Faculty  |  Residents/Fellows  |  Staff

Faculty

Eileen Bulger, MD
Surgery, Harborview
(206) 744-3656
ebulger@u.washington.edu

Research Interests:

  1. Clinical Trials of Hypertonic Resuscitation: Currently leading a multicenter clinical trial funded by the NIH investigating the use of hypertonic solutions for prehospital resuscitation of patients with hypovolemic shock and traumatic brain injury.
  2. Modulation of Inflammation after Injury: Currently funded by an R01 to investigate the monocyte, neutrophil, and T cell responses from patients enrolled in the clinical trial of hypertonic resuscitation.
  3. Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN): site PI for this multidisciplinary network investigating car crashes with serious injury in an effort to identify means to improve motor vehicle design, funded by NHTSA
  4. Prehospital Management of Patients with Severe TBI; Funded by the Brain Trauma Foundation to study airway and ventilation management issues for initial care of severe TBI patients.

 

Joseph Cuschieri, MD
Surgery, Harborview
(206) 744-6448
jcuschie@u.washington.edu

Research Interests:

  1. Exploration of the effects of ischemia/reperfusion due to hemorrhagic shock from trauma on immune cell function.  Current focus on membrane lipid and protein content and their effect on receptor complex formation in monocytes and macrophages.
  2. Exploration of the effects of infection and trauma on alterations in lipid profiles in serum and on cellular membranes of immune cells.
  3. Exploration of factors associated with the development of surgical infections following injury.
  4. Examination of infection control methods on the development of resistance and control of infection.

 

E. Patchen Dellinger, MD
Surgery, UWMC
(206) 543-3682
patch@u.washington.edu

Dr. Dellinger’s academic career has focused on research regarding the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of surgical infections and sepsis in the surgical patient and on the conduct of clinical trials and on surgical outcomes research.  Dr. Dellinger was recently appointed to the Technical Working Group on preventing surgical site infection as part of the second Global Patient Safety Challenge "Safe Surgery Saves Lives" of the World Health Organization. He is the principal investigator of the only US site for this WHO project, which is being conducted in 8 countries around the world.

 

Mike Fialkow, MD
Obstetrics & Gynecology, UWMC
(206) 598-3891
mfialkow@u.washington.edu

Dr. Fialkow is a urogynecologist interested in the development of pelvic floor disorders and their recurrence following surgical intervention.  His goal is to develop sufficient data to determine who is at greatest risk of developing primary and recurrent PFDs in order to provide opportunities for prevention.  He has been working with Group Health and Washington State databases to define recurrence rates and factors associated with recurrence. He is also using the Birth Certificate and Longitudinal databases to look at the impact of delivery route on the long term risk of PFDs.  He is also working with the department of Bioengineering to develop synthetic materials more biocompatible with the vaginal environment.

 

David Flum, MD, MPH
General Surgery, UWMC
(206) 616-5440
daveflum@u.washington.edu

Dr. Flum is a gastrointestinal surgeon and outcomes researcher at the University of Washington. He serves as Medical Director of the Surgical Care and Outcomes Assessment Program (SCOAP), a quality of care improvement program providing hospital-specific data feedback and best practices regarding processes of care and outcomes across the Pacific Northwest.  He is also one of the Principal Investigators of the Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (LABS) study-the first NIH-funded study in bariatric surgery aimed at addressing fundamental issues in the field.  Current funding sources include NIH and the Life Sciences Discovery Fund.

See also: UW Surgical Outcomes Research Center

 

Adam Goldin, MD, MPH
Pediatric General & Thoracic Surgery, Children’s
(206) 987-2257
agoldin@u.washington.edu


Matt Klein, MD
Plastic Surgery, Harborview
(206) 744-3209
mbklein@u.washington.edu

 

Mark Meissner, MD
Vascular Surgery, UWMC
(206) 221-7047
meissner@u.washington.edu

Dr. Meissner is a vascular surgeon with primary research interests including outcome measures in chronic venous disease, evidence-based practice guidelines, and evolving technology for the treatment of acute deep venous thrombosis.

 

Mike Porter, MD, MS
Urology, VA
(206) 277-1407
mporter@u.washington.edu

Dr. is an urologist with a clinical expertise in urologic oncology, with a specific focus on bladder cancer.  He has fellowship training in epidemiologic and health services research methods, and his research interests include clinical epidemiology of urologic malignancy, bladder cancer screening, and cost and patterns of care in bladder cancer patients.

 

Margarett Shnorhavorian, MD, MPH
Urology, Children’s
(206) 987-1927
margarett.shnorhavorian@seattlechildrens.org

 

Lisa Strate, MD, MPH
Gastroenterology, Harborview
(206) 341-4632
lisas@medicine.washington.edu

Dr. Strate's research program has centered on identifying risk factors for adverse outcome in acute lower intestinal bleeding, and defining the utility and feasibility of available management strategies.  Currently, she is also studying the epidemiology of diverticular bleeding (the most common source of lower intestinal bleeding) and diverticulitis.  Using a large prospective cohort study, she is examining the association between dietary, lifestyle and medical factors and the risk of incident events with the ultimate goal of identifying preventative strategies.  Diverticular disease and lower intestinal bleeding are extremely common digestive disorders.  However, surprisingly little is known about their epidemiology and pathophysiology, and there is a dearth of literature supporting an evidence-based approach to management.  Dr. Strate is currently funded by a Career Development Award (K08) from the Agency for Heathcare Research and Quality.

 

Tom Varghese, MD
Cardiothoracic Surgery, Harborview
(206) 744-8744
tkv@u.washington.edu

 

Residents / Fellows

Oliver Lao
Surgery Resident, Research
olao@u.washington.edu

Dr. Lao is currently involved with a number of Outcomes research projects with Dr. Goldin at Children’s Hospital.

 

Farhood Farjah
Surgery Resident, Research
ffarjah@u.washington.edu

The ultimate goal of Dr. Farjah's research is to improve the delivery of thoracic oncologic care and outcomes associated with that care.  Over the last three years, he has been working in collaboration with health services researchers and thoracic surgeons using the SEER-Medicare database to describe varying elements of lung cancer care and associated outcomes.  A secondary research interest is to define the optimal management of pleural space infections.  He has used a statewide administrative database and institutional medical record review to conduct two cohort studies: 1) describing temporal trends in the incidence of pleural space infections, management, and associated outcomes, and 2) comparing 30-day case-fatality rates associated with early operative versus early non-operative therapy among patients with complicated pleural space infections.  Subsequent studies will aim to model the cost-effectiveness of early-operative management.

 

Mathew Sorensen
Urology Resident
mathews@u.washington.edu

As a Urology resident Dr. Sorenson's research has been split between Urologic trauma and Pediatric Urology.  Over the last several years he has explored practice patterns in the management of vesicoureteral reflux and the ever-increasing role of endoscopic and minimally invasive techniques.  Recently, he has described his experience with pediatric robotic surgery and performed a case-control analysis of surgical outcomes after pyeloplasty repair for ureteropelvic junction obstruction and outcomes after ureteral reimplantation for vesicoureteral reflux.  In 2007, he began pursuing my Masters in Epidemiology degree.  His thesis has focused on sexual function outcomes after major trauma.  Additionally, he has analyzed the population-based national incidence and management of Fournier’s Gangrene with a contemporary description of the true mortality rate.  He is also exploring the management of renal trauma with a focus on the role of angioembolization using the National Trauma Databank (NTDB) and possibly redefining the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) grading scale for kidney injuries in a retrospective analysis.  Dr. Sorensen is supported by the Department of Urology and Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center.

 

Research Staff

Allison Devlin Rhodes, MS
Research Manager, SORCE
(206) 616-6148
adevlin@u.washington.edu

Rebecca Gaston Symons, MPH
Data Analyst, SORCE
(206) 221-3397
rgsymons@u.washington.edu

Kara MacLeod, MPH, MA
Data Analyst, SORCE
(206) 543-5578
karamac@u.washington.edu

Rosemary Mitchell Grant, RN, BSN, CCRC, CPHQ
Surgical Clinical Nurse Reviewer, SORCE
(206) 543--9322
mitchell@u.washington.edu

Amanda Frye, RN, BSN, MPH
Surgical Clinical Nurse Reviewer, SORCE
(206) 685-0597
afrye@u.washington.edu

Sarah Lawrence, MA
Program Operations Specialist, SORCE
(206) 221-7453
lawreso@u.washington.edu