Surgery Research - Research Resident Mentors

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Joel B. Baseman, PhD

Professor and Chairman, Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Email | UT faculty profile

Education: PhD, Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, 1968
Research project: Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MPN) is among the most common bacterial pathogens causing human respiratory diseases. Our recent discovery of a unique MPN toxin represents the first authentic virulence determinant found among all pathogenic mycoplasmas, and appears to be a bona fide ADP-ribosylating and vacuolating toxin, like the classical ADP-ribosylating toxins of pertussis, diphtheria etc. The roles that MPN and toxin, designated Community Acquired Respiratory Distress Syndrome (CARDS) toxin, play in acute and chronic airway diseases are being investigated, including the identification of diagnostic and therapeutic candidates for the clinical management and prevention of MPN-mediated airway diseases.

In parallel studies, we examine the sexually transmitted mycoplasma pathogen, Mycoplasma genitalium (MGN). We are clarifying MGN virulence determinants that mediate the dynamic interactions between MGN and human target cells, leading to overt clinical disease. Recently, we described the remarkable ability of MGN to exhibit perinuclear and intranucleolar localization, suggesting that this pathogen circumvents host defenses and navigates through host cell structures in order to establish and maintain viability and persistence. Specific gene products of MGN that contribute to this unique trafficking are being identified in order to understand how this pathogen elicits pathogenetic consequences and to identify MGN molecules that can be used as therapeutic targets to interrupt or prevent disease progression.

More about Dr. Baseman's research
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Lorne Blackbourne, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor (Adjunct)
University of Texas School of Medicine San Antonio, Department of Surgery
Division of Trauma and Emergency Surgery
Commander, US Army Institute of Surgical Research
Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, TX
Email

Education: MD, University of Virginia Medical School, 1990
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COL Leopoldo Cancio, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor (Adjunct)
University of Texas School of Medicine San Antonio, Department of Surgery
Division of Trauma and Emergency Surgery
US Army Institute of Surgical Research Burn Center
Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, TX
Email

Education: MD, Georgetown University, 1987
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Biosketch: Dr. Cancio completed a Residency in General Surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center, and is board-certified in Surgery. He served as a Regimental Surgeon during combat operations with the 82d Airborne Division in Panama (1989) and during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq (1990-91). He has been assigned to the Institute of Surgical Research since 1995, serving under Drs. Basil A. Pruitt, Jr., Cleon W. Goodwin, and John B. Holcomb. During the war in Iraq in 2003 he was assigned to the Special Operations Command as the Principal Investigator in theater for the hemostatic dressing human trial, the first wartime combat casualty care research protocol. He was the Director of the U.S. Army Burn Center from January 2003 until July 2004, and is the senior active duty burn surgeon in the U.S. Department of Defense. During 2005, Col. Cancio was Deputy Commander for Clinical Services and a Trauma Surgeon at the 86th Combat Support Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq.

Kevin Chung, MD

Education: MD, Georgetown University School of Medicine, 1999
Research project: Research interests include combat casualty care, burn resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, acute kidney injury and extracorporeal blood purification techniques for both renal and extra- renal indications.
Research laboratory: US Army Institute of Surgical Research Burn Center Clinical Trials Task Area
Biosketch: Dr. Chung is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and of Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon, Georgia and served one year as the Chief of Medical Residents. He completed a two year critical care medicine fellowship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Critical Care Medicine. He is currently assigned to the US Army Institute of Surgical Research where he is the Medical Director of the Burn Intensive Care Unit and the deputy task area manager for the clinical trials task area.

Stephen M. Cohn, MD

Witten B. Russ Professor of Surgery
University of Texas School of Medicine San Antonio, Department of Surgery
Division of Trauma and Emergency Surgery
Email | UT faculty profile

Education: MD, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 1988
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Biosketch: Dr. Cohn received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine and completed his residency training at Baylor and Boston University, where he then completed a critical care fellowship in 1987. He joined the faculty at Yale University in 1990 where he served as Chief of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care. In 1997 he arrived at the University of Miami to become Chief, Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care. While in Miami he also held the offices of Medical Director of the Ryder Trauma Center and Co-Director, US Army Trauma Training Center. Dr. Cohn holds the Witten B. Russ Professorship.

Michael Corneille, MD

Witten B. Russ Professor of Surgery
University of Texas School of Medicine San Antonio, Department of Surgery
Division of Trauma and Emergency Surgery
Email | UT faculty profile

Education: MD, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, 1998
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Biosketch: Dr. Corneille completed medical school at Eastern Virginia Medical School in 1998. After completing residency and critical care training at UTHSC, he joined the faculty in 2004. He is board certified in general surgery and surgical critical care. His interests include prevention of wound infections and glycemia control in the ICU.

Ken M. Hargreaves, DDS, PhD

Professor and Chair of Endodontics
Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Email | UT Pharmacology faculty profile

Education: DDS, Georgtown University, Washington, DC, 1983
PhD, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, 1986
Research project: My primary research interests are in the pharmacology of pain and inflammation. A major focus is on pharmacological regulation of unmyelinated "C" fiber nociceptors, as well as their plasticity in response to inflammation or nerve injury. Investigations are in progress evaluating the effects of cannabinoids, opioids, adrenergics, NPY, sex steroids and other drugs on regulating the activity of these fibers. In addition, we are interested in identifying major classes of inflammatory mediators and associated receptor/signal transduction systems which mediate activation, sensitization and phenotypic plasticity of these primary afferent fibers in response to tissue inflammation. Responses are measured using isolated superfused tissue, primary trigeminal cultures, microdialysis probes implanted in situ, RIA, EIA, real time PCR, Affymetrex analyses, IHC, ISH, confocal microscopy, behavior, etc.
Research laboratory: Video intro to Dr. Hargreaves' lab
Biosketch: Dr. Hargreaves received his BA in neurobiology from the Univeristy of California at Berkeley in 1977, his DDS from Georgetown University in Washington DC in 1983, and his PhD in Physiology from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland in 1986. From 1986 to 1990, he was a Staff Fellow and Senior Staff Fellow at the Neurobiology and Anesthesiology Branch of the National Institute of Dental Research (now NIDCR) at the NIH. He completed his residency in Endodontics at the University of Minnesota in 1993 and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics. Dr. Hargreaves is currently Professor and Chair of the Departent of Endodontics, and Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Department of Physiology and Department of Surgery at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He also maintains a private practice limited to endodontics.

LTC Todd E. Rassmussen, MD

Vascular Surgery, Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center
Lackland Air Force Base, Texas
Email

Education: MD, Mayo Medical School College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, 1993
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Research laboratory: Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center Vascular Surgery Research Laboratory
Biosketch: Dr. Rasmussen received his medical degree from the Mayo Medical School in 1993 and is board certified in both General Surgery and Vascular Surgery. He is currently a Lt. Col. with the U.S. Air Force and Chief of Vascular Services at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center. Dr. Rasmussen joined the Division of Vascular Surgery at the Health Science Center in 2005. His research and clinical interests include the endovascular management peripheral vascular disease and recurrent stenosis of the renal artery, after stenting.

Evan Renz, MD

Education: MD, University of South Dakota School of Medicine, Sioux Falls, SD, 1997
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Biosketch: Dr. Renz is a board certified general surgeon and career Army officer. Previously, he served as the Assistant Director at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research Burn Center and as Chief of the U.S. Army Burn Flight Team. Dr. Renz recently returned from Iraq where he served as a trauma surgeon at the 10th Combat Support Hospital stationed in Baghdad and as the theater consultant for burn surgery. His research interests are focused on combat casualty care, including long-range transport of the burn and trauma patient.

Martin G. Schwacha, PhD

Professor of Surgical Research
University of Texas School of Medicine San Antonio, Department of Surgery
Division of Trauma and Emergency Surgery
Email | UT faculty profile

Education: PhD, Albany Medical College, Albany NY in 1992
Research project: The Trauma Immunopathology Research Laboratory is a multidisciplinary laboratory devoted to the study of traumatic and burn injury. Studies within the laboratory encompass both laboratory and clinical research and are directed towards improving our understanding of the body's reaction to injury and infection at an immunological, pathological and physiological level. It is our hope that the systematic analysis of the body's response to traumatic injury can lead to the development of improved and innovative therapies for the treatment of burn and trauma patients.
Research laboratory: Trauma Immunopathology Research Laboratory
Biosketch: Martin G. Schwacha is a Professor of Surgery at UTHSCSA in the Division of Trauma and Emergency Surgery. He also holds the position of Research Scientist at the US Army Institute of Surgical Research. He has serves/served on the editorial boards of Shock and International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine as well as an ad hoc reviewer for numerous other scientific journal. Martin has also served as a review committee member for the NIH, Shriner's Hospital and DoD Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs and is an active member of a number of scientific societies focused on trauma, infection and/or immunology. He has obtained research funding from both the NIH and DoD. Martin received his BS from the University of Rhode Island in 1981. After working for the Veterans Administration in Providence RI as a research assistant he entered graduate school and obtained a PhD from Albany Medical College, Albany NY in 1992. Postdoctoral studies in immunology were completed at the Gamble Institute, Cincinnati, OH and Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. In 1997 he joined the Surgery faculty at Brown University, Providence RI and subsequently joined the faculty at University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2000. In 2008 he joined the faculty at UTHSCSA.

Paula K. Shireman, MD

Professor of Vascular Surgery and
Vice Dean for Research, Dielmann Chair in Surgery, UT School of Medicine San Antonio

University of Texas School of Medicine San Antonio, Department of Surgery
Division of Vascular/Endovascular Surgery
Email | UT faculty profile

Education: MD, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 1990
Research project: Our lab studies the inflammatory-mediated mechanisms of angiogenesis and skeletal muscle regeneration. We are particularly interested in how hematopoietic stem cells, myogenic stem cells and inflammatory cells interact to form muscle after injury. A better understanding of muscle regeneration will be useful in tissue regeneration strategies for limb salvage.
Research laboratory: Dr. Shireman's Vascular Research Laboratory
Biosketch: Dr. Shireman obtained her medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, IN in 1990 and completed her Vascular Surgery training at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL in 1998. She is currently certified with the American Board of Surgery in both General Surgery and Vascular Surgery. Dr. Shireman joined the Vascular Surgery Division at the Health Science Center in 1999. After arriving at the Health Science Center, Dr. Shireman completed her masters program in Clinical Investigation and received numerous grants for research from the NIH, the Department of Veteran Affairs, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the American Heart Association, and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. In 2004 Dr. Shireman was appointed to the faculty for the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies.