The department of surgery at the Health Science Center is ranked No. 38 in National Institutes of Health research funding this year, but department Chairman Stephen M. Cohn, M.D., F.A.C.S., has an ambitious goal: a top 10 ranking in the next five years.
By recruiting several new faculty members, the department is expanding its research programs, while continuing to provide quality patient care and surgical education and training.
“We have recruited some outstanding people to join the department in the last 12 months,” said Dr. Cohn, an expert in trauma surgery and resuscitation who was hired 18 months ago from the University of Miami, Fla., Medical School. Dr. Cohn is the Witten B. Russ Professor and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
The Health Science Center, headed by President Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., a pediatric and transplant surgeon, has enthusiastically supported the faculty recruitment activity. With more faculty, Dr. Cohn envisions unprecedented levels of research. The department is now able to spread its considerable number of patient cases at University Hospital among a larger group of surgeons, affording faculty members the time to launch new research collaborations.
The new faculty include V. Sreenath Reddy, M.D., thoracic surgeon; John H. Winston, M.D., colorectal surgery; Stephen W. Borron, M.D., emergency medicine; Kent Van Sickle, M.D., advanced laparoscopic techniques; Peter P. Lopez, M.D., trauma surgery; Howard T. Wang, M.D., plastic reconstructive surgery; Clinton E. Baisden, M.D., thoracic surgery research; Robert C. Lyons, M.D., plastic reconstructive surgery; Maureen K. Sheehan, M.D., vascular surgery; Thelma Hurd, M.D., breast cancer surgery; and William D. Clouse, M.D., vascular surgery.
The department is refurbishing its laboratories to provide a quality molecular lab environment for researchers who are yet to be hired, Dr. Cohn said. The department soon will open 6,000 square feet of state-of-the-art lab space.
Among its educational initiatives, the department’s critical care fellowship program recently was granted full accreditation for five years, and its general surgery residency program was granted continued accreditation for four years by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Residency Review Committee. This summer, the department will host a fellow in minimally invasive surgery. A vascular surgery fellowship and breast fellowship also are being established.
In another positive development, 11 surgery faculty are participating in the Master of Science in Clinical Investigation program, a multidisciplinary degree program established a few years ago at the Health Science Center to prepare physician-scientists to conduct studies involving human research subjects. These faculty are developing translational research programs that will advance the science of surgery and result in less-invasive procedures, shorter hospitalizations and improved patient outcomes.
The department’s relationships with its military partners, Brooke Army Medical Center and Wilford Hall Medical Center, continue to grow in the areas of trauma critical care, vascular surgery, laparoscopic surgery, thoracic surgery and colorectal surgery, Dr. Cohn said. The department is an active participant in the Trauma Institute of San Antonio, Texas, known as TRISAT, with these partners and with University Hospital.
The department is in excellent financial condition and is well-positioned to accomplish its goals, Dr. Cohn said. The public is invited to view the department’s new Web site at
www.surgery.uthscsa.edu/.
