Dr. Charles Ross, Chief, Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapeutics, is the Principal Investigator of a new clinical trial for Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD) using adipose (fat) adult stem cell-coated vascular grafts. Drs. Amit J. Dwivedi, Marvin E. Morris, and Andrea Yancey also are participating and actively enrolling subjects.

The trial, sponsored by Tissue Genesis, Inc., is the first FDA-approved trial using patients’ own adipose-derived adult stem cells (ASCs) at the point of care. These were developed by Stuart Williams, Ph.D, Chief Science Officer for Tissue Genesis and Executive and Scientific Director of the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute.

PVD affects more than 8 to 12 million people in the United States. PVD includes damage to or blockage of blood vessels in peripheral arteries and veins, causing pain and weakness.

Researchers have been actively seeking a way to coat the inside of synthetic grafts used to treat PVD, so they more closely resemble native vessels and increase long-term graft survival. The stromal vascular fraction of adipose tissue contains millions of regenerative cells, which can be used to coat the inner surface of the vascular grafts.

Ross explained the idea of coating man-made grafts with stem cells to enhance long-term results is not new. What is revolutionary, however, is taking the process out of the lab and into the operating room where it can be safely and efficiently accomplished in a single procedure. “This ultimately could make the technology available in any hospital where vascular bypasses are performed,” he said.

“Based on the previous studies, the potential of ASCs to increase the patency and life of the graft is tremendous,” said Dr. Williams.

The trial commenced in April and is accepting new patients. To learn more, please contact charles.ross@louisville.edu.

Dr. Kevin Potts, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, has been named a Fellow of Otolaryngic Allergy by the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy. This is a significant accomplishment, and Dr. Potts is only one of a handful of fellows of Otolaryngic Allergy in the region.

Most allergy symptoms occur in the head and neck. This is the area in which our otolaryngologists specialize as physicians and surgeons. As an ENT Allergist, Dr. Potts specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of allergic disorders. While general allergists only do skin prick tests, ENT Allergists such as Dr. Potts use intradermal skin testing in addition to skin prick testing. This type of testing is more sensitive in identifying more patients with allergies. Intradermal testing also allows for a safer but higher starting dose of therapy so patients can obtain faster symptom relief.

In addition, ENT allergists are using sublingual immunotherapy in addition to subcutaneous immunotherapy (allergy shots). Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT) is a method of allergy treatment that uses an allergen solution given under the tongue, which over the course of treatment reduces sensitivity to allergens. SLIT is less risky than allergy shots and is given at home. It is ideal for some kids.

Finally, patients with allergies who see ENT allergists can go to just one doctor for sinus, throat, and ear problems. If surgery or other treatment is necessary, the ENT Allergist can handle it all without multiple physicians caring for the patient.

University of Louisville bioengineering researchers will use a $3.33 million award from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation to help commercialize promising academic innovations into medical solutions to benefit patients.

The five-year Coulter Translational Partnership Award has the ultimate goal of focusing on outcomes to save, extend and improve patients' lives.

 The Coulter Foundation will form a working partnership with UofL's bioengineering department to promote translational research. The key UofL partners will be J.B. Speed School of Engineering, through Robert Keynton, the lead researcher and bioengineering department chair; the School of Medicine, through Mark Slaughter, Chief of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery; and the Office of Technology Transfer, through Holly Clark and Melea East, interim co-directors. There also will be an oversight committee of industry representatives, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and clinical doctors that will help determine which projects to fund.

 “This is an opportunity,” Slaughter said. “It coalesces these emergent centers of excellence within the University of Louisville,” and will allow them “to take these new ideas and decide relatively quickly what is clinically important and make it applicable to improve patient care, quality of life and outcomes. And that’s the ultimate goal.

 The award will fund five to six projects per year that are created by engineers and clinicians working side by side.

Dr. Charles Scoggins, Vice Chair for Operations and Finance for the Department of Surgery and Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, has been named Medical Director of University Physicians Associates Services, Inc. (UPA). UPA is made up of more than 500 doctors and dentists, all members of the University of Louisville School of Medicine faculty, who work together to care for patients from prenatal days to the senior years. As Medical Director, Dr. Scoggins will manage all credentialing of the UPA physicians.

Dr. Scoggins specializes in surgical oncology. He graduated with honors from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 1995, and subsequently entered a General Surgery residency at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. In addition to clinical surgical training, he completed a two-year research fellowship while at Vanderbilt. Dr. Scoggins completed his Chief Residency at Vanderbilt in 2002 and is certified in general surgery by the American Board of Surgery.

Dr. Scoggins completed a surgical oncology fellowship at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas in 2004. While there, he was awarded the Clinical Excellence Award for outstanding patient care. Dr. Scoggins’ clinical interests include liver and pancreatic cancer, stomach and esophageal cancers, intestinal cancers, melanomas, and sarcomas. His research interests include liver tumors, hepatic metastases, pancreatic cancer, and sarcomas.

Dr. Jeffrey Bumpous, J. Samuel Bumgardner Endowed Professor and Chief, Division of Otolaryngology , has been named the Surgical Co-chair to a national RTOG Clinical trial: Tryhard: A Phase II, Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of Lapatinib (Tykerb®) For Non-HPV Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer With Concurrent Chemoradiation.

This study of HPV negative patients is necessary to make overall progress in the treatment of head and neck cancer. This study looks at novel targeted therapy for p16 negative patients, currently the group of patients with most challenging disease and worse prognosis.

The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) is a national clinical cooperative group funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) since 1968 to increase the survival and improve the quality of life of patients diagnosed with cancer.

Dr. Kelly McMasters, Chairman of the Department of Surgery, has been named the Ben A. Reid Sr., M.D. Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery. Dr. Robert Martin, Division Director, Division of Surgical Oncology, has been named the Sam and Lolita Weakley Professor of Surgical Oncology.

Louisville native Dr. Ben. A Reid Sr., MD established the Ben A. Reid Sr., M.D. Endowed Chair in 1989. A dedicated general surgeon, Dr. Reid Sr. spent more than half a century treating patients. While his true love was surgery, he also was a former athlete who continued to support UofL athletics throughout his lifetime. Up until the very last years of his life, Dr. Reid could be found in the stands cheering on the UofL basketball team. Former Chairman Dr. Hiram Polk Jr. is the Ben A. Reid Sr., M.D. Emeritus Professor.

Drs. Sam and Lita Weakley donated major gifts to UofL's School of Medicine to endow Chairs in both Surgical Oncology (1995) and Anesthesiology (1999). Dr. Sam Weakley, who was on the clinical faculty of the department from 1955- 2004, was perhaps the most respected senior surgeon in Kentucky. Dr. Lita Weakley was a highly revered anesthesiologist. Drs. Sam and Lita Weakley dedicated their lives to service – both medical and community – and were tireless advocates for educational excellence. Dr. McMasters previously held the Weakley endowed chair in surgical oncology.

UofL Department of Surgery surgeons are the first in Kentucky to use the da Vinci Robot to treat patients with colorectal and head and neck conditions. The Robot enables surgeons to perform delicate operations with breakthrough precision. It provides the surgeons with exceptional vision, precision, dexterity and improved access to the treatment site. As a result, patients experience less pain and quicker recovery.

Colorectal surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Jorden, Assistant Professor, Division of General Surgery, is the first in the region to use the technology to treat colorectal patients. In April, otolaryngolgists Drs. Jeffrey Bumpous and Kevin Potts teamed up to complete the first daVinci TransOral Robotic Surgery (TORS) in Kentucky and surrounding region. They were able to remove the cancerous tissue without any major incisions.

TORS is a minimally invasive surgery where the surgeons can access the cancerous area through the throat. As with all minimally invasive procedures the goals are to minimize incisions, preserve function, reduce pain and facilitate quicker recoveries.

“As you can imagine there is nowhere more important than the head and neck,” Potts said. “It’s where we swallow, breath and speak.”

Operating through the mouth is not new, but doing it using the daVinci opens up new possibilities. Previously, surgeons had to use long instruments, over one foot in length, which can magnify hand tremors. Older procedures also carry visibility limitations.

The daVinci eliminates those complications with smooth movements and a 3D HD camera, Bumpous said, “The daVinci puts the camera at site of the cancer and gives us the ability to see everything. It ultimately results in better outcomes for our patients.”

Dr. Mary Fallat , Hirikati S. Nagaraj Professor and Chief, Division of Pediatric Surgery, received the Roger Fox Award from Kosair Charities. Dr. Fallat received the award for her dedication to children. She is a pediatric surgeon and Chief of Pediatric Surgery at Kosair Children’s Hospital. Dr. Fallat has spent decades treating young patients in need of surgery.

In addition, Dr. Laman Gray, Professor Emeritus and former Chief of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, received the Humanitarian Award from Kosair Charities. The Humanitarian Award is given for having a national and global impact within medicine. Kosair Charities donated $5 million for Dr. Gray’s pediatric cardiac research, which has allowed some heart surgeries to be performed prior to birth, lessening the need for open-heart surgeries.

Dr. Jason Smith, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Trauma Surgeon, is featured in a very touching story about victims of violent crimes and the loved ones they leave behind. View the story at www.wave3.com.

Dr. Andrea Yancey, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapeutics, was profiled in the Courier-Journal about her volunteer work in Landstuhl, Germany helping treat wounded military men and women out of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. To read to story, go to: www.courier-journal.com.

Dr. Kelly McMasters is quoted in an article on ABCNews. com about the FDA's approval of skin cancer drug Zelboraf. Visit: http://abcnews.go.com

Jorge G. Gomez-Gutierrez, PhD, Research Associate, won the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon (UANL) Research Award in the Health Science Area for a manuscript he published with his team in Cancer (2010,15;116(18):4420-32). Dr. Gomez-Gutierrez will accept the award in September. The local media also will interview him about the research.

The manuscript is “Adenovirus-mediated expression of truncated E2F-1 suppresses tumor growth in vitro and in vivo.” Authors are Gomez-Gutierrez, Aracely Garcia Garcia, PhD, Hongying Hao, MD, PhD, X-Mei Rao, MD, Roberto Montes de Oca-Luna, PhD, Heshan Sam Zhou, PhD and Kelly McMasters, MD, PhD.

Dr. Kelly McMasters received the William J. Rothwell Faculty Award. The annual award honors a faculty member who has distinguished him/herself amongst colleagues in the area of development.

Lukas Dwelly, who handles development for the Department of Surgery and is Director of Major Gifts for Health Sciences at UofL received the William J. Rothwell Colleague Award. Eligible recipients are front-line development officers who have demonstrated outstanding performance and service to the overall development effort.

Dr. J. David Richardson , Professor of Surgery and Vice Chairman, Department of Surgery, has been named the Ephraim McDowell Physician of the Year by the Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's Healthcare Foundation. Dr. Richardson will be recognized and presented the award at the 2011 Doctors’ Ball in October.

In addition, Dr. Mark Slaughter, Professor and Chief, Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Division, Department of Surgery, will receive the Excellence in Education Award at the event.

Dr. Charles Scoggins, Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, has been named Vice Chairman for Operations and Finance for the Department of Surgery. Dr. J. David Richardson, Professor of Surgery, Division of General Surgery, remains Vice Chairman for Education and Faculty Affairs for the department.

Dr. Kelly McMasters, Chairman of the Department of Surgery and renowned Melanoma expert, is quoted in today's Courier-Journal article about new sunscreen labels. To view the article, please go to the Features section at www.courier-journal.com

Dr. Gordon Tobin, Professor of Surgery in the Division of Plastic Surgery, received the 2011 Leonard Tow Award for Humanism in Medicine from the Arnold Gold Foundation on May 13, 2011. Dr. Tobin has led many medical missions to third world countries and focuses on burn care education and establishing burn units in hospitals of undeveloped countries. Dr. Tobin is President of the Kentucky Medical Association and is active in improving access to care in medically under served regions of Kentucky.

Dr. Glenda Callender joined the Division of Surgical Oncology as an Assistant Professor. She attended Harvard Medical School, completed her General Surgery residency at University of Chicago Medical Center, and fellowships in Endocrine Surgery and Surgical Oncology at University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Michael Hughes joined theDivision of Transplantation as an Assistant Professor. He attended Wake ForestUniversity School of Medicine, completed his General Surgery Residency atUniversity of Virginia Health System, and a fellowship in Multi-organ AbdominalTransplant from the University of Minnesota – Fairview Medical Center.

Dr. Christopher Jones joined the Division of Transplantation as an Instructor. He attended Georgetown University School of Medicine, completed his General Surgery Residency at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and a fellowship in Abdominal Organ Transplant at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Dr. Marvin Morris joined the Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapeutics as an Instructor. He attended Medical School at Boston University School of Medicine, completed his General Surgery Residency at University of Massachusetts and a fellowship in Vascular Surgery at University of Missouri, Columbia.

Dr. Amy Quillo joined the Division of Surgical Oncology as an Assistant Professor. She attended University of Louisville School of Medicine, completed her General Surgery Residency at University of Louisville School of Medicine, and a fellowship in Endocrine Surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

Dr. Chris Schneider joined the Division of General Surgery as an Instructor. He completed medical school at the University of Cincinnati and residency training in General Surgery at Greenville Hospital System in Greenville, SC. His clinical expertise includes acute care surgery, general surgery, complex and re-operative abdominal surgery, ventral and incisional hernia, basic and advanced laparoscopy.

Dr. Marvin E. Morris, an Instructor within the Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapeutics, has received intramural funding from the UofL School of Medicine Basic Grant Program to further utilize the novel approach of invitro blood vessel mimics (BVM) to elucidate and inhibit neointimal hyperplasia. Neointimal hyperplasia is a dynamic and challenging clinical problem with no clear therapeutic intervention. The ultimate goal of Dr. Morris and his research team at the Cardiovascular Innovations Institute (CII) is to identify a locally delivered, clinically useful therapeutic entity to inhibit this process.

Dr. Jason Smith, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of General Surgery, has been granted a K23 Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The purpose of the NIH’s K23 program is to support the career development of investigators who have made a commitment to focus their research endeavors on patient-oriented research. This $607,112 research grant will enable Dr. Smith, a critical care and trauma surgeon, to achieve his goal of becoming an independent investigator focusing on clinical and translational research in hemorrhagic shock and inflammation. His mentors for this research are Department of Surgery Professors of Surgery Drs. Brian Harbrecht and R. Neal Garrison.

Otolaryngologists in UofL’s Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology, have found that neck dissection is effective in treating patients with residual head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. These findings are significant because the most effective treatment of the neck has not been well defined.

Drs. Kevin Potts, Associate Professor, Jeffrey Bumpous, Division Chief, Otolaryngology, and Laura Dooley, MD, third-year resident, recently presented these findings at the Triological Society’s Combined Sections Meeting.

“In the age of chemotherapy and radiation for definitive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, the most effective treatment of the neck has not been well characterized,” said Dr. Dooley. “The literature describes variances in treatment of residual neck disease that range from mandatory neck dissection to the selective use of neck dissection based on imaging studies after treatment such as PET or CT scans.”

To learn more about the study finding, please visit http://www.enttoday.org.

Dr. Kelly McMasters’ book, Hepatocellular Carcinoma, has just been published. To read about the book or purchase it, please go to http://www.springer.com/medicine/oncology/book/978-1-60327-521-7.
Dr. McMasters is the Ben A. Reid, Sr, MD Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery and a world-renowned surgical oncologist.

Jorge G. Gomez-Gutierrez Ph.D. received a $50,000 grant from the Lung Cancer Research Foundation (LCRF) to create "A New Model for Viral Therapy for Lung Cancer." This research focuses on a new method for potentially more effective viral gene transfer to treat lung cancer. This work represents a model for highly specific targeted therapy aimed at interrupting specific cell pathways unique to lung cancer cells thus possibly avoiding damage to non-cancer cells. The National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico, which is a government agency similar to the NIH, a government agency similar to the NIH, also awarded Gomez-Gutierrez the distinction of “National Researcher Level I.

Department of Surgery alumni and lifelong friend of the Department of Surgery Dr. Wally Montgomery and his wife Gerry have pledged a $1 million planned gift to create the Montgomery Professorship in Surgery.

Dr. Montgomery, who is from Paducah, KY, completed his general surgery residency at UofL in 1967.

“This University and the surgery program provided me the tools to prepare for a successful life in medicine,” said Dr. Montgomery.

After residency, Dr. Montgomery practiced for more than three decades in Paducah. Retired for the past 10 years, Dr. Montgomery has not slowed down. He continues to serve on several boards including the Kentucky Institute of Medicine, chairman of the budget committee of KMA, Paducah Rotary, and the Paducah bank board. He still finds time to attend his roses and travel with Gerry, his wife of 50 years.

“The general surgery residency at UofL was and still is a trusted, thorough, and great program,” he said. “I am very proud of the program.”

In fact, his son, daughter and son-in-law are also products of UofL’s School of Medicine.

His son David attended medical school at UofL and now is in practice in Danville, KY. His daughter Evelyn M. Jones and her husband, Shawn Jones, completed medical school and residency at UofL. Evelyn practices dermatology, and Shawn practices otolaryngology in Paducah.

“UofL really is part of our family,” Montgomery said.

UofL Department of Surgery’s Dr. Farid Kehdy., Assistant Professor, Division of General Surgery, was the first in the region to perform Single-Incision Laparoscopic Surgery™ to remove a patient’s gallbladder. He also was the first to perform Single-Incision Laparoscopic Surgery™ to remove a patient’s spleen. What this means is that he is able to perform laparoscopic surgical procedures through a single skin incision located within the patient's belly button.

The major benefit to the patient is decreased scars. It is a single incision, buried in the belly button so it is cosmetically better. Patients also may have decreased pain since there are a lesser number of incisions. Since there is lesser pain, they can return to normal activity sooner.

Dr. Kehdy’s work with SILS™ exemplifies the Department of Surgery’s commitment to providing patients with the latest treatment options available. Dr. Kehdy is part of a team of dedicated minimally invasive surgery experts. All of the Department’s general surgeons and several in other specialties perform select procedures laparoscopically.

UofL Department of Surgery Surgical Oncologists are engaged in two studies that offer enhanced treatment options for melanoma patients.

The first, directed by UofL Department of Surgery Chairman Dr. Kelly McMasters is designed to study gene expression patterns in the lymph nodes of patients whose melanoma has not spread beyond the primary site.

Overall, 15 to 20 percent of these patients with cancer-free lymph nodes eventually go on to develop metastases and ultimately die from their disease. McMasters and his team are trying to identify these high-risk node-negative patients who might benefit from additional therapy.

“While other research has focused on molecular detection of melanoma cells in sentinel lymph nodes in order to identify the node-negative patients likely to experience recurrence, we have not found that such methods are reliable,” McMasters said. “In high-risk patients, it is likely true that melanoma cells regularly travel through the lymphatic system to sentinel nodes, whether we can detect the presence of such cells in the nodes or not.”

The second study led by Dr. Robert Martin, Chief, Division of Surgical Oncology, offers hope to patients with metastatic melanoma to the liver. The study’s purpose is to test the safety and effectiveness of a study device that might help kill liver tumors in people with this condition. The study device consists of thousands of tiny round beads that together are known as ‘LC Bead’. LC Bead is coated with a chemotherapy drug called doxorubicin.

Melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer, is the fifth most common cancer in American men and the seventh most common in American women, killing more than 8,000 Americans annually.

Dr. Swapna K. Chandran has received a $14,000 WHAS Crusade for Children grant to purchase a pediatric flexible nasopharygolaryngoscope for evaluating and treating pediatric upper airway disorders including: cleft lip/palate, congenital airway abnormalities, pediatric voice disorders, nasal /oropharyngeal abnormalities, and other disorders that contribute to speech, swallowing and vocal dysfunction. Currently, children have to travel to communities outside of Louisville to benefit from this type of equipment. Now, local children will be accurately and quickly diagnosed close to home. Dr. Chandran’s grant request meets WHAS Crusade of Children’s mission by helping Louisville children and their families overcome physical, mental and medical challenges of complex upper aerodigestive tract disorders.

The Department of Surgery faculty and staff are deeply saddened to lose surgical pioneer and lifelong friend to the Department Samuel D. Weakley, who passed away Sept. 18, 2010. He was 86. Dr. Weakley, who was on the clinical faculty of the department from 1955- 2004, was the most respected senior surgeon in Kentucky. He completed medical school in 1950 and a general surgery residency in 1955. He practiced as a general surgeon in Louisville for 46 years during which time he received countless accolades.

He was a past member of the UofL Board of Trustees and the UofL Board of Overseers. Dr. Weakley dedicated his life to service – both medical and community – and, along with his late wife, Dr. Lita Weakley, was a tireless advocate for educational excellence.

Drs. Sam and Lita Weakley donated major gifts to UofL's School of Medicine to endow Chairs in both Surgical Oncology (1995) and Anesthesiology (1999). Division of Surgical Oncology Director Robert C.G. Martin, II, M.D., Ph.D. holds the endowed chair in surgical oncology.

In 2007, UofL presented Dr. Weakley the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award. The award reflected a lifetime of integrity and excellence in their professional field, as well as a significant long-lasting contribution to the University of Louisville Health Sciences Center.

That same year, he also received the Department of Surgery’s 2007 Samuel Gross, MD, Career of Service Award, which recognizes physicians who have dedicated their lives to surgical education, research and patient care.

While Dr. Weakley received many awards in his life, he will be remembered most for his integrity, compassion, kindness and warm smile for everyone he met. He was the consummate gentleman, a true community servant, a loyal friend of the Department of Surgery, and an exemplary role model for surgeons everywhere.

A memorial service in celebration of his life was held at Crescent Hill Baptist Church.

UofL Department of Surgery Chairman Dr. Kelly McMasters, is quoted in an ABC.com article about targeted gene therapy for melanoma. To view the story, please visit: abcnews.com

Several Department of Surgery faculty members were named Top Surgeons in their field by their peers, according to a Louisville Magazine survey. The results were published in the magazine’s August edition. The Top Surgeons were selected by a survey that was mailed in May 2010 to all physicians who are members of the Greater Louisville Medical Society. In the survey, Louisville Magazine asked the question: “If you or a member of your family needed surgery, who among Louisville-area physicians would you choose or recommend most highly to perform the following procedures?”

It is important to note that several of the procedures done by Department of Surgery faculty were not included. However, of those that were, several Department faculty were named, including:

Breast Augmentation

Breast Reconstruction

Breast Reduction

Mastectomy/Lumpectomy

Coronary Artery Bypass

Dr. Brian L. Ganzel
Dr. Mark Slaughter
Dr. Sebastian Pagni

Colectomy

Hemorrhoidectomy

Abdominoplasty

Facelift

Liposuction/Lipoplasty

Appendectomy

Carotid Edarterectomy

Endoscopic Sinus Surgery

Gastric Band Surgery

Gastric Bypass Surgery

Hernia Repair Surgery

Dr. Robert Martin, Professor of Surgery and Chief, Division of Surgical Oncology, was featured in a story about the groundbreaking NanoKnife® IRE System, which he has been using on patients since last fall. Click here for the story, which ran in Fox41 July 6: (click on the video on the right side of the screen to view)

Dr. Kelly McMasters, Ben A. Reid, Sr, MD Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery, and his research team have been granted a Clinical & Translational Science Pilot Grant Program’s Innovative Translational Research Award to “Develop a prognostic system incorporating gene signatures in melanoma patients with positive sentinel lymph nodes.” This topic has not been explored in the past, and successful completion of this project would have immediate effect on the treatment of melanoma patients with tumor-positive SLN. The overall impact of this work will save the unnecessary costs of care and ensure the best quality of life of melanoma patients by avoiding unnecessary toxic treatment, which will help to meet the National Cancer Institute’s challenge of eliminating suffering because of cancer by 2015. This $175,000 award is supported by the Commonwealth of Kentucky funded Clinical and Translational Science Pilot Grant Program at the University of Louisville.

Dr. Susan Galandiuk, Professor of Surgery in the Division of General Surgery, and her research team have been granted a Clinical & Translational Science Pilot Grant Program’s Advanced Translational Research Award to develop a “Method for the Diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease-Associated Cancer.” Dr. Galandiuk and her team propose to develop a biomarker signature model using specific blood microRNA biomarkers to help diagnosis cancer in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. They expect to create a signature model of specific biomarkers that will effectively screen for IBD-associated cancer. This $82,798 award is supported by the Commonwealth of Kentucky funded Clinical and Translational Science Pilot Grant Program at the University of Louisville.

Dr. Robert Martin, Sam and Lolita Weakley Professor and Chief, Division of Surgical Oncology has been awarded a Clinical and Translational Science Pilot Grant Program award to study the progression of Barrett’s esophagus into esophageal cancer. The award will provide $175,000 to support the project over the year between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011. The grant is supported by the Commonwealth of Kentucky-funded Clinical and Translational Science Pilot Grant Program at UofL.

Barrett’s esophagus, which is caused by chronic, repetitive gastroesophageal reflux, or heartburn, is a significant risk factor for the development of esophageal cancer, which has increased more than 300 percent in incidence in the past three decades. Esophageal cancer advances rapidly, is often detected at a late stage and carries a poor prognosis. Martin’s study aims to use an animal model to confirm molecular changes associated with the progression of Barrett’s esophagus and better understand the molecular changes effecting the development of esophageal cancer. Martin and his team hope to potentially be able to use this information to identify patients at risk for cancer development in order to screen and treat them earlier and more effectively.

Dr. Kelly McMasters, Ben A. Reid, Sr, MD Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery, and his research team have been awarded a $200,000 grant from the Melanoma Research Foundation to study gene expression patterns in the lymph nodes of patients whose melanoma has not spread beyond the primary site.

Overall, 15 to 20 percent of these patients with cancer-free lymph nodes eventually go on to develop metastases and ultimately die from their disease. McMasters and his team are trying to identify these high-risk node-negative patients who might benefit from additional therapy.

“While other research has focused on molecular detection of melanoma cells in sentinel lymph nodes in order to identify the node-negative patients likely to experience recurrence, we have not found that such methods are reliable,” McMasters said. “In high-risk patients, it is likely true that melanoma cells regularly travel through the lymphatic system to sentinel nodes, whether we can detect the presence of such cells in the nodes or not.”

McMasters and his team hypothesize that rather than trying to detect melanoma cells in the sentinel nodes, it may be more effective to examine gene expression patterns in the lymph nodes to determine the response of the sentinel nodes to exposure to melanoma cells.

“This may allow us to identify those patients who may benefit from additional therapy,” he said.

The funded study aims to develop a prognostically significant gene expression signature, which, in combination with other clinical factors, could be used to better predict prognosis, stratify risk, and guide drug therapy decisions in node-negative patients. This study will use some already available data from the Sunbelt Melanoma Trial, the world's largest study of melanoma, involving 79 centers with more than 3600 patients from around the United States and Canada, which also was led by McMasters.

Melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer, is the fifth most common cancer in American men and the seventh most common in American women, killing more than 8,000 Americans annually.

Dr. J. David Richardson, Professor and Vice Chairman of Surgery, Division of General Surgery, has been chosen for the 2010 Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching. President Ramsey will present this award to Dr. Richardson at the Celebration of Faculty Excellence event in September.

Dr. Cynthia Downard, Assistant Professor, Division of Pediatric Surgery, has been awarded a $25,000 American Pediatric Surgical Association Foundation research grant.

The grant will fund a project that will use an animal model to study alterations in the blood flow to the intestines of infants afflicted with necrotozing enterocolitis (NEC), a disease of the intestine that develops in premature infants and results in damage and death to parts of the intestine. Currently there are no good treatments for this problem other than an operation to remove the intestine after it has died. Downard is hopeful that this study will represent a step toward the development of alternative therapies for these patients.

The Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery has been accepted into the CT Surgery Network, which is a small group of hospitals chosen by the NIH's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, to participate in cardiac surgery clinical trials. The other participants are: Cleveland Clinic, Columbia University, Duke University, Emory University, Montefiore Medical Center, Montreal Heart Institute, University of Pennsylvania and the University of Virginia.

Three Department of Surgery faculty members were among the 21leaders from University of Louisville Health Sciences Center named as this year’s most influential health care business leaders in Greater Louisville, an honor bestowed annually by Business First Magazine.

The honorees from the Department of Surgery were Dr. Kelly McMasters, Ben A. Reid, Sr, MD Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery, Dr. Laman Gray, Professor of Surgery, Jewish Hospital Distinguished Chair in Cardiothoracic Surgery, and Medical Director, Cardiovascular Innovation Institute and Dr. Richard Goldstein, Kenneth vonRoenn MD Family Chair in Surgical Endocrinology, Professor of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology and CEO, UofL Physicians.

The honorees were recognized Monday, March 8, at a reception at Theater Square Marketplace, and their names appear in Business First’s special Partners in Health Care issue, published March 12.

Honorees must be nominated and must answer several questions related to their roles within their organization, greatest accomplishments within the past year, sage advice for life and goals they have yet to achieve. The UofL winners were among 173 total recipients of the distinction.

Dr. Matthew L. Williams, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, received the Richard E. Clark Award from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons for his study titled “Aortic Dissection as a Complication of Cardiac Surgery: Report from the STS Database.” The award recognizes the best use of the STS Database for the year and was presented at the annual Society of Thoracic Surgeons meeting in Ft. Lauderdale on Monday, Jan. 25. The award is named after Dr. Richard Clark, who was instrumental in the development of the database. Database information accumulated over the years has served as a resource for clinical studies, as a source of national benchmarks, and as material for the development of risk models used throughout the field of medicine. Since 1994, more than 40 publications have come from the STS National Databases. These studies have been published in a variety of professional journals and textbooks.

Dr. Glen A. Franklin, Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of General Surgery, was named the Region 11 Donation Champion for outstanding work in the field of organ donation at the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Organ Donation Collaborative meeting in Dallas. There are only 11 Donation Service Area Regions, and Region 11 includes most of the southeastern USA. Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Howard Koh and Chris Klug, Olympic Bronze medalist in snowboarding who won his Olympic medal just months after receiving a liver transplant presented the award to him. Dr. Franklin also received a letter of appreciation from Dr. Mary Wakefield, Administrator for HRSA at the US Dept of Health and Human Services. Dr. Franklin had already been chosen to be on the HRSA’s Organ Donation Collaborative Faculty, and he helped lead the annual meeting.

In addition, The University of Louisville Hospital (ULH) and Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA) were honored at the same event for achieving a greater than 75 percent conversion rate (consent rate) for organ donation and obtaining greater than 10 percent of their donors as "donation after cardiac death." Several representatives from ULH and KODA along with Dr Franklin received the award on behalf of the hospital.

Dr. Jason W. Smith, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of General Surgery, has been awarded the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma Research Scholarship sponsored by Wyeth Laboratories for the 2010 academic year. This prestigious award is selected nationally from more than 50 applicants. The EAST/Wyeth Laboratories Trauma Research Scholarship is a career development award and is meant to support young investigators who have not yet secured but have high likelihood of securing funding by the National Institutes of Health for their research efforts. The EAST Foundation research scholarship has been awarded annually to a single young researcher since 1990 and has been sponsored by Wyeth Laboratories since 2001. The $40,000 funding will help support the direct costs of research. Dr. Smith is pursuing his PhD in Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Louisville. He is working in the laboratory of Dr. R. Neal Garrison, Professor of Surgery, Division of General Surgery, on the modulation of the inflammatory response after hemorrhagic shock.

Dr. Susan Galandiuk, Professor of Surgery, has been recommended and approved as Honorary Professor of Translational Surgical Research in the Blizard Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, within Barts & London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary, University of London. September 7, 2009 through September 6, 2011.

University Surgical Associates, the private surgical practice group made up of Department of Surgery physicians, recently attained the 92nd percentile in overall patient satisfaction. The results were based on Press Ganey’s patient satisfaction surveys given to patients from January – May 2009. They were the highest earned by a UofL practice group.

“Customer service is extremely important to us,” said USA CEO Tim Crockett. “We strive to always practice the Golden Rule and treat our patients as we would want to be treated if we were in their place. In addition to providing them with the best surgical care possible, they deserve to be treated with dignity and compassion.”