in the Department of Surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Dr. Efron completed his Surgery residency training at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from July 1994 to June 2002. From July 2002 to June 2003, Dr. Efron functioned as an Assistant Chief of Service at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and received a certificate in Advanced Specialty Training in Gastrointestinal Surgery under the tutelage of Dr. John L. Cameron. In July 2003, Dr. Efron continued his training with a year as a Surgical Critical Care fellow at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery in both the fields of Surgery and Surgical Critical Care.
In July 2004 Dr. Efron accepted an appointment to the faculty of the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins as an Assistant Professor. He is centered within the Division of Trauma and Critical Care, the bulk of his practice consisting of the treatment of traumatic injuries as well as acute care general surgery. He attends 8 to 10 weeks per year in the both the Surgical and Weinberg Intensive Care Units as part of the Critical Care Attending staff. In January 2008, Dr. Efron was appointed the Director of Trauma and Chief of the Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care in The Johns Hopkins Hospital Department of Surgery.
During his residency he spent three years in the laboratory of his mentor Dr. Adrian Barbul funded by a National Institutes of Health Gastrointestinal Surgery Training Grant. He examined the role that nitric oxide production plays in intestinal anastomotic healing in addition to examining various other aspects of cutaneous healing and the importance of the route of nutrition to healing wounds. He has presented his results at number of national meetings including the Association for Academic Surgery, the Society of University Surgeons and the Society for the Surgery of the Alimentary Tract. Dr. Efron's current research interests have expanded to the realm of regulation of inflammatory mediators of septic and post-injury states. He is particularly focused in his laboratory on the role that statins may play in this milieu especially with regard to potential translational research from the bench to the bedside. He received both a Johns Hopkins Department of Surgery Research Pilot Project Grant and the 2005-2006 Junior Faculty Fellowship from the Surgical Infection Society Foundation for Research and Education in support of this work.
Dr. Efron carries additional interest in traumatic injury from interpersonal violence, measures of violence intensity, and trauma recidivism with an eye to prevention strategies. This work has resulted in recent presentations at national venues such as the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma and the Pacific Coast Surgical Association with subsequent publication.
In addition to bedside teaching and rounds, Dr. Efron regularly lectures to medical students, nursing and nurse-practitoner students as well as surgical, emergency medicine and physician assistant residents. These lectures span such topics as appendicitis, shock, acute cardiac dysrhythmias, molecular and cellular mediators of inflammation, renal failure, endocrine function in critical illness, multiple organ failure, the management of abdominal and thoracic injuries, topics in surgical nutrition, and central line safety.
Dr. Efron serves on a number of committees at all levels of participation. He is a member of the Performance Improvement Committee for the Adult Trauma Service, and a member of the Department of Surgery Committee for Faculty Retention. He is the Department of Surgery representative to the Medical School Council and is the Chair of the Vascular Access Device Oversight Committee for the hospital. He has served as an assistant chair of the Central Line Task Force appointed by the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Jonathan Edward Efron, MD
Dr. Jonathan Edward Efron is an associate professor of urology and surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He is a recipient of The Mark M. Ravitch, M.D., Endowed Professorship in Gastrointestinal Surgery and serves as the Chief of Ravitch Service at Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Efron is a colon and rectal surgeon whose clinical focus includes colon and rectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, fecal incontinence and anorectal disorders. He is an expert in minimally invasive and robotic procedures and colostomy-sparing procedures, such as ileal pouch anal anastomosis. He also has a particular interest in the management of recurrent rectal cancer.
Dr. Efron received his B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College, and completed his M.D. at the University of Maryland in 1993. He then conducted a residency in general surgery at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY and a fellowship in colorectal surgery at the Cleveland Clinic of Florida. He joined the Johns Hopkins faculty after serving as an associate professor of surgery at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Arizona and currently holds the position of Interim Director of the Department of Surgery at Hopkins.
Dr. Efron has published more than 71 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 11 book chapters and over 104 abstracts. He has presented his work locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
He is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscope Surgeons, the Society of LaparoEndoscopic Surgeons, the Society of Surgeons of the Alimentary Tract and the Southwest Surgical Society. He also serves on the World Journal of Surgery editorial board and is a member of the Southwest Chapter of the CCFA Medical Advisory Committee.
David Euhus, MD
David Euhus, M.D., joins the Department of Surgery as chief of breast surgery in the Division of Surgical Oncology. He comes to Johns Hopkins from University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center, where he was the Marilyn R. Corrigan Distinguished Chair in breast cancer surgery and co-director of the Mary L. Brown Breast Cancer Genetics and Risk Assessment Clinic in the Center for Breast Care.
Dr. Euhus has dedicated his career to understanding breast cancer at the molecular level to determine the most effective treatments for it and will continue this work at Johns Hopkins. His research has included using fine needle aspiration to evaluate DNA for acquired changes that lead to a higher risk of breast cancer, as well as examining the link between high blood glucose or higher body mass indexes and breast cancer. His research on breast cancer genetics and defining biomarkers for breast cancer help define who should be tested for genetic risk of breast cancer and how to proceed upon finding a genetic link.
In addition to his special interest in the treatment of high-risk patients with genetic predisposition or familial history of breast cancer, Dr. Euhus specializes in breast surgery procedures that include nipple-sparing mastectomy and hidden incisions to reduce visible scarring.
Dr. Euhus is a member of the Society of Surgical Oncology, the American Society of Breast Surgery and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Michel Gagner, MD
Dr. Gagner obtained, at the age of 22, his M.D. in 1982, and did his surgical training at McGill from 1982-1988.
Upon completion of his fellowships in HPB surgery (Paris and Lahey Clinic), he was recruited to the U. of Montreal, Hotel-Dieu (1990-1995), and worked at the Cleveland Clinic where he co-founded the MIS Center (1995-1998). He was appointed Professor of Surgery and Director of the MIS Center of Mount Sinai (New York), from 1998 to 2003. He then joined Weill-Cornell (New York) as Professor of Surgery and Chief of Laparoscopic/Bariatric Surgery (2003-2007). He was until recently, Chair of Surgery at Mount Sinai (Miami), and is currently Professor at FlU , and senior consultant at the Hopital du Sacre Coeur in Montreal. In 2014, he founded a non-profit organization WWO (World Without Obesity), for the education and development of metabolic surgery in Third world countries.
Dr. Gagner is known for his contributions in MIS, in particular the first description of laparoscopic adrenalectomy for Cushing and pheochromocytoma (1992), first description of laparoscopic pancreatectomy (distal/proximal) (1992-93), first description of endoscopic neck surgery with parathyroidectomy in 1995, first transgastric cholecystectomy in 1997 (NOTES), first description of laparoscopic duodenal switch in 1999 and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in 2000.
He has over 300 published articles, 45 book chapters, and 8 books on MIS surgery. He has been visiting professor and operated in more than 60 institutions in 48 countries. He has held positions in more than 35 societies, and has served on the editorial boards of 12 surgical journals. He has also organized many international and national meetings in the field of laparoscopic surgery and bariatric surgery. Dr Gagner was the President IFSO 2014 (International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders) annual meeting and 5th International Conference on Sleeve gastrectomy held in Montreal, August 26-30th, 2014.
Dr. Gagner also has received honorary memberships and awards and his most recent contributions focus on innovative GI surgery such as bariatric and endoluminal procedures.
Yik-Hong Ho, MD, FICS
Prof. Ho received his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery with Honours from the University of Queensland and subsequently obtained a Doctor of Medicine from there as well (in Australia this Doctorate is a more advanced degree than a PhD). Dr. Ho is currently a Professor of Surgery and Head of the Department of Surgery at the James Cook University School of Medicine in Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Prof. Ho is a member of numerous professional organizations including: the International Society of Surgery, the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, and the International College of Surgeons (ICS) where he is currently also the World President. Among the many other positions he has held in ICS are: Corporate Secretary, Pacific Federation Secretary, Vice President and Governor.
Professor Ho has authored a significant number of book chapters and has been an author or co-author of numerous papers published in peer reviewed journals around the world. His work with scientific journals extends to editorial positions with publications such as the World Gastroenterology Journal, Techniques in Coloproctology Advances in Cancer Research & Treatment and of course International Surgery the official journal of the ICS, where he also serves as Associate Editor.
Frank R. Lewis Jr., MD
Dr. Lewis became executive director of the American Board of Surgery in 2002. A Maryland native, Dr. Lewis received his medical degree from the University of Maryland and completed his general surgery residency at the University of California–San Francisco. He then completed an NIH trauma fellowship at San Francisco General Hospital. Prior to the ABS, Dr. Lewis was chair of the department of surgery at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and professor of surgery at Case Western Reserve University. Before going to Detroit, he was professor and vice chair of the department of surgery at UC San Francisco and chief of surgery at San Francisco General Hospital.
Dr. Lewis is a past chair of the ABS and the Residency Review Committee for Surgery of the ACGME. He is also a past president of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma and the Shock Society. He has also served as first vice-president of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), as well as chair of the ACS Board of Governors and the ACS Committee on Trauma. Dr. Lewis' clinical interests center on trauma and critical care. He is certified by the ABS in general surgery.
Martin Makary, MD, MPH
Dr. Martin "Marty" Makary is chief of minimally-invasive pancreas surgery and has pioneered new pancreas operations at Johns Hopkins, including laparoscopic spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy, laparoscopic Whipple, and laparoscopic islet autotransplantation to prevent postoperative diabetes. Dr. Makary is among the few highest-volume laparoscopic pancreas surgeons in the U.S.
In addition to a busy clinical practice, Dr. Makary is a professor of Health Policy & Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His work focuses on medical quality, patient safety and special issues of elderly patients. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA. He is a frequent television medical commentator and speaks nationally on quality and safety in healthcare and the future of medicine. Dr. Makary was the lead author of the original scientific articles describing the surgical checklist and served in leadership roles at the United Nations W.H.O. Safe Surgery Saves Lives Initiative. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Unaccountable, a book about physician-led efforts to increase transparency and improve quality in healthcare. In 2014, he was named to America’s 40 Smartest People in Healthcare by Becker’s Magazine.
Dr. Makary completed his education at Bucknell University, Thomas Jefferson University, and Harvard University and completed his general surgery training at Georgetown University and further sub-specialty training in pancreas surgery and surgical oncology at Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Makary provides next-day appointments and remote telephone consultations for patients with pancreas and GI tumors or patients with jaundice. Patients from outside of the U.S. and patients seeking remote consultations should mail a CD rom of their most recent CT scan to Dr. Makary directly Halsted 610, 600 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore MD 21287. Patients with metastatic disease in the liver should see a medical oncologist first. Dr. Makary does not serve as an expert witness in malpractice claims.
Daniela Molena, MD
Dr. Daniela Molena specializes in the treatment of benign and malignant diseases of the chest, including minimally invasive surgery for lung and esophageal cancer, mediastinal diseases, esophageal dismotility disorders, gastroesophageal reflux disease and benign lung and pleura conditions.
A member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Dr. Molena serves on the national committee for resident and fellow education. She extends this educational mission to her own research, which focuses on clinical esophageal diseases, using cancer screening tools for early diagnosis, and the genetic characteristics of lung and esophageal cancer. Dr. Molenas goal is to better understand how these tumors develop, especially in females and nonsmokers, to help find new targeted therapies.
Her Research Interests include Clinical esophageal disease; Targeted therapies for lung and esophageal cancers; Cancer screening tools for early diagnosis; Genetic characteristics of lung and esophageal cancer.
Adrian Park, MD
Dr. Park is Chairman of the Department of Surgery and Chair of the newly created Earl Simulation to Advance Innovation and Learning (SAIL) Center of Anne Arundel Health System (AAHS) in Annapolis, Maryland. Dr. Park has made major advancements in the improvement of laparoscopic procedures and the development of new medical devices for complex hernia repair, spleen and adrenal surgery.
Most recently, Dr. Park was the Dr. Alex Gillis Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS. Prior to this appointment, Park served as the Campbell and Jeanette Plugge Professor and Vice Chair for the Department of Surgery, the Head of the Division of General Surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center, and the Chair of the Maryland Advanced Simulation, Training, Research, and Innovation (MASTRI) Center.
He received his Doctor of Medicine from McMaster University in Canada. Dr. Park is a member of the American Surgical Association, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada, American College of Surgeons and the College of Surgeons of Central Eastern and Southern Africa.
Currently a member of the Board of Directors of the SAGES, he has also served as the Fellowship Council’s founding President and as its Board Chair. He is editor-in-chief of Surgical Innovation. The author of over 200 scholarly articles and book chapters, he is widely published in the areas of solid organ laparoscopy, laparoscopic herniorrhaphy, surgical education, and surgical ergonomics. Dr. Park holds 20 patents and has been instrumental in the development and application of new technologies in endoscopic surgery.
Chad Patton, MD, MS
Originally from Kentucky, Dr. Patton completed his undergraduate studies in Neuroscience at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. He subsequently obtained a Master of Science degree in the treatment of spinal cord injury using human stem cells, as well as his Medical Degree, from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Dr. Patton completed his residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Vermont. Prior to performing spine surgery in Annapolis, he completed his Spine Surgery fellowship training at the University of Utah School of Medicine, where he worked with both Orthopaedic spine surgeons and neurosurgeons.
Dr. Patton specializes in the operative treatment of spine-related disorders, including degenerative conditions of the cervical and lumbar spine, disc herniations, spinal stenosis, compression fractures, spinal tumors, as well as adult scoliosis and deformity.
Dr. Patton is trained in traditional, time-proven procedures as well as newer, minimally invasive techniques that often allow for less pain after surgery.
Dr. Patton graduated medical school as a member of the AOA Honor Medical Society and a strong background in research. As a resident, his orthopaedic trauma research was awarded top honors in the New England region, and nationally recognized by the American College of Surgeons. Currently, his interests focus on patient outcomes after spine surgery.
Dr. Patton is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, AO Spine North America, and the North American Spine Society.
Timothy Pawlik, MD, MPH, PhD
Timothy M. Pawlik received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed his surgical training at the University of Michigan Hospital and spent two years at the Massachusetts General Hospital as a surgical oncology research fellow. Dr. Pawlik went on for advanced training in surgical oncology at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. His main clinical interests include alimentary tract surgery, with a special interest in hepatic and pancreatobiliary diseases. Dr. Pawlik also has an interest in medical ethics and completed a fellowship in medical ethics at the Harvard School of Public Health as well as a Masters in Theology from Harvard Divinity School in Boston.
Bashar Safar, MD
Dr. Bashar Safar is a colorectal surgeon whose clinical focus includes colon and rectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and benign anorectal disorders. He has a particular interest in surgical management of complex Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis. He is an expert in minimally invasive and robotic procedures, as well as stoma sparing procedures, such as ileal pouch anal anastomosis. He is experienced in treating other benign colorectal conditions, such as hemorrhoids, perirectal fistulas, rectal prolapse, fecal incontinence and using endoscopy for screening colonoscopy and polyectomy.
Thomas Scalea, MD
Dr. Scalea was born in Rochester, New York in 1951. He received his B.A. with distinction in January 1974 from the University of Virginia and his Medical Degree from the Medical College of Virginia in 1978. After surgery residency in Syracuse, New York, Dr. Scalea completed a trauma and critical care fellowship at the New York Medical College.
In the mid 1980’s, Dr. Scalea became the Director of Critical Care and Trauma at the King’s County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York and built those into nationally recognized services. In 1991, Dr. Scalea founded the Department of Emergency Medicine at King’s County Hospital and SUNY Brooklyn. This occurred after a very well publicized incident of allegations of poor medical care. Dr. Scalea reorganized clinical care and recruited an entire academic faculty. Over three years later, his department was granted an ACGME approved residency training program in emergency medicine on the first attempt.
In 1997, Dr. Scalea became the Physician-in-Chief at the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. Believing that one must lead by example, he remains a busy clinical surgeon still taking night call. The Program in Trauma encompasses 70 physicians from seven different academic departments in the University of Maryland Baltimore. The Program in Trauma is one of two independent academic homes for faculty. As Director, Dr. Scalea serves at the level of chairman within the school and hospital. As Physician-in-Chief, Dr. Scalea is responsible for clinical care in all medical administrative functions of Shock Trauma. When Dr. Scalea arrived, the Shock Trauma Center admitted approximately 5800 patients. Treatment protocols have been streamlined. Innovative administrative redesign has decreased length of stay 15%. This year the Shock Trauma will admit over 7700 patients.
Additionally, Dr. Scalea has reorganized both research and education in the Program in Trauma. Under Dr. Scalea’s leadership, trauma has become a requirement for all third year medical students and is described as one of the best experiences during medical school.
Girma Tefera, MD
A native of Ethiopia, Dr. Tefera has dedicated himself to building robust and strategic partnerships that strengthen the way in which health care is delivered in his homeland. Dr. Tefera grew up in Chencha, a small town in the south of Ethiopia, as one of seven children. He left home at age 12 to enroll in high school 35 kilometers away and later traveled to Italy to pursue medicine. After medical school, he served in the military in Ethiopia for five years. Dr. Tefera completed postgraduate training in general surgery first in Germany and later again in Washington, DC, due to difficulties returning to Africa. Since moving to Madison to pursue a vascular surgery fellowship, he has continued as a member of the University of Wisconsin faculty and participates in community outreach at several local clinics. At least semiannually, Dr. Tefera has returned to Ethiopia, volunteering his surgical skills and recruiting U.S. colleagues to provide needed educational and training support, supplies, and equipment. These efforts evolved into a professional bilateral exchange with Ethiopian surgeons traveling to Wisconsin for training in trauma management, surgical oncology, and laparoscopic surgery. Over the past four years, Dr. Tefera’s contributions have been further magnified as additional stakeholders and funding have enabled significant investments in the long-term health care needs of Ethiopia, including workforce expansion, formal academic partnerships, and establishment of the country’s first emergency medicine residency program. Collaborative efforts are underway to address intensive care, pediatrics, and medicine programs, as well as upgrades to the operating rooms and surgical services. This broadly based work will strategically build the necessary infrastructure and train a workforce appropriate to local needs.
Matthew Weiss, MD
Matthew Weiss, MD, FACS, specializes in surgery for pancreatic and liver cancer, as well as benign hepatopancreatobiliary diseases, including cystic lesions of the pancreas. In addition to performing the Whipple procedure, he has particular expertise in minimally invasive pancreatic resections. Dr. Weiss' clinical interests also include colorectal metastases to the liver, hepatocellular carcinomas, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas, bile duct cancers (Klatskin tumors), intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms of the pancreas, neuroendocrine tumors, and gallbladder cancers.
His research interests include the examining the outcomes following the utilization of minimally invasive and robotic surgery in pancreatic and liver surgery. He is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the Society of Surgical Oncology, the American Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association, and the Association for Academic Surgery.
Christopher Wolfgang, MD, PhD
Christopher L. Wolfgang, M.D., Ph.D., FACS, is an Associate Professor of Surgery at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an attending surgeon at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Wolfgang obtained his medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine and residency training in General Surgery at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. In addition, Dr. Wolfgang has obtained a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry, also from Temple University School of Medicine. Dr. Wolfgang has completed a research fellowship in surgical oncology from Penn State and a clinical fellowship in gastrointestinal surgery at Johns Hopkins. His primary clinical interests are cancers and benign disease of the liver, pancreas, bile duct and gallbladder. His major scientific interest is in the biological behavior of pancreatic cancers. His Research Interests include Biological mechanism of the initiation and growth of pancreatic cancers and pancreatic cysts.