Duke Surgery

For 13 consecutive grading periods, Duke University Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital and Duke Raleigh Hospital, a campus of Duke University Hospital, received top scores for patient safety from The Leapfrog Group. Read more about the findings: https://duke.is/c/ua6n The “A” scores for Leapfrog’s fall 2024 survey are part of the group’s Hospital Safety Grades Assessment, issued to hospitals every six months. This is the only hospital ratings program focused exclusively on preventable medical errors, infections, and injuries that kill more than 500 patients a day nationally.

For the 8th consecutive year, Duke University Hospital has achieved meritorious composite scores in both "All Cases" and "High Risk" categories from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP). “To be recognized by the ACS NSQIP for achieving meritorious surgical outcomes is reflective of a wholistic, hospital-wide dedication to surgical patient well-being.” - Dr. Keri L. Seymour, Chief Quality Officer for the Department of Surgery Read more: https://duke.is/w/qy4b

Please join us in congratulating Lisa McElroy, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Surgery, for being appointed Director of the newly established Collaboratory for Health Services Research. Read More: https://duke.is/m/2h8u

A young NC father became the second person in the world to receive a BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart as a bridge to a transplant, living with the device for 10 days before undergoing a heart transplant under the care of Carmelo Milano, MD, and Jacob Schroder, MD. Read more: https://bit.ly/3YpwGpR

Congratulations to Jennifer Plichta, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Surgery in the Duke Division of Surgical Oncology, on being chosen for the Dr. Kim Ephgrave Visiting Professor Award by the Association of Women Surgeons (AWS). The award is part of the Kim Ephgrave Visiting Professor Program that provides training institutions the opportunity to host top women surgeons as speakers. This heightens the visibility of women surgeons and encouraging women medical students to pursue similar careers. As the award recipient, Dr. Plichta will be the AWS visiting Professor at the Rhode Island Hospital Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University.

Congratulations to Kevin Southerland, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Duke Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, for being chosen as a recipient of the 2024 Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Foundation/American College of Surgeons (ACS) Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award! The award is directed at surgeon­­­–scientists working in the early stages of their research careers, and helps to facilitate the career development of individuals pursuing careers in surgical research through the K08 mechanism.

Please join us in congratulating Duke General Surgery resident, Joseph M. Ladowski, MD, PhD, for being selected by the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI) and LabCorp as the recipient of the 2024 Michael Schmiederer Research Support Award. The project, titled, “Development of Web Based Histocompatibility Tools for Potential Xenotransplant Recipient Assessment,” will seek to develop tools for xenotransplantation risk assessment, similar to tools developed for and used in allotransplantation. The project proposes the development of two algorithms that would help Duke, and other institutions, assess risk when determining a xenotransplantation match, which could present a cornerstone to clinical trials in xenotransplantation.

Please join us in congratulating Duke Surgery's Division of Surgical Sciences, Smita Nair, PhD, for being appointed as Co-Director of the Department of Surgery-supported Duke Immune Profiling Core (DIPC) Read more: https://bit.ly/3UiRcat

For over a decade, Duke Surgery and Duke Global Health Institute's pediatric surgeon Dr. Tamara Fitzgerald has traveled to Uganda to improve surgical care, including developing affordable laparoscopic tools. Read more: https://duke.is/g/r6hp Duke University School of Medicine

Allan D. Kirk, MD, PhD, FACS, Chair of the Duke Department of Surgery, was featured on the October 1, 2024 episode of the "Surgeons at the Table" podcast where he shared some insights into his leadership and education philosophy. "People who are effective leaders know how to work with their teams. They know how to listen better than they know how to talk. They know how to read better than they know how to write. They are able to assimilate information from people they trust, and they are able to be trusted so that people will assimilate information with them." — Dr. Allan D. Kirk, Chair, Duke Department of Surgery Read more: https://duke.is/p/5v3x