Department Newsletter "Surgical Notes"
Stay up-to-date on recent news from the department, including faculty accomplishments and updates, surgery research and publications, housestaff accomplishments, and staff introductions.
December 2020
Recent Headlines
Recent Publications
Division of Urology
"Robotic Urological Surgery in the Time of COVID-19: Challenges and Solutions" authors Lance J. Hampton, Riccardo Autorino, et. al. AUA | Journal Urology Practice | Patient Care Nov 2020 Link to journal | Division of Urology
Welcome New Faculty — October/November 2020
New Faculty Announcements
Jose Trevino, MD, FACS
Division Chair and Associate Professor of Surgery
Dr. Trevino joins us from the University of Florida-Gainesville, where he has taught since 2011 as an associate professor of surgery with tenure in the Division of Surgical Oncology and Pancreaticobiliary Surgery. He received his medical degree from the University of Illinois where he also completed his general surgery residency.
Dr. Trevino completed a research fellowship in cancer biology, tumor signaling, and biology at MD Anderson and his surgical oncology fellowship at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute. His interests include cancer health disparities, pancreatic cancer biology and tumor microenvironment, cancer cachexia, novel therapeutics and how they relate to pancreatic cancer health equity.
11/1/20
Raphael Louie, MD, MPH
Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery
Dr. Louie received his MPH and medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He then joined the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for residency and then returned to UNC for a fellowship in complex general surgical oncology and traineeship in geriatric oncology.
His interests include breast cancer disparities and outcomes research, as well as disparities in care for the aging surgical oncology patient population.
10/26/20
Katherine Klein, MD, MS
Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Dr. Klein received her master's and medical degrees from the University of Toledo where she also completed her general surgery residency. She then joined the University of Michigan where she completed her fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery. Dr. Klein's research interests include advances in heart transplantation, proximal tubular injury and patients with renal artery stenosis, and RV failure associated with LVAD implantation.
10/12/20
Paschalia M. (Lina) Mountziaris, MD, PhD
Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery
Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Dr. Mountziaris is an Assistant Professor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at VCU Health. She was raised in upstate New York, and graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University. She earned her medical degree, as well as a Ph.D. in Bioengineering, through the Medical Scientist Training Program at Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University. She completed residency at Albany Medical Center, followed by fellowship training in complex reconstruction and microsurgery at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her clinical interests include complex oncologic and trauma reconstruction, with a focus on microsurgical flaps.
Walker Julliard, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Dr. Julliard received his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He went on to complete his residency at University of Wisconsin and later his fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at UVA. His areas of interest include the surgical treatment of non-cardiac diseases of the chest which includes all diseases of the lungs, the chest wall, the airways, and the esophagus. His research interests include how the immune system adapts based on environmental factors with the ultimate goal of identifying ways to alter the adaptive immune system to better accept lung transplants while still fighting against lung cancers.
Stephen Sharp, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery
Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery
Dr. Sharp joins us from Cleveland Clinic Florida where he served as a staff surgeon. He received his medical degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and completed his residency at Albany Medical Center. He then joined Cleveland Clinic Florida for his fellowship in colorectal surgery. Dr. Sharp has particular interest in minimally invasive colorectal surgery, colorectal and anal cancer, surgical management of inflammatory bowel disease, colonic diverticular disease, benign anal and rectal conditions, and colonoscopy. His research interests include surgical outcomes research for benign and malignant colorectal conditions as well as colorectal racial disparities research.
Ashley Slaughter, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Division of Acute Care Surgical Services
Dr. Slaughter received her medical degree from the University of Rochester and went on to complete her general surgery residency here at VCU. She completed her fellowship in surgical critical care at Medstar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. Dr. Slaughter has particular interest in acute care and trauma surgery, injury and violence prevention, as well as community outreach.
Arturo Cardounel, MD, PhD
As
sistant Professor of Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Dr. Cardounel joins us from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where he completed his cardiothoracic surgery residency. Prior to joining University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Cardounel completed his PhD here at VCU and his MD at the Ohio State University. He is currently pursing basic cardiovascular research that aligns with his clinical interest in heart failure. In this regard, he is building on his expertise in redox signaling to identify novel molecular pathways involved in the pathophysiology of right ventricular dysfunction.
Lauren Nigro, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Dr. Nigro received her medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She then completed her Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery residency here at VCU and her fellowship in Breast and Microsurgical Reconstruction at Mercy Medical Center. Dr. Nigro's clinical interests include autologous breast reconstruction. Her research interests include improving aesthetic and functional outcomes of implant-based and autologous breast reconstruction.
Mack Drake, DO
Assistant Clinical Professor
Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Dr. Drake received his doctor of osteopathic medicine degree from Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine. He later completed his internship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, residency at Virginia Tech, and his fellowships in trauma and critical care at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. Dr. Drake's research interests include trauma and burn frailty and outcome measures, remote burn care in medically underserved regions, and critical care optimization of potential organ donors.
Jill Peysha, MD
Instructor
Division of Colon & Rectal Surgery
Dr. Peysha received her medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and then completed her residency here at VCU. Dr. Peysha has particular interest in trauma and acute care surgery as well as disorders of the colon and rectum to include rectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. She will jointly support the Divisions of Colorectal Surgery and Acute Care Surgical Services.
Stacy Street, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor
Division of Acute Care Surgical Services
Dr. Street received her medical degree from Marshall University School of Medicine, now the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University. She went on to complete her general surgery residency at the Medical College of Georgia and surgical research at the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics. Her areas of expertise and interest include wound healing, advanced wound care, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and research related to clinical practices in wound care.
Faculty Promotions
Congratulations to the following faculty on their recent promotion and/or tenure:
Rahul J. Anand, MD | Professor
Michael J. Feldman, MD | Professor
Stefan W. Leichtle, MD | Associate Professor
Kandace P. McGuire, MD | Professor
Jennifer L. Rhodes, MD | Professor
(June 2020)
Employee Spotlight
Alexa Rosswog
Alexa joined the pediatric urology team just over four months ago where she serves as an administrative assistant. She provides support to the pediatric urology faculty and staff to include calendar management, credentialing, expense reimbursement, and other administrative duties.
Announcement from Dr. Kasirajan
All Hands on Deck: Tackling Covid-19
To each of our team members, I want to thank you for what you do each and every day.
The entire Department of Surgery has stepped up in ways unimaginable to tackle this monster together. We want to especially recognize the following team members for stepping up to lead us through this "all hands on deck" action.
- David Lanning, MD: Interim CMO leading our organization from preparation into surge planning
- Anthony Cassano, MD: Associate CMO leading surgical services preparations
- Tony Herndon, MD: Children's Surgery and resident education planning
- Aimee Grover, MD: Wellness activities with the Health System and the School of Medicine
- Kandace McGuire, MD and Vinay Kumaran, MD: Reviewing testing vs. CT scans for all operative patients
- James Whelan, MD, Kwame Akuomoah-Boateng, DNP, Jill Peysha, MD, & Brian Kaplan, MD: Inpatient staffing leaders
- Laura Boomer, MD, Christin Kim, MD & Paula Ferrada, MD: ICU resource champions
- Levi Procter, MD: OR PPE Taskforce
- Guilherme Campos, MD, Mena Dous, Jeremy Powers, MD, & Erin MacMillan, PA: Outpatient staffing planning leaders
- Sterling Hundley & Amanda Jabri: Incredible work to identify alternate sources of masks to include 3D printing
- Martin Mangino, PhD & Kirsty Dixon, PhD: Generously donated PPE from ORBIT
- Katie Golob & Nikki Meador: Incredible administrative and operational leadership
- Our Associate Administrators and staff: Without you, we would all be lost
Vigneshwar Kasirajan, MD
Chair, Department of Surgery
Keeping Up with VCU Surgery
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