Winter 2017
Vol. 3, No. 1, 2017
Chairman’s Message
Expanding Our Footprint
The Department of Surgery’s visibility continues to
grow in 2017, both nationally and regionally. Dr. Courtney
Townsend was installed as the 97th President of the American College of Surgeons. This position is the crowning
achievement of a long and academically productive career
at UTMB. The Department of Surgery’s research activities
continue to expand and gain national visibility as well. This
year, the Department rose 4 spots to rank 22nd among the 75 Departments that
received funding from the government in 2016 NIH rankings. This is the highest
ranking by the Department since 2009 representing over $4 million in NIH grants.
We continue to be the only Texas based Department of Surgery in the top 30. While
credit goes to all the Department of Surgery researchers with NIH funding who are
listed in the newsletter, it is worth recognizing that Dr. David Herndon is ranked as
the 9th most funded surgeon in the United States.
We are also making large strides in expanding our clinical services in the League
City and Angleton-Danbury markets. Surgical procedures in these two facilities are
up 150% and 850% respectively. It is important for the Department to expand in
these two markets as building our clinical footprint will help solidify the foundation
of our educational and research programs. The expansion process, while challenging, is helping the Health System rebrand what UTMB Health means to patients
on the mainland in a very positive way. The faculty who have expanded surgical
services at Angelton-Danbury deserve a special thanks and include Steven Agle
(General Surgery/Surgical Oncology), Laila Rashidi (Colorectal), Zulfiqar Cheema
(Vascular), Charlie Cheng (Vascular), Robyn Roberts (Urology), Joseph Sonstein
(Urology), Nicholas Sreshta (Urology), Steven Williams (Urology), Eduardo Orihuela (Urology), and Ike Okereke (Thoracic). To help facilitate the process, I am also
operating and seeing patients at both League City and Angelton-Danbury in order
to be on the front line of our expansion.
As our clinical footprint rapidly grows, it is important that we remain focused
on our educational programs. While we have made significant progress, several of
our training programs, while fully accredited, continue to have citations. To further
optimize the educational experience, the Department will be holding an educational
retreat in March led by Pat Walker, our Vice Chair of Education. In addition to reviewing the current status of the training programs, we will be thinking of creative ways to
enhance teaching opportunities at UTMB. Our goal is to optimize not only the experience we can offer to our residents but also further improve our faculty as teachers.
Sincerely,
Inside This Issue:
Townsend New
President of
the ACS.............................2
Roughneen Named
Associate Chief
Medical Officer.................3
Surgery and Shriners
Faculty Have Series of
Work Published in
the Lancet.........................4
Faculty Notes.................................... 10
Resident Notes.................................. 12
Douglas Tyler, M.D.
Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery
Photo Galleries................................. 15
Townsend Installed as 97th President of the American
College of Surgeons
Courtney M. Townsend, Jr.,
the Robertson-Poth Distinguished
Chair in General Surgery in the
Department of Surgery, was
installed as the 97th President of
the American College of Surgeons
(ACS) during the Convocation
ceremony of the College in October. The Convocation preceded
the opening of the annual ACS
Clinical Congress, which is one of the largest international
meetings of surgeons in the world.
A distinguished surgical investigator, Dr. Townsend’s research in gastrointestinal endocrinology and cancer has been
supported through grants from the NIH and the American
Cancer Society. He has authored or coauthored 416 articles in
peer-reviewed publications, 123 articles in other publications,
and 364 abstracts. He became an ACS Fellow in 1981.
Dr. Townsend earned his bachelor’s degree in history and
English from the University of Texas, Austin. He then earned
his medical degree
and completed his
internship and general
surgery training at
UTMB. Dr. Townsend
completed a surgical
oncology fellowship
at the University
of California-Los
Angeles (UCLA), and
was a McLaughlin
Fellow twice, a Jeane
B. Kempner Fellow,
an American Cancer
Society Clinical fellow,
and a National Institutes of Health (NIH)
postdoctoral fellow.
Dr. Townsend’s first teaching position was as an adjunct
assistant professor of surgery, division of oncology, department of surgery, at UCLA from 1974 to 1976. He then served
in the U.S. Navy from 1976 to 1978 as a staff surgeon and surgical director in the intensive care unit at the National Naval
Medical Center, Bethesda, MD.
In 1978, Dr. Townsend returned to UTMB as an associate professor in the department of surgery. In 1981, he was
promoted to Robertson-Poth Associate Professor of Surgery,
and the next year he became director of the surgical research
laboratory at UTMB. From 1983 to 1995, Dr. Townsend was
the Robertson-Poth Professor of Surgery, and from 1987
to 1995 he served as interim director of the UTMB Cancer
Center. He assumed his current roles as professor of physician assistant studies in 1989, as graduate faculty in the cell
biology program in 2001, and as Robertson-Poth Distinguished Chair in General Surgery in 2009. Dr. Townsend also
served as John Woods Harris Distinguished Chairman from
1995 to 2013.
Dr. Townsend has served many leadership roles at ACS,
including Secretary (2006-2015) and Chair of the Board
of Governors (B/G) (2004-2005), membership on the B/G
Executive Committee (1999-2003), and as the ACS Governor
from the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (19861992). He has also served in various capacities on the Commission on Cancer (CoC) and on other ACS Committees.
Dr. Townsend served
on the CoC Committee on Approvals
(1989-1994), the
CoC National Cancer
Data Committee and
the National Cancer
Data Base Governing
Board (1989-1995),
the ACS Committee
for the Forum on
Fundamental Surgical Problems and the
Committee on Special
Issues (both 19911994), the Committee
on Papers (20002003), the Member
Services Liaison Committee (2003-2004), and the Nominating Committee of the Fellows (2000-2002).
Currently, Dr. Townsend serves on the ACS Surgical Research and Education Committee, which he chaired for two
years (1998-2000). At the local level, he served on the SouthContinued on Next Page
2
ern Texas District #1 Committee on Applicants (1996-1999)
and as President of the ACS South Texas Chapter (1988-1989).
Dr. Townsend has also served in leadership roles in several
other medical organizations. He is past-director and chair of the
American Board of Surgery (2000-2007); served on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Residency
Review Committee for Surgery (1994-1999); American Pancreatic Association president (1992-1993); American Surgical Association president (2007-2008); Southern Surgical Association
president (2004); and Texas Surgical Society council member
(1997-1999). He is an honorary member of the Society of Black
Academic Surgeons and the Association of Women Surgeons
(AWS) and is a recipient of UTMB’s John P. McGovern Lifetime
Achievement Award in Oslerian Medicine.
Dr. Townsend has been editor-in-chief of the
Sabiston Textbook for Surgery: The Biological Basis of
Modern Surgical Practice since 2000 and was the editor
of Surgical Oncology (1992-1999). He has served on the
editorial board of the Journal of the American College of
Surgeons (JACS), Surgery, and The American Journal of
Surgery.
Dr. Townsend delivered his presidential address,
“Do What’s Right for the Patient: Franklin H. Martin
and the American College of Surgeons,” to surgeons
from around the world who took the ACS Fellowship
pledge and were conferred Fellowship in the American
College of Surgeons (FACS). His remarks focused on
Dr. Martin and the creation and expansion of ACS.
Roughneen Named Associate Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Patrick Roughneen,
Associate Professor in the
Division of Cardiovascular and
Thoracic Surgery, has accepted
the position of Associate Chief
Medical Officer, reporting
to Dr. Gulshan Sharma, Vice
President, Chief Medical and
Clinical Innovation Officer,
effective January 1, 2017.
In his new role, Dr. Roughneen will be responsible for the interface with the Academic Enterprise for
Graduate Medical Education, working closely with Dr.
Tom Blackwell; serve as the Health System point of
contact leading the work of the physician advisors as
they coordinate their efforts with Care Management in
patient care and discharge planning; work with Katrina
Lambrecht, vice president and administrator, and Dr.
James McGuire, assistant chief medical officer at the
Angleton Danbury Campus; and work directly with the
Medical Staff and its committees for physician matters.
Dr. Roughneen will also work closely with Deb McGrew,
chief operating officer for the Health System, to continue the Patient Resource Optimization Program (PROP)
to achieve standardization of work in the patient care
setting.
Dr. Roughneen will maintain his clinical practice as
an adult cardiac surgeon in the Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery where he is an associate professor. Prior to joining UTMB, he was in private practice
in the Dallas area and chairman of an accountable care
organization (ACO) of 850 physicians.
3
Division of Urology Develops Online Radical Cystectomy
Survival Calculator© (RCSC)
The Division of Urology has developed a
nomogram assessing predictors for 3- and 5-year
overall and cancer-specific survival derived from
5,325 patients aged 66 years of age and older derived
from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results
(SEER) Medicare-linked cancer registry in the United
States. The nomogram was validated in the Texas Cancer
Registry Medicare-linked database which predicted 3- and
5-year overall and cancer-specific survival rates with Concordance-Indices of 0.65 and 0.66, respectively. The division
did not observe a significant association between radical cystectomy and non-cancer survival (HR 1.00; 95% CI, 0.81 to 1.23,
p=0.999) thus limiting the effect of unmeasured confounding by
indication or selection bias in the development of the nomogram.
This nomogram has been converted into the Radical Cystectomy Survival
Calculator© (RCSC), an on-line tool, to provide a benefit-risk assessment
for patients considering radical cystectomy.
Department of Surgery and Shriners Hospitals for Children
Faculty Members Publish in The Lancet
Department of Surgery and Shriners Hospitals for Children faculty members had a series of a rticles (below)
published recently in the Lancet. The series was featured on the Lancet homepage and was the lead story run on their
social media account on October 1, 2016.
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Clary Gives Ruth and Robert Moore Lecture
Bryan Clary, M.D. presented the Ruth and Robert
Moore Lecture to the Department of Surgery at UTMB
on January 25, 2017. The title of his talk was “Do Surgical Trainees Influence Perioperative Outcomes? Patients
Deserve an Answer.”
Dr. Clary is a board-certified surgeon who provides
surgical care for patients with diseases of the liver, pancreas and bile ducts at UC San Diego Health System. He
is a part of the gastrointestinal and pancreatic
cancer teams. Dr. Clary
has extensive experience
in performing surgeries
associated with cancers
of the liver, pancreas,
gallbladder, and bile
ducts. He is nationally
recognized for excellent
outcomes following these
complex procedures.
Dr. Clary was recruited in 2015 to lead
UC San Diego’s highly ranked and widely recognized
surgery programs as the Chair of the Department of
Surgery for UC San Diego School of Medicine and as
Surgeon-in-Chief for UC San Diego Health System.
Dr. Clary is a native of the Imperial Valley and completed undergraduate studies at UC San Diego in Bioengineering. He earned his medical degree from University
of California, San Francisco, and completed general surgery residency training at Duke University Medical Center. He then performed a fellowship in advanced cancer
surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
before returning to Duke to join the surgery faculty.
Dr. Clary served as chief of hepatobiliary surgery
at Duke University Medical Center for 15 years, and
as vice-chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology. He
earned numerous awards for his clinical care, teaching
and research. His research is focused on developing new
therapies for metastatic liver cancer and on improving
surgical outcomes in patients undergoing surgery for
cancers of the liver, pancreas and bile ducts. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and serves on
the executive councils of the Society for Clinical Surgery
and the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association.
5
UTMB Division of Urology Now Offering Targeted
MRI/Ultrasound Fusion Biopsy
The Division of Urology is proud to introduce a powerful new MR
solution for analysis, planning and targeted biopsy of the prostate. This
complete clinical MR solution for the prostate consists of DynaCAD
for Prostate and the UroNav fusion biopsy system—a comprehensive
solution which offers a cutting edge imaging option for many patients
with elevated and/or rising PSA levels.
Targeted MR/ultrasound biopsy is poised to become the new
standard in prostate care, and UTMB Health is pleased to be one of
the first urology groups in the area to offer this powerful solution to
our patients. UroNav fuses pre-biopsy MR images of the prostate with
ultrasound-guided biopsy images in real time, for excellent delineation
of the prostate and suspicious lesions.
The fusion of the MR and ultrasound images uses electromagnetic
tracking, similar to your car’s GPS system; a tiny tracking sensor attached to the trans-rectal ultrasound probe generates a small, localized
electromagnetic field that helps determine the location and orientation
of the biopsy device. A sophisticated algorithm maintains the fusion of
MR and ultrasound images, even when the patient moves.
UTMB Division of Urology – Movember
Movember is an annual event involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November to
raise awareness of men’s health issues such as prostate
cancer, testicular cancer and men’s suicide.
Pictured in the photo to the right are faculty
members of the Division of Urology.
6
Department of Surgery NIH Grant Funding
The Department of Surgery recently updated its ranking in NIH grant funding. The Department now ranks number 22 nationwide among Departments of Surgery. We are the only surgery department in Texas among the top 30 in
funding. Below is a graphic that shows the list of departments and our rank nationally and within Texas. Below that
is a graphic that shows our NIH funding levels from 2006 to the present. Current faculty members with NIH funding
include: Celeste C. Finnerty, PhD, Mark R. Hellmich, PhD, David N. Herndon, MD, and Oscar E. Suman, PhD.
7
Division of Urology Residents Attend SUO in San Antonio
The Division of Urology residents
had two abstracts accepted for poster presentations at the 17th Annual
Meeting of the Society of Urologic
Oncology, which was held November
30 to December 2, 2016 in San Antonio. Congratulations and great job to
Christopher Kosarek (PGY-2), Preston
Kerr (PGY-1) and Leslie Ynalvez (4th
year medical student). As a result of
the research and collaborations many
of these abstracts and poster presentations will be submitted for publication.
Dr. Stephen Williams (mentoring faculty and Division of Urology Research
Director) stated: “it was great showing
the pedigree of current and future
research success at UTMB. We had one
of the most number of abstracts by a
single institution. Congrats!”
Williams Publishes Article in Everyday Urology
Everyday Urology Oncology Insights - A Urotoday publication recently published an article
in the “Spotlight” section
which featured proceedings and highlights in the
field of bladder cancer from
two important meetings: The
Bladder Cancer Think Tank
meeting and the Société Internationale d’Urologie Congress.
These abstracts were written by
Ashish Kamat, MD, Michael Metcalfe, MD, and Stephen Williams,
MD from the UTMB Division of
Urology.
Dr. Williams participated in
the presentation of these sessions
at the 36th Annual Congress of the
SIU 2016 meeting, which was held in
Buenos Aires, Argentina.
8
Division of Urology Participates in SCS AUA Meeting
Congratulations to Robyn Roberts, MD for her abstract entitled Value of Onabotulinum Toxin A In the Setting of
Persistent Lower Urinary Tract Symptons Following Augmentation Cystoplasty, which was presented during the 2016
South Central Section annual meeting from September 28-October 1, 2016 in Colorado Springs, CO. This was accepted
for a podium presentation.
Congratulations to Cameron Ghaffary, MD for his abstract Underutilization of Radical Cystectomy for Bladder Cancer, which was presented during the 2016 South Central Section annual meeting from September 28-October 1, 2016 in
Colorado Springs, CO. This was also was accepted for a podium presentation.
Congratulations to Cameron Ghaffary, MD, who was selected to participate in the Resident Quiz Bowl during the
2016 South Central Section annual meeting from September 28-October 1, 2016 in Colorado Springs, CO.
Congratulations to Stephen Williams, MD, who was selected as moderator for Podium Session: Prostate Cancer
Treatment during the 2016 South Central Section annual meeting from September 28-October 1, 2016 in Colorado
Springs, CO.
UTMB Health–UT MD Anderson Partnership
On February 6, 2017 UTMB Plastic Surgery and UT
MD Anderson surgeons, led by Linda Phillips, MD and
Richard Ehlers, MD, completed the first joint case at our
League City Campus.
9
Faculty Notes
New Faculty
Katalin Modis, PharmD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Research
Andrew J. Murton, PhD
Assistant Professor
Shiners Hospital for Children
Areas of Interest: Colon cancer biology with an emphasis
on hydrogen sulfide metabolism; how tumor microenvironment affects tumor growth, tumor cell proliferation, invasion, and migration by regulation of cellular bioenergetics;
metabolic studies related to angiogenesis, bioenergetics,
redox regulation, and oxidative stress as they pertain to cardiovascular disease, ischemic injury, and critical illness.
Areas of Interest: Cellular mechanisms responsible for the
loss of muscle mass in critical illness states; the impact of
lifestyle and aging on muscle and whole-body metabolism;
nutritional interventions to improve muscle mass and function following periods of illness and/or disuse
Rupak Kulkarni, MD
Assistant Professor
Transplant Surgery
Areas of Interest: Liver (cadaveric and living donor)
transplantaton; kidney and pancreas transplantation;
advanced hepatobiliary surgery; pediatric liver and
kidney transplantation
10
Faculty Notes
Shout Outs
The following mentions
of our Surgery faculty
and staff appeared in the
UTMB Health System
Friday Focus.
Dr. Guillermo Gomez has always provided me with the best
surgical care. He has come to the rescue more than once when I
needed surgery. (General Surgery)
Dr. Kanika Bowen-Jallow and Dr. Peter Rojas were
wonderful. They even texted us days later to check on
us after an infection. Dr. Denise Wilkes (Anesthesiology) was wonderful and attentive and Dr. Meagan
Finke (resident pgl-3, Pediatric Medical Education) in
the Emergency Department was very friendly. (Surgery-General Surgery)
I would like to give a big “Shout-Out” to Dr. Kevin
Murphy and Dr. Christopher Bates in Plastic Surgery
for their professionalism, compassion and outstanding
“Best Care.” They took of my hand injury. My hand
looks great after only a couple of days! I can’t thank
them both enough for the exceptional care I received
after being dropped on them the same day. Both I
and UTMB are very fortunate to have them. Veronica
Lozano (Internal Medicine PCP) and Yvonne Rendon
(Plastic Surgery) are both exemplary in providing and
securing patient care assistance.
Dr. Ravi Radhakrishnan and his entire team were
amazing with our child. They made us feel confident
and comfortable. (General Surgery)
Dr. Courtney Townsend is one of the very best surgeons I know, he has been excellent with my surgical
care for years. I hate to think of what will happen to
me when he retires. He recently called me personally
with test results, so I wouldn’t go through the weekend
wondering and worrying about the results. (General
Surgery)
11
Resident Notes
McLaughlin Receives President’s Award Ghaffary Receives Travel Award from
Jillian McLaughlin, PGY-3 in Plastic
Société Internationale d’Urologie
Surgery, and Dell Roach in Nursing
Services received a President’s Cabinet Award for their project entitled
“Impacting Community Health
through Pressure Ulcer Prevention.”
The President’s Cabinet Awards are
designed to promote outreach, education and improved patient care in our
community. Nine funded projects were presented during a
banquet on Sept. 9, 2016, at The San Luis Resort, Spa and
Conference Center. McLaughlin is currently developing
patient informational material on pressure ulcers as part of
the project. Below is a summary of the work.
Hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (HAPUs), commonly
known as bed sores, affect more than two million people
each year and cause significant physical and emotional pain
for patients and economic burdens for healthcare facilities.
This special surgical intensive care unit quality-improvement intervention program will provide hospital staff, patients and their families with visual cues such as checklists,
signage, patient risk bracelets and color pictures in an effort
to promote awareness of HAPUs and decrease the number
of incidents.
Cameron Ghaffary, PGY-2 in Urology, received a travel
scholarship award to present at the Société Internationale
d’Urologie meeting in Buenos Aires in October. Below is a
summary of the work.
Survival outcomes among patients diagnosed with muscle-invasive bladder cancer remain unchanged over the
last 3 decades. Radical cystectomy is the standard surgical
treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer. We examined
determinants associated with utilization of radical cystectomy. We sought to identify population-based factors predicting the use of radical cystectomy, as well as pelvic lymph
node dissection.
Patel Wins Synthes Cerebrovascular
Award
Achal Patel, PGY-6 in Neurosurgery, won the Synthes
Cerebrovascular Award from AANS/CNS Section on Cerebrovascular Surgery for his work entitled, “A novel virtual
reality simulation for hemostasis in a brain surgical cavity:
Perceived utility for visuomotor skills in current and aspiring neurosurgery residents.”
12
Resident Notes
Beste, Keyes, Lu Named Thayer Award Winners
Three Department of Surgery residents were recently named Thayer Award winners. Beth Beste (PGY-5 in General Surgery), Kyle Keyes (PGY-4 in Urology), and Richard Lu (PGY-4 in General Surgery) were nominated by medical students
for the Thayer Award for Excellence in Teaching. The Thayer Award is sponsored by the John P. McGovern Academy of
Oslerian Medicine. The Academy received 36 nominations; and Beste, Keyes, and Lu were chosen along with three other residents based on a vote held by the Osler Student Scholars. This award is given to residents who demonstrate sound
scientific knowledge, compassion towards patients, and dedication to learning and teaching. In addition to a presentation
at a Department of Surgery Grand Rounds meeting, the residents were invited to attend the Academy’s annual Fat Tuesday
party held on Tuesday, February 28th, 2017 at the Buccaneer Room in the Joskusch Building at 2029 Strand in Galveston.
13
Staff Notes
New Staff
Courtney Demeuse
Surgery Clerkship Coordinator
W. Samuel Fagg, MS, PhD
Research Scientist, Transplant Surgery
Alexander Geiger, DMD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Oral Surgery
Carla Henderson GNP, FNP-BC
Liver Transplant Coordinator
Naiyou Liu, Ph.D.
Research Project Manager, Transplant
Sarah Chapman
Sr. Administrative Secretary, Pediatric Surgery
14
Staff Notes
Department of Surgery Staff Members Participate in Holiday Food Drive
The UTMB Health Food Drive, in support of Ball High School’s “Share Your Holidays Food Drive” (sponsored
by ABC13), contributed nearly a ton of food to the Galveston County Food Bank in December. Department of
Surgery staff in UTMB’s Veterans Resource Group and the Administrative Professionals Association participated
in the event. In combination with donations from all others throughout the area, this provided 18,641 meals for
our neighbors in need during the holiday season.
15
Photo Gallery – Department of Surgery During the Holidays
Holiday Party, The Porch Cafe, December 10, 2016
Ugly Sweater Contest
Ornament Exchange
16
Plastic Surgery Holiday Party, December 17, 2016
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Photo Gallery – Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day, October 19
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Photo Gallery – Halloween 2016
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