Education News - Current Academic Year

Congratulations to this year's winners of the J. Bradley Aust Surgical Society Resident Paper Competition, held June 19-21, 2008:
Basic Science - 1st place, Adham Saad; 2nd place, Francis Ali-Osman; 3rd place, Megan Steigelman
Clinical - 1st place, Heather Pidcoke; 2nd place, Jason Pfluke; 3rd place, Penner Schraudenbach. (6-23-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery research resident Heather Pidcoke, MD, who has been awarded a $1000 travel grant by the Shock Society to attend their 2008 International Shock Congress in Cologne, Germany. More about Dr. Pidcoke (6-17-08)

The Department of Surgery is extremely pleased to announce the selection of two of our General Surgery residents, Cristiane Ueno, MD, and Joseph Love, MD, as recipients of the 2008 Humanism in Medicine Award from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. This award recognizes those physicians in training who seek to elevate humanistic qualities essential to good doctoring: integrity, excellence, compassion, altruism, respect, empathy and service. (6-16-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery resident Cristiane Ueno, MD: The American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress Abstract Review Committee has accepted her abstract, 'Epidemiology of Pediatric Burn Injuries Treated at Recently Established Local/ Regional Pediatric Burn Center: Identification of Risk Groups, Behavior and Outcomes' for exhibition at the ACS 2008 Clinical Congress. (6-16-08)

Congratulations to this year's 241 SAUSHEC medical graduates: On June 6, 2008, at the UT Health Science Center auditorium, this year's San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium graduates were honored in an awards and graduation ceremony. SAUSHEC is the sponsoring organization for all military graduate medical education in San Antonio. Read more about SAUSHEC 2008 graduation ceremony. (6-12-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery resident Gustavo Guajardo, MD, whose paper, Black bean extract ameliorates liver fibrosis in rats with CCl4-induced injury, has been published in the Annals of Heptaology, April-June 2008. (6-0-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery research residents Heather Pidcoke, MD, and Megan Steigelman, MD, who have successfully completed the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio Master's of Science in Clinical Investigation program, earning their MSCI degrees. (6-2-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery research resident Heather Pidcoke, MD, whose abstract, 'Insulin therapy reduces loss of total muscle and adipose tissue mass in a burn/disuse rat model of hypermetabolism,' has been accepted as an oral presentation at the September 2008 International Society of Burn Injury Conference in Montreal. (6-2-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery Residents Maria Luisa Martinez, MD, and Gustavo Guajardo, MD, who have been selected by the American College of Surgeons Resident and Associate Society selection committee for participation in Surgical Jeopardy at the Fall 2008 ACS National Meeting. Teams are limited, and are chosen via a rigorous selection process. (5-30-08)

Congratulations to Amita Shah, MD, General Surgery research resident, whose abstract, 'Alterations in metabolic activity of human umbilical vein endothelial cells cultured on gas-plasma treated poly(d,l-lactic) acid scaffolds', has been accepted for presentation at the 2008 Society for Biomaterials Translational Biomaterial Research Symposium in Atlanta, GA. (5-29-08)

Congratulations to Amita Shah, MD, General Surgery research resident, who was awarded AT&T Presidential Scholarship in 2008. This scholarship will assist Dr. Shah with tuition and expenses for her graduate studies in the joint program for advanced studies in biomedical engineering (UTSA and UTHSCSA). (5-29-08)

Congratulations to our 2008 graduating General Surgery residents! Drs. Thomas Bening, Hector Flores, Ladd Hoffman, Brian Holt, Nitin Katariya, Kathryne Senechal, Jon Thompson, and Ryan Tyner graduate June 30, 2008. We wish them all the best! (5-22-08)

Thomas Bening, MD, General Surgery, Austin Regional Clinic, Austin, TX
Hector Flores MD, Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Ladd Hoffman MD, General Surgery, Scenic Mountain Medical Center, Big Spring, TX
Captain Brian L. Holt, General Surgery, Misawa Air Base, Japan

Nitin Katariya MD, Unknown at this time
Captain Kathryne L. Senechal, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
Jon Thompson MD, General Surgery, Wilkes Regional Medical Center, North Wilkesboro, NC
Captain Ryan Tyner, General Surgery, Wilford Hall Medical Center, San Antonio, TX

Congratulations to General Surgery research resident Francis Ali-Osman, MD, whose abstract, 'Lentiviral Mediated Genetic Downregulation of Murine CCR2', has been accepted for poster presentation for the 11th Annual Department of Medicine Research Day, May 13, 2008. (5-07-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery research resident Susannah Nicholson, MD, whose abstract, 'Heme derived iron reduces wound thickness,' has been accepted for presentation at the October 2008 American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress Surgical Forum in San Francisco, CA. (4-29-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery research resident Shaun Gifford, MD, who has been awarded $102k in funding by the Office of Biomedical Research, Surgeon General of the Air Force, for his project, 'Global War on Terror (GWOT) Vascular Injury Initiative'. (4-24-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery resident Shaun Gifford, MD, who has been invited to present the keynote address to the International Surgical Congress of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland in May 2008, in Bournemouth, UK. Dr. Gifford's keynote address topic: 'Damage control adjunts in the setting of wartime vascular injury: U.S. persective.' Dr. Gifford will also be presenting 'A porcine model of ischemia- reperfusion using temporary vascular shunts: the impact of early versus late shunt placement' at the May 2008 Rochester Vascular Conference in Rochester, NY. (4-23-08)

Congratulations to the medical students who have been selected to receive summer research stipends for research projects with Department of Surgery faculty mentors. Summer research stipends are funded through the Medical Dean's Office, and are awarded each year to support medical students engaged in summer research with HSC faculty. Read more about the 2008 Summer Research Stipends. (4-17-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery resident Rafael Diaz-Flores, MD, whose manuscript, 'Bar-coding surgical sponges to improve safety: a randomized controlled trial,' has been published in the April 2008 Annals of Surgery. (4-16-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery resident Joseph Love, DO, who has been selected to attend the Advanced Laparoscopic GERD/Bariatric Surgery Workshop of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) annual meeting in Ohio in May 2008. (4-7-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery research resident Heather Pidcoke, MD, whose presentation "Insulin therapy improves glucose dispoal in burned, hindlimb unloaded rats," has been accepted for presentation at the summer 2008 International Shock Congress in Cologne, Germany. (3-20-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery resident Kishore Malireddy, MD, whose abstract, "Risk factors for recurrence and the impact of post-operative prophylaxis in ileal colonic Crohn's Disease," has been accepted for presentation at the Boston, MA, American Society for Colon and Rectal Surgeons Annual Meeting in June 2008. (3-18-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery resident Shaun Gifford, MD, who has, along with mentor Todd Rasmussen, MD, been awarded $81k from the Air Force Surgeon General Biomedical Research Office for their project entitled, "Temporary Vascular Shunting in a Porcine Model of Extremity Vascular Injury and Ischemia Reperfusion." (3-14-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery residents Gustavo Guajardo, MD, and Maria Luisa Martinez Ugarte, MD, whose work, "Predictors of Weight loss and Effectiveness of Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass in the Morbidly Obese Hispano-American Population," has been epublished the Journal of Obesity Surgery. (3-10-08)

2008 Summer Medical Research Program deadline approaching: March 21, 2008 - Apply now for summer 2008 research stipends. Stipends are awarded for 5-8 weeks of full-time research with UTHSCSA faculty. More info | Link to application | Student research mentors (03-06-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery resident Capt. Jason M. Pfluke, MD, whose abstract, "Minimizing Complications and Conversions in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Using a Systematic Dissection Algorithm and Laparoscopic Biliary Ultrasound," has been selected for a podium presentation at the Society of Air Force Clinical Surgeons (SAFCS) in Cincinnati, Ohio in April 2008. (3-4-08)

The Department of Surgery is proud to announce the first Witten B. Russ International Student Travel (WRIST) Fellowship Program, supporting medical students who are engaged in research. Directed by Fruzsina Johnson, MD, the program will select two WRIST Fellows; application deadline is April 11, 2008. | More info on WRIST Fellowship. (2-29-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery research resident SreyRam Kuy, MD, whose editorial, "Stand up for patients," was published in the Feb. 28, 2008, online Los Angeles Times. Dr. Kuy is currently conducting research in a two-year Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and Yale University School of Medicine Clinical Scholars Program. | Read LA Times article. (2-29-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery research resident Sam Bastani, MD, whose abstract entitled, 'Chemokine receptor blockade induces regulatory T cells,' has been accepted for presentation at the annual Longmire Surgical Society Los Angeles meeting on March 28, 2008. (2-27-08)

Congratulations to Lauren Buck, MD, General Surgery Resident, whose abstract, 'Impact of gastric irrigation on NOTES mesh placement', has been selected for poster presentation during Digestive Disease Week, to be held at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA, May 17-22, 2008. (2-21-08)

Congratulations to Christiane Ueno, MD, General Surgery Resident, whose manuscript, 'Evaluation of the use of Biobrane for Wound Care in Pediatric Burn Patients in San Antonio,' has been accepted for a podium presentation at the Wound Healing Society / Symposium on Wound Care April 2008 meeting in San Diego. (2-19-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery resident Lillian F. Liao, MD, who has been elected to the 2008-2009 House Staff Council. Dr. Liao will begin serving as Vice President on March 1, 2008. (2-14-08)

Congratulations to General Surgery residents Mark Muir, MD, (l) and Nitin Katariya, MD, (r) who will be participating in the ACS Jeopardy Challenge on February 28 and 29, 2008, during the annual meeting of the South Texas Chapter of the ACS in Houston. This is the 3rd year that UTHSCSA has participated. (2-13-08)

Congratulations to Sam Bastani, DO, general surgery research resident, on the publication of his manuscript, Lung transplantation in older patients? in the February 2008 Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Epub 2007 Dec 26. Dr. Bastani's two-year research rotation is in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. (2-7-08)

Congratulations to general surgery research resident Heather Pidcoke, MD, who will give an invited talk at the NIH to speak on 'Beyond Insulin Dependent Diabetes' for a July 2008 workshop titled 'Towards An Artificial Pancreas: An FDA/NIH/JDRF Workshop.' The invitation results from a multimillion dollar congressional grant titled Technology for Metabolic Monitoring, awarded to Dr. Pidcoke's mentors, Drs. Steven Wolf and Charles Wade, for the development of an ICU artificial pancreas. (1-30-08)

The Department of Surgery is pleased to announce NIH award of a T32 training grant to support research training. The five-year grant will provide stipend and research funds for residents during their two-year research training assignments. (PI: Stephen M. Cohn, MD, Chair) (1-18-08)

Congratulations to surgery resident Shaun Gifford, MD, who presented "Penetrating Femoropopliteal Injury During Modern Warfare: Experience of the Balad Vascular Registry," at the San Antonio Vascular Surgery Society, October 2007, where it was awarded 'Best presentation by a resident'; and presented again at the Society of Military Vascular Surgeons in November 2007. (1-11-08)

Additional Congratulations to surgery resident Shaun Gifford, MD, whose abstract "Management of venous injuries at the Air Force Theater Hospital in Balad, Iraq," has been selected for presentation at the 20th Annual American Venous Forum in February 2008. (1-7-08)

Congratulations to surgery resident Steven Chen, MD, whose abstract "A report of two rare cases of venous aneurysms," has been selected for presentation at the 20th Annual American Venous Forum in February 2008. (1-7-08)

Congratulations to surgery research resident Heather Pidcoke, MD, who has had two abstracts accepted for presentation: "Diurnal pattern in endogenous insulin secretion persists in severely injured patients," to be presented at the April 2008 meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, and "Subcutaneous continuous glucose monitoring (Cgm) is accurate but imprecise in edematous trauma patients," to be presented at the May 2008 meeting of the Surgical Infection Society. (1-7-08)

Congratulations to surgery resident Thomas Bening, MD, whose abstract, "The safety of laparoscopy during pregnancy," has been accepted as a poster presentation for the March 2008 Southwestern Surgical Congress meeting in Acapulco, Mexico. (12-17-07)

Congratulations to surgery resident Jason Pfluke, MD, whose abstract, "Minimizing Complications and Conversions in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy using a Systematic Dissection Algorithm and Laparoscopic Biliary Ultrasound," has been accepted for poster presentation at the April 2008 Society of Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) Scientific Session. (12-7-07)

Congratulations to surgery research resident Heather Pidcoke, MD, who has had two abstracts accepted for presentation in February 2008: "Correction of Hematocrit Effect in Glucometers Decreases Hypoglycemia and Improves Moderate But Not Tight Glucose Control" for the Society of Critical Care Medicine meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, and "Glucose Diurnal is Patterned Blunted in Non-Survivors versus Survivors of Burn Injury," for the Academic Surgical Congress in Huntington Beach, California. (11-30-07)

Congratulations to surgery resident Megan Steigelman, MD, on presentation at the Southwestern Surgical Congress and publication in the American Journal of Surgery of her manuscript, Laparoscopic appendectomy is superior to open appendectomy in obese patients. (11-29-07) Congratulations to surgery resident Elizabeth Thomas, MD, who has been awarded a scholarship from the Women in Thoracic Surgery Society to fund her attendance at the Society for Thoracic Surgery meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in January 2008. (11-26-07)

Congratulations to Francis Ali-Osman, MD, research resident, whose abstract, "Lentiviral silencing of CCR2 inhibits the progression of nephropathy in a Type II diabetic mouse model," has been accepted for presentation at the January 2008 3rd Annual Academic Surgical Congress in Huntington Beach, CA. (11-14-07)

Congratulations to Sam Bastani, MD, research resident, whose abstract, "Outcome of Lung Transplantation in Patients with Primary Pulmonary Hypertension," was accepted for oral presentation in the Cardiothoracic Specialty Section session of the annual Southern California Chapter of the American College of Surgeons (SCCCACS) meeting in Santa Barbara, CA, in January 2008. (11-13-07)

Congratulations to Sam Bastani, MD, research resident, whose abstract, "Lung transplantation in patients 60 years and older," was accepted for poster presentation at the January 2008 Winter Symposium of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons. (11-7-07)

Congratulations to Heather Pidcoke, MD, Research Resident, on publication of her article, 'Insulin and the Burned Patient,' in Critical Care Medicine, 2007, Volume, 35.

Congratulations to Adham Saad, MD, Surgery Resident, who has been awarded a 2008 Society of Thoracic Surgeons 'Looking to the Future' scholarship. The scholarship award will be used by Dr. Saad to offset expenses to attend the 44th STS Annual Meeting in January 2008. (11-2-07)

Congratulations to Sam Bastani, MD, research resident, on his abstract entitled, "Chemokine receptor blockade induces regulatory T cells," which has been accepted for oral presentation at the 28th annual International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation meeting in April 2008. (10-29-07)

Congratulations to Jason P. Jundt on his selection as the 2007 recipient of the American College of Surgery Congress medical student stipend. Mr. Jundt has already been successful in his pursuit of a surgical career. His essay was well written and reflected dedication to the study of the art and science of surgery. He has spent time with the Trauma Service resulting in a paper to be published in the American journal of Surgery. (9-17-07)

Congratulations to Heather Pidcoke, MD, whose paper, "Insulin and the Burned Patient," has been published in Critical Care Medicine. Her abstract, "Chronobiology of glucose diurnal variation in critical injury re-established after disruption due to changes in time zone," has been accepted for presentation at the October 2007 American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress Surgical Forum. (9-5-07)

Congratulations to Ralf Harskamp, M.S. and Margreet van Ginkel on on their win in the Student/Resident Category at the Department of Medicine Annual Research Day. Research topic:"Neutralization of interleukin (IL)-18 or IL-18BP/FC Chimera Block IL-18-Mediated PI3K-IKK-NF-κB-Dependent Fibronectin Expression in Human Cardiac Fibroblasts." Research team: Ralf Harskamp; Seenu V. Reddy, M.D., M.B.A.; John H. Calhoon, M.D.; Clinton E. Baisden, M.D., F.A.C.S.; Bysani Chandrasekar, D.V.M., Ph.D. Read story in HSC News ... (8-13-07)

Top of Page