News & Events

We are pleased to announce that Mohamed Abdelgadir Adam, MBBS will be joining our faculty in the fall as an Assistant Professor in the newly established Division of Surgical Oncology at UCSF.  Dr. Adam completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University in translational genomic research in 2010. Dr. Adam also completed his general surgical residency at Duke, graduating in 2018. During his research years, he served as a fellow in advanced statistical modeling at the Duke Clinical Research Institute. After residency, Dr. Adam continued his training as a Complex Surgical Oncology [...]

We are pleased to announce that Jay Menaker, MD will be joining the faculty at Zuckerberg San Francisco General (ZSFG) on September 1st, providing care to patients in the ICU at the UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights, and in the Emergency Department at ZSFG. Dr. Menaker will serve as the Physician Director for Quality Management at ZSFG for the Department of Surgery. Dr. Menaker earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his Medical Degree from Jefferson Medical College. He completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of [...]

We are pleased to announce that Marissa A. Boeck, MD, MPH, currently a clinical fellow in Trauma and Emergency Surgery at ZSFG, will be joining our faculty in the fall.  Dr. Boeck has been appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Division of General Surgery. She will serve as an acute care surgeon at Parnassus and as an acute care and trauma surgeon and surgical critical care intensivist at ZSFG. She will also serve as a member of the core leadership team of the new UCSF Center for Global Surgery and Health Equity.  Dr. Boeck earned her BA in Philosophy from the Macaulay Honors College at [...]

UCSF Surgeon-scientist Lucy Kornblith, M.D. (PI) and her mentee, Zachary Matthay, M.D. (Co-PI) were awarded two grants for their proposed COVID-19-related research by the UCSF COVID-19 Rapid Response Pilot Grant Program, supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, and National Institutes of Health (sponsored by the UCSF Academic Senate, Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and the Research Development Office). The first award will support their proposed prospective study entitled "CO-ACIT: COVID-19 Associated Coagulopathy, Inflammation, and [...]

The team of Learning Health Systems (LHS) K12 scholars, Tasce Bongiovanni, MD, MPP, MHS, William Brown III, PhD, DrPH, MA, James Harrison, PhD, and Matt Pantell, MD (pictured above left to right) are awardees of two grants: a Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Resource Allocation Program (RAP), and a CTSI K Scholars Program Team Science Award, to support their work in better understanding the role of social determinants of health (SDH) and opioid prescribing, misuse/Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), screening, and treatment.   The CTSI RAP grant, on which Dr. Brown serves as [...]

Since the first community-transmission of Covid-19 was identified in the United States on February 26, 2020,1 the medical community has experienced an upheaval like never before. Looking to the experiences abroad, urgent steps were taken to reduce surgical cases and preserve inpatient capacity for a potential surge of Covid-19 patients.2 Many patients in need of nonurgent but essential surgical care were delayed those services. At the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), we recognized the need to avoid adverse outcomes associated with delaying much-needed cancer, cardiovascular, [...]

The Department of Surgery is pleased and honored to welcome our new class of incoming residents to the UCSF family! This outstanding group of doctors, drawn from diverse backgrounds, includes (49) surgical interns and one new PGY-3 resident. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, resident orientation was predominantly virtual. Nonetheless, despite the challenges, our residents navigated these unchartered waters with creativity and resourcefulness. We are truly inspired by their boundless enthusiasm and can-do spirit as they hit the ground running! We are thrilled to have them aboard with their [...]

The UCSF Department of Surgery congratulates UCSF medical student Mary Kathryn (Katy) Abel, AB and Rita Mukhtar, MD on their respective research and mentorship awards presented at the 2020 Inquiry Symposium ceremony on April 29, 2020. Mary Kathryn (Katy) Abel, AB, an MD Candidate at UCSF (Class of 2021), was awarded the "Long-Term Deans Prize in Research and Scholarship" for her research project "Clinical Outcomes after Standard Interventions in Invasive Lobular Carcinoma of the Breast." Awarded to only five medical students each year, the prestigious Dean's Prize recognizes outstanding [...]

"Leaders at a 150-bed community hospital in California partnered with a collective of human-centered designers to rapidly address a sudden drop in emergency department visits after a statewide stay-at-home order was issued. The initiative developed targeted messaging to assuage patient fears about safety and remind patients not to ignore heart and stroke symptoms." Coauthors of this NEJM Catalyst paper include plastic surgery resident Dr. Laura Wong (first author), trauma surgeon & Exec. Dir. of TheBetterLab, Dr. Amanda Sammann and trauma and critical care fellow Dr. Simone Langness.     [...]

"Getting the news that you have cancer is overwhelming and frightening. The COVID-19 crisis adds another layer of anxiety. But know this: you can protect yourself from COVID-19 without compromising your cancer treatment. Don't panic. In the vast majority of cases, a diagnosis of cancer is not an emergency even though it feels like one. There is time to learn about your options and sort out what is right for you. For now, there will be changes to how we do things. Some of the changes will feel disruptive, but many will lead to better, more patient-centered care. Minimizing your chances of [...]

"Quantum Leap Healthcare Collaborative (QLHC), a non-profit organization focused on uniting patient care and research, and sponsor of the adaptive platform I-SPY 2 Trial™, announced today a unique pre-competitive consortium created for an I-SPY COVID Trial to rapidly identify therapies to treat acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Approximately 10-15% of patients infected with SARS-CoV2 develop a severe acute respiratory illness, and nearly 70% of patients admitted to an ICU require ventilation for an average of two weeks; it is estimated over half [...]

The UCSF Department of Surgery mourns the passing of F. William Blaisdell, MD. Dr. Blaisdell was a true giant of American surgery and one of the most influential figures in the history of our Department.  F. William Blaisdell was born in 1927 and grew up in nearby Watsonville, California. He came from a family of physicians: both of his grandfathers, as well as his father and uncle were doctors. Blaisdell attended Stanford University for his undergraduate and medical school education. He completed his internship at Philadelphia General Hospital and 2 years of military service with the U.S. [...]

Dr. Carter Lebares joins Present Moment, a podcast and website dedicated to the exploration of contemporary mindfulness in society, to speak about Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Training in Surgery. As secular mindfulness finds more traction in the world, it's also meeting new perspectives on what practice could be. While traditional forms remain of value to those seeking outcomes that are rooted in a religious context, mindfulness is also being studied under the lens of science. Dr. Carter Lebares is a gastrointestinal surgeon at UCSF Medical Center. She received her medical degree [...]

A research team including Julie Ann Sosa, MD, MA, FACS, Chair of the UCSF Department of Surgery, have published a paper in the journal Thyroid about patient preferences pertaining to surgical options for thyroid cancer. Specifically, the study identifies patient preferences for ascertaining risks and benefits associated with lobectomy vs. total thyroidectomy for low-risk thyroid cancer.  The paper was recommended by faculty at F1000 Prime, a continually updated collection of over 145,000 recommendations of top articles in biology and medicine, contributed by the F1000 Faculty.   Related [...]

Robert S. Warren, M.D. and Carlos U. Corvera, M.D. are co-Principal Investigators on a pilot grant funded through the University of California Minority Patient-Derived Xenograft (PDX) Development and Trial Center (UCaMP) to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities collaborative. Comprised of four of the University of California's NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers: UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UC Irvine, the collaborative is funded by [...]

The Department of Surgery is thrilled to welcome our eight new general surgery categorical residents comprising the Class of 2027. We congratulate this diverse, talented group for matching into our program. We look forward to our new intern class joining the UCSF Surgery family in June and are honored to be part of their journey as they train to become future leaders in academic surgery.   UCSF Department Of SurgeryPGY-1 Categorical General Surgery Residents (2020-21) Ali AbbasiUniversity of Chicago Kirkpatrick FergusUCSF Jonathan FreiseUCSF Eva [...]

We are pleased to announce that Ronald B. Tesoriero, MD, FACS has joined the Department of Surgery faculty as Associate Professor based at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG). Dr. Tesoriero will serve as an attending physician on the Acute Care Surgery Service as well as on the Trauma and General Surgery Services, and in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) at ZSFG. He will also be appointed as the General Surgery Residency Site Director at ZSFG. Dr. Tesoriero has extensive experience in the management of traumatic injuries, and in the care of complex critically ill patients [...]

"In this video, Dr. David Donner, Director of the Surgical Oncology Research Lab at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) discusses the research taking place at the Surgical Oncology Research Laboratory at UCSF, and explains how he uses drug dispensing technology* and patient-derived organoids to enable vital research into liver malignancies, specifically metastatic colorectal cancer that has metastasized into the liver and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Donner also offers an insight into the challenges and future of personalized medicine." 

The Department of Surgery is pleased to announce that Jessica Gosnell, M.D. has been named Associate Surgery Clerkship Director. Dr. Gosnell is an Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of General Surgery. Her clinical practice is in endocrine surgery, focused on diseases of the thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal glands, and acute care surgery. In her research, Dr. Gosnell studies new treatments for thyroid cancer through translational work and clinical trials, with a particular focus on multiple endocrine neoplasia and medullary thyroid cancer. Dr. Gosnell earned her BA in Biology [...]

Julie Ann Sosa, MD, MA, FACS (right), Chair of the UCSF Department of Surgery and Leon Goldman, MD, Distinguished Professorship in Surgery, has been awarded a prestigious NIH-FDA R01 Grant as Co-Principal Investigator on a multi-institutional study of medullary thyroid carcinoma. The other PI in the study is Elizabeth Gardner Grubbs, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. By elucidating the natural history of medullary thyroid cancer and incorporating patient experiences, the investigators [...]