Volume 10, Issue 1, 2011-2012 - Department of Surgery - University ...

New FacultyChirag S. Desai, MD,assistant professor ofsurgery, Division ofAbdominal Transplantation,comes to the UAfrom Georgetown UniversityHospital in Washington,DC, where hecompleted a multiorgantransplant and hepatobiliary surgery fellowship.Dr. Desai is the first fellow in the UnitedStates to be certified by the American Societyof Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) for intestinetransplantation.With advanced expertise in solid-organtransplants of the liver, intestine, pancreas,and kidney, Dr. Desai also is a member of theUA Department of Surgery HepatoPancreaticoBiliary(HPB) Center team. This highlyspecialized service deals with all conditionsthat affect the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts,pancreas, and duodenum. The conditionsinclude benign and malignant tumors, inflammations,congenital abnormalities, and traumaticinjuries.Dr. Desai received his medical degreeand residency training at Seth G.S. MedicalCollege, King Edward Memorial Hospital, Universityof Mumbai, India. He served as a livertransplant associate (Visiting Physician Program)at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York.His research interests focus on the outcomesof liver and intestine transplantationthrough clinical research. Dr. Desai has authoredseveral publications and articles inpeer-reviewed journals.Audrey Erman, MD, isassistant professor, Divisionof Otolaryngology– Head and NeckSurgery, and co-directorof the Head and NeckOncology Program.Specializing in the treatmentof head and neckmalignancies, (including melanoma and otherskin cancers, as well as salivary glands, thyroidand paratumors of the thyroid, tongue, lipsand oral cavity, larynx, pharynx, and sinuses),Dr. Erman brings to Arizona the latest microvasculartissue-transfer techniques for reconstructionfollowing surgery for head and neckcancer.Dr. Erman attended medical school atthe University of Michigan, where she waspresented the Furstenberg Award for exceptionalachievement in otolaryngology. Shecompleted her residency at the University ofMichigan, the preeminent otolaryngology –head and neck surgery training program inthe country.Dr. Erman pursued fellowship training inhead and neck surgical oncology at the MassachusettsEye and Ear Infirmary, a Harvardaffiliatedhospital. She received extensivetraining in both surgical oncology and advancedreconstructive surgery for defects ofthe head and neck.As a result of her research on the sentinellymph node biopsy technique, which testssome of the patient’s lymph nodes to evaluatefor cancer, Dr. Erman has published thelargest single-institution review of the procedurefor use in head and neck melanoma.She has presented her research at nationalmeetings.Thomas Gernon, MD,assistant professor,Division of Otolaryngology– Head andNeck Surgery, is afellowship-trained headand neck and microvascularreconstructivesurgeon specializing intransoral robotic surgery (TORS). Co-directorof the Head and Neck Oncology Program, Dr.Gernon provides treatment for patients withbenign and malignant masses of the headand neck, including tumors of the tongue,lips, oral cavity, larynx, pharynx, thyroid, andparathyroid.Dr. Gernon attended the University ofWashington Medical School, graduatingwith honors; he was elected to the AlphaOmega Alpha (AOA) medical honor society.He completed his residency training in otorhinolaryngology:head and neck surgery atthe University of Michigan with specializedtraining in the area of head and neck surgicaloncology.Following residency, Dr. Gernon completedthe head and neck surgical oncologyand microvascular reconstruction fellowshipat the University of Washington, wherehe worked with NealFutran, MD, one of theworld’s most renownedhead and neck oncologicand reconstructivesurgeons.U.S. Navy veteran Donald(D.J.) Green, MD,has been appointed associate professor ofsurgery in the Division of Trauma, CriticalCare, and Emergency Surgery and medicaldirector of trauma services at the University ofArizona Medical Center – South Campus.Dr. Green served as a general surgeon for10 years in the U.S. Navy, where he completedtours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He then spentsix years at the Navy Trauma Training Centerat the Los Angeles County Medical Center,preparing doctors, nurses, and other staffmembers to care for wounded soldiers in thetrauma centers in Iraq and Afghanistan.Dr. Green received his medical degree atthe University of Washington, and completedhis residency training at the University ofArizona. He completed a fellowship in surgicalcritical care at the University of SouthernCalifornia.He is a member of the American Collegeof Surgeons, the Association for Surgical Education,and the Special Operations MedicalAssociation. He has coauthored more than 38publications. His research focuses on injuryprevention.Lynn Gries, MD, hasbeen appointed assistantprofessor of surgeryin the Division ofTrauma, Critical Care,and Emergency Surgery.Dr. Gries receivedher medical degreefrom McGill University.She completed her general surgery residencytraining at the University of Colorado HealthSciences Center, Denver.She also completed a General SurgeryBasic Science Research Fellowship at DenverHealth Medical Center, University of ColoradoHealth Sciences Center, as well as a CriticalCare, Trauma, and Acute Care Surgery Fellowshipat Wake Forest University Baptist MedicalCenter, Winston-Salem, NC.Abraham Jacob, MD,has joined the Divisionof Otolaryngology– Head and NeckSurgery as associateprofessor of surgeryand director of the UAEar Institute. Dr. Jacobcomes to the UA fromthe Department of Otolaryngology – Headand Neck Surgery at Ohio State University inColumbus, where he served on the faculty forfive years.17