News

On National Women Physicians Day, the Muriel Steele Society and the UCSF Department of Surgery honor the amazing team of women surgeons, scientists, learners, and staff that have made so many important contributions to improving the lives of our patients. About the Muriel Steele Society at UCSF The Muriel Steele Society is an inclusive community dedicated to inspiring, supporting, and promoting women surgeons so they can thrive at all stages of their careers. We will be hosting events throughout the year to foster a strong community of allies and to achieve the goal of continued [...]

Committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion UCSF and the Department and Surgery are committed to building a broadly diverse community, nurturing a culture that is welcoming and supportive, and engaging diverse ideas for the provision of culturally competent education, discovery, and patient care. Chancellor Awards for Diversity Chancellor Awards for Diversity recognize the outstanding efforts of individuals who demonstrate a strong dedication to diversity. Individuals recognized are leaders and pioneers in their respective fields and to the communities in which they serve. We are proud [...]

A new UC San Francisco study sheds light on the diversity within the most common type of pediatric liver tumor and suggests a way forward for more precise chemotherapy treatment. The study, publishing in Nature Communications on August 25, used single-cell transcriptomic techniques to analyze hepatoblastoma specimens from infants and children under age four. From nine samples, the researchers identified five hepatoblastoma tumor signatures that may account for the heterogeneity in this cancer, and that may predict responses to chemotherapy treatments.

We are pleased to announce that Willieford Moses, MD will be joining our faculty in the fall as a pediatric surgeon based at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital – Oakland (BCHO). Dr. Moses graduated from Duke University in 2006 with a BS in Psychology, and received his MD from UCSF School of Medicine in 2011. He completed his general surgery residency at UCSF, graduating in 2018. During his resident research years, Dr. Moses worked in the BioDesign Lab of Dr. Shuvo Roy as a Surgical Innovations Fellow, part of a collaboration between the DoS and the Department of Bioengineering & [...]

Pediatric surgeon-scientist Amar Nijagal, M.D. has been awarded an American Cancer Society Individual Research Grant to study the crucial link between liver and bile duct development, and hepatobiliary cancers. The study is entitled: "Single cell characterization and organoid development of pediatric choledochal cysts and hepatoblastoma to understand the link between liver development and hepatobiliary malignancy."  Project Summary Developmental abnormalities of the liver and bile ducts can lead to life-threatening cancers. Both choledochal cysts, congenital dilations of the biliary tree [...]

Christopher R. Newton, MD, FACS, FAAP and Elliott Vichinsky, MD have been honored as Endowed Physicians by UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland.  Dr. Newton is Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of Pediatric Surgery, Medical Director of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care, and Co-Director of the Neuroscience Center. The award ceremony, held earlier this year at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, was hosted by Michael R. Anderson, MD, MBA, FAAP, FCCM, President of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals.  Dr. Vichinsky, a pediatric hematologist/oncologist, is [...]

A research team including UCSF pediatric surgeons Dr. Olajire Idowu and Dr. Sunghoon Kim has been awarded a grant to support commercialization of the "Prolapse Whisperer", a novel medical device to treat and prevent recurrent stomal prolapse. Stomal prolapse occurs when the bowel near the stoma, a surgically created intestinal opening, intussuscepts from within causing possible bowel obstruction and  ischemia (restriction in blood supply to tissues). Current treatments include manual reduction by force or a surgical procedure. Unfortunately, neither is durable and additional recurrences are [...]

"This group of vulnerable patients has been relatively ignored in the fetal surgery world," said UCSF's Tippi MacKenzie, MD, senior author of the new study and member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, who has worked for a decade developing novel therapies for heritable diseases that can be treated before birth. "We know these patients could potentially benefit from a number of medical therapies. So this is our first foray into treating one of those diseases."

The Department of Surgery warmly welcomes our new clinical fellows for the 2019-20 academic year, a diverse group of surgeons bringing a rich array of experiences from leading institutions.  Abdominal Transplant Surgery Carrie Thiessen, M.D., Ph.D. Clinical Fellow (PGY-6)Abdominal Transplant Surgery Steven Wisel, M.D., B.S. Clinical Fellow (PGY-6)Abdominal Transplant Surgery Advanced GI/MIS/Bariatrics Kiavash R. Koko, M.D. Clinical Fellow (PGY-6)Advanced [...]

The Department of Surgery is pleased to announce that Elizabeth C. Wick, M.D. and Jason H. Pomerantz, M.D. have been appointed Co-Chairs of the Department of Surgery Research Committee. Dr. Wick is a professor of surgery in the Section of Colorectal Surgery. She is an experienced laparoscopic surgeon, treating the entire spectrum of colorectal conditions including diverticular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, colon and rectal cancer, anal cancer, and perianal disease with a patient-‐centered approach. Dr. Wick has contributed to the understanding of almost every aspect of perioperative [...]

Four members of the UCSF Department of Surgery were recently honored with Exceptional Physician Awards by UCSF Health. The four were nominated and selected based on their demonstration of UCSF's core PRIDE values -- Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Diversity and Excellence. Their hard work, dedication and contributions are a testament to the exemplary relationships they have with faculty, staff and patients, and their steadfast commitment to providing outstanding care for our patients.  The Department of Surgery captured 4 of the 9 Exceptional Physician Awards awarded this year to [...]

Linda M. Reilly, M.D., Professor of Vascular Surgery, and Program Director of the UCSF General Surgery Residency Program, has been named the recent recipient of two prestigious awards: the 2019 Nina Starr Braunwald Award from the Association of Women Surgeons (AWS), and the 2019 UCSF Health Exceptional Physician Award. The Nina Starr Braunwald Award is given by the AWS annually in recognition of outstanding lifetime contributions to the advancement of women in surgery. Dr. Reilly was nominated for this award by members of the UCSF Muriel Steele Society. The award will be presented to Dr. [...]

Amar Nijagal, M.D., an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, was awarded a Pilot/Feasibility Award from the UCSF Liver Center, of which he is now an associate member. An external advisory board comprised of leading liver scientists evaluated applications for this award. Dr. Nijagal's research proposal, "The Role of Monocytes on The Resolution of Perinatal Hepatic Inflammation", was among three chosen for this highly competitive award. Dr. Nijagal's laboratory focuses on perinatal inflammation of the liver as it can have life-threatening consequences, particularly in infants and [...]

Pediatric surgeon-scientist Amar Nijagal, M.D., Assistant Professor in the Division of Pediatric Surgery, has been awarded the 29th Franklin H. Martin, MD, FACS Faculty Research Fellowship from the American College of Surgeons. His research will study the role of neutrophils and monocytes during the initiation and resolution of neonatal liver inflammation.   Dr. Nijagal's laboratory is focused on the immune regulation of liver development and perinatal liver inflammation.  Using an infectious model of neonatal liver inflammation, Dr. Nijagal's group has made the striking observation that the [...]

We are pleased to announce that pediatric and trauma surgeon Aaron R. Jensen, M.D., MEd, FACS, FAAP has joined the Department of Surgery faculty as an assistant professor and Associate Director of the Pediatric Surgery Fellowship. Dr. Jensen will be based at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland, where he will serve as Associate Trauma Medical Director.  Dr. Jensen trained at the University of Washington in General Surgery prior to completing fellowships in Pediatric Surgery, Minimally Invasive Surgery, and Surgical Critical Care at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles.   Dr. Jensen's [...]

The UCSF Department of Surgery had a banner year at the Pacific Coast Surgical Association (PCSA) annual meeting in Tuscon, Arizona on February 15-18, 2019 Seven department faculty were voted in as active members: Jade Hiramoto Elizabeth Wick Carter Lebares Rita Mukhtar Amar Nijagal Ankit Sarin Aaron Jensen Our UCSF faculty and learners were also recognized for their outstanding research, with a number of abstracts being chosen for podium presentations, several garnering awards.* Our medical student, Norah Liang, mentored by Dr. Lan Vu, of Pediatric Surgery, won her award [...]

Quoc-Hung "Key" Nguyen, MD, a UCSF general surgery resident and a research fellow in the basic science laboratory of Tippi MacKenzie, M.D., received two prestigious awards at the 14th Annual Academic Surgical Congress held in Houston, Texas on February 5-7, 2019. His participation was underwritten by the Department of Surgery Resident Travel Fund, recently established by the Department to promote excellence in resident research and participation in major surgical conferences. Dr. Nguyen's abstract, "In Utero Enzyme Replacement Therapy in Sly Syndrome Penetrates Blood-Brain Barrier and [...]

Michael Harrison, MD, Professor Emeritus of Surgery, Pediatrics, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Shuvo Roy, PhD, Professor of Bioengineering & Therapeutic Sciences at UCSF, and James Wall, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery at Stanford University have been awarded a five-year $6.7 million Pediatric Device Consortia (PDC) P50 grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The UCSF-Stanford PDC is one of five centers selected to participate in the national program aimed at accelerating the development [...]

UCSF News reports on the first patient enrolled in the world's first clinical trial using blood stem cells transplanted prior to birth. The stem cell transplant was used to treat alpha thalassemia major, a blood disorder that is only detected in the last few months of pregnancy and has been almost uniformly fatal in the past. The clinical trial is led by Tippi MacKenzie, MD, an associate professor in the UCSF Division of Pediatric Surgery and co-Director of the UCSF Center for Maternal-Fetal Precision Medicine. The study is funded by a $12.1M grant from the California Institute for [...]

Benjamin Padilla M.D., a UCSF pediatric and fetal surgeon, and assistant professor in the Division of Pediatric Surgery, has been honored with the Exceptional Physician Award by UCSF Health. He was one of only eight recipients out of more than 100 nominations from a pool of several thousand UCSF physicians. The awards were announced by Josh Adler, MD, Executive Vice President, Physician Services, UCSF Health in an email to the entire UCSF community: These eight physicians were nominated and selected based on their demonstration of our core values of PRIDE -- Professionalism, Respect, [...]