Volume 14, Issue 1
Honors and Awards
Stephanie Acierno, M.D., Acting Instructor & Senior Fellow, received a $25,000 Children’s Steering Committee Award (Health Services/Outcomes Committee) for her project titled “Development and Validation of a Quality of Life Instrument for Pediatric Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.” (Sponsor: Adam Goldin, M.D.)
Michael Aly, M.B.A., Associate Director & Chief of Finance Administration, was elected Secretary for the Board of Directors of the Association of Academic Surgical Administrators. Michael was the 2006 Member at Large for the Western Region, responsible for the Western Regional Retreat Program in San Francisco in October 2005 and has served as Bylaws Chairman.
Saman Arbabi, M.D., Associate Professor, won the Canizaro Award for the best paper presented by a new member at the AAST Annual Meeting in New Orleans. The title of his paper was “Beta-Blocker Use is Associated with Improved Outcome in Adult Trauma Patients.”
Alexander W. Clowes, M.D., Professor and Vice Chair for Research & Development, has been appointed Associate Director of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) for the School of Medicine. Established in 1971, the program trains medical scientists who desire to carry out fundamental research in clinically important human diseases. It is funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.
Loren Engrav, M.D., Professor, was awarded a Field Initiated Proposal (FIP) grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research/Department of Education (NIDRR) to study Efficacy of Pressure Garment Therapy After Burns. NIDRR FIP grants have existed for many years to fund rehabilitation research but this was the first year that two burn centers successfully competed (the other burn center being Shriner’s Burn Center in Galveston). Fred Rivara, M.D., played a significant role in the development of the application. Drs. Nicole Gibran, Matthew Klein & David Heimbach have significant roles in execution of the grant.
Nicole Gibran, M.D., Professor, has been asked to serve on an advisory committee to review the UW Medicine criteria for promotion to associate professor in the clinician teacher and physician scientist pathways. Dr. Bruder Stapleton will chair the committee and Dr. Wylie Burke, who is serving as chair of the School of Medicine Appointments and Promotions Council, will serve in an ex officio role on the committee.
Ellen Thomason Farrokhi, M.D., Vascular Surgery Fellow, placed third in the Fellow/Resident Paper Competition for her project titled, “Subintimal Angioplasty and Stent of the Superficial Femoral Artery.” (Dr. Mark Meissner, sponsor)
Rosemary Mitchell Grant, R.N., B.S.N., C.C.R.C., SORCE Research Coordinator, was appointed Surgical Clinical Nurse Reviewer for the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP), established by the American College of Surgeons. ACS NSQIP collects data on general and vascular surgeries for quality improvement/quality assurance purposes.
To participate in this program, the University is required to have a dedicated Surgical Clinical Nurse Reviewer who will extract the surgical data from patient charts and send the data to ACS via a specific online data entry program. Rosemary is also the nurse abstractor for the Surgical Clinical Outcomes Assessment Program. This program was established through a Washington State initiative and is designed to produce clinical information needed to improve quality of care for patients.
Stephen Kim, M.D., Assistant Professor, was honored by the Association of Academic Surgery for his work titled “A Perfusion Bioreactor for Intestinal Tissue Engineering.” Dr. Kim’s paper was selected as the best paper by a new member at their recent 2007 annual meeting.
Matthew Klein, M.D., Assistant Professor and Associate Director of the UW Burn Center, delivered the inaugural Amit Ganguli Memorial Lecture at the Association for Indian Plastic Surgeons Annual Meeting in Hyderabad, India. The title of his lecture was “Surgical Management of Facial Burns.”
Dr. Klein also organized and co-chaired the State of the Science of Burn Research Meeting in Washington, D.C. The conference was cosponsored by the NIGMS, Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, the American Burn Association, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and Shriners Hospitals. The conference was the first national conference dedicated to burn research in over two decades.
Lorrie A. Langdale, M.D., Associate Professor, was named President-elect of the Washington State Chapter of the American College of Surgeons.
Ronald V. Maier, M.D., Jane and Donald D. Trunkey Professor and Vice Chair of Surgery, accepted an invitation to assist the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) in developing a five-year strategic plan. The NIGMS supports basic research and provides leadership in promoting the diversity of the scientific workforce and in training the next generation of scientists.
Dr. Maier was also elected a Director of the Halsted Society, a society carrying on the traditions of William S. Halsted, the Father of American Surgery.
Heather Merry, M.D., R4, received the Philip K. Caves Award at the International Society for Heart & Lung Transplantation (Dr. Michael Mulligan, sponsor). Established in 1982 to encourage and reward original research in transplantation performed by residents, fellows, and graduate students, it is the most distinguished resident/fellow award in thoracic transplantation. The award is named for Philip K. Caves, who developed and pioneered the technique of transvenous endomyocardial biopsy for use in the monitoring of cardiac graft tolerance and carries a $1,000 stipend.
Carlos A. Pellegrini, M.D., The Henry N. Harkins Professor and Chairman, joined the American Surgical Association (ASA) Foundation Board of Directors. Founded in 1882, the ASA is the oldest and most prestigious organization of surgeons in the United States. He is the immediate past-president of the ASA.
Dr. Pellegrini was also elected an honorary member to the National Academy of Medicine of Argentina (Academia Nacional de Medicina). The Academy is the oldest most prestigious such Academy in Latin America.
Emily Williams, M.D., R3, has been honored by the Harborview Pediatric Committee for her exemplary skill, compassion and care of the pediatric patients while rotating at Harborview. This is the first time a resident has been nominated for this award.
Douglas E. Wood, M.D., Professor and holder of the UW Endowed Chair in Lung Cancer Research, was elected Vice President of the Western Thoracic Surgical Association. Dr. Wood will serve as President the following year.
Andrew Wright, M.D., Assistant Professor, received the Association for Surgical Education (ASE) Research Fellowship for his work titled “Development of a Validated Assessment Tool for Wound Closure.” The ASE’s mission is to promote, recognize, and reward excellence, innovation and scholarship in surgical education. The fellowship is a one-year, home-site fellowship designed to equip investigators with the skills and knowledge needed to plan, implement and report research studies in the field of surgical education.