News & Events

Sanziana A. Roman, M.D., FACS, professor of surgery and Dean's Diversity Leader for Leadership Equity and Inclusion at UCSF, was interviewed by the School of Medicine (SOM) in conjunction with "Global Diversity Awareness Month", October 2018. Differences Matter is a multi-year, multi-faceted School of Medicine initiative designed to make UCSF the most diverse, equitable and inclusive academic medical system in the country. Here is the full interview by Lesley Snyder, originally published on the SOM website: Tell me a bit about your background. I am very thankful for where I am and what I [...]

The Department of Surgery warmly welcomes our new clinical fellows for the 2018-19 academic year, a diverse group of accomplished surgeons bringing a rich array of experiences from leading institutions. The UCSF Department of Surgery is one of the leading surgical departments in the world with a rich history of scientific, educational, and clinical advancements. It is also one of the largest clinical services at UCSF. In this rarefied learning environment, these clinical fellows will have the opportunity to work as integral members of multidisciplinary clinical teams and learn [...]

The Department of Surgery warmly welcomes our new clinical fellows for the 2018-19 academic year, a diverse group of accomplished surgeons bringing a rich array of experiences from leading institutions. The UCSF Department of Surgery is one of the leading surgical departments in the world with a rich history of scientific, educational, and clinical advancements. It is also one of the largest clinical services at UCSF. In this rarefied learning environment, these clinical fellows will have the opportunity to work as integral members of multidisciplinary clinical teams and learn [...]

Surgeon-scientist Tammy T. Chang, MD, PhD, principal investigator in the The Chang Laboratory for Liver Tissue Engineering, has been awarded grants by two prestigious federal funders of research, the NASA Space Biology Program, and the National Science Foundation (NSF) in collaboration with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS).  Dr. Chang is a gastrointestinal surgeon who takes care of patients primarily in an acute care setting.  She holds an appointment as an assistant professor in the Division of General Surgery. Dr. Chang's research is focused on microgravity as it [...]

Laura J. Esserman, MD, MBA was selected as the 2018 OncLive® "Giant of Cancer Care" in Cancer Diagnostics. Dr. Esserman is professor of Surgery and Radiology at UCSF and director of the UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center. She was chosen by an elite committee of her peers based on her long history of outstanding work in the field as noted in the announcement: Dr. Esserman led efforts to address harms of screening including overdiagnosis, and proposed tools including the development of molecular diagnostics to help reclassify tumors as indolent lesions of epithelial origin or [...]

The UCSF General Surgery Residency was ranked No. 1 in research output and by reputation among sister programs in California and across the western U.S. in the Doximity 2018-19 annual survey. Nationally, the program placed in the 99th percentile for research output.  The residency program is led by Department Chair Julie Ann Sosa, M.D., M.A., FACS, Program Director Linda M. Reilly, M.D., Associate Directors Ryutaro Hirose, M.D., Kenzo Hirose, M.D., and Lygia Stewart, M.D., and Administrative Director Rachelle Bresnahan. Faculty Leadership and Graduating Chiefs for 2017-18   Top Ranked [...]

"When technology enters transportation, people forget that it also becomes public health. It becomes something where human lives are at stake." --- Dr. Catherine Juillard, UCSF trauma surgeon at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG) The New York Times, NBC Nightly News and UCSF News Center report on the controvery surrounding the influx of new vehicles such as motor-assisted scooters and mopeds into urban areas, and their impact on safety, notably here in San Francisco. Many in this class are shared or "just-in-time" vehicles that users rent on the spot, some maybe for the first [...]

Trauma Surgeon Lucy Kornblith, M.D. has been awarded the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) Trauma Research Scholarship to study post-injury platelet biology. Dr. Kornblith is a graduate of the UCSF General Surgery Residency Program and subsequently completed fellowships in Surgical Critical Care and Trauma Surgery, and Trauma and Emergency Care at UCSF. She will be joining the UCSF General Surgery Faculty August 1, 2018 and will be based at Zuckerberg San Francisco General. Dr. Kornblith described how this award is advancing her career aspirations as an academic surgeon in [...]

The Department of Surgery welcomes endocrine surgeon Sanziana A. Roman, M.D., FACS to the faculty as a professor of Surgery in the Section of Endocrine Surgery, Division of General Surgery. Dr. Roman also has been appointed Director of Learning and Teaching in the Procedural Specialties and Dean's Diversity Leader for Leadership Equity and Inclusion in the School of Medicine at UCSF.  Dr. Roman's clinical interest is in endocrine and minimally invasive surgery, with a focus in thyroid and adrenal diseases, including pediatric and adult endocrine tumors. She is one of only a few high-volume [...]

UCSF trauma surgeon Andre Campbell, M.D., who was on the trauma team that treated victims injured in the shooting at the YouTube headquarters in California, vented his frustration over decades of gun violence in a press conference about the shooting.  As reported by CNN, Campbell challenged the news media to look beyond the sensational events and address the pervasive omnipresent gun violence that is a daily occurrence in the U.S. Campbell was widely praised in social media for stance as well as his decades of service as a trauma surgeon and mentorship to many generations of medical [...]

The UCSF Howard C. Naffziger Surgical Society, the alumni society of graduates of the UCSF General Surgery Residency Program and associate members, held its 2018 meeting May 10-11 in San Francisco. Proceedings kicked with a Women in Surgery event at the home of Shelley Marks, the past President of the Society. The Naffziger Day Symposium generated substantive discussion of the history and future of surgical training and practice, while celebrating the common lineage of graduates of the UCSF Department of Surgery. Symposium speakers included UCSF Department of Surgery Chair Julie Ann Sosa, [...]

The CLOTT (Coalition of Leaders in Thromboembolism) study group, led by trauma surgeon M. Margaret "Peggy" Knudson, M.D., FACS, has begun enrolling patients in a landmark clinical trial looking at the treatment and prevention of post-traumatic pulmonary embolism. The study, which includes  investigators at 17 Level 1 trauma centers, is funded by a $4.25M grant from the Defense Medical Research and Development Program (DMRDP).  Dr. Knudson, the study's principal investigator, is a professor of surgery and member of the UCSF Department of Surgery at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital [...]

The 31st Annual J. Engelbert Dunphy Resident Research Symposium was held Wednesday, April 25, 2018 at UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay. The program showcased the laboratory research of residents, fellows and medical students in the Department of Surgery, and honors the life and accomplishments of J. Engelbert Dunphy, M.D., a legendary surgeon and a former chair of the UCSF Department of Surgery. This year's J. Englebert Dunphy Visiting Professor, Carla M. Pugh, MD, PhD, FACS, Professor of Surgery and Director of the Technology Enabled Clinical Improvement (T.E.C.I.) Center at Stanford [...]

The UCSF Howard C. Naffziger Surgical Society, the alumni society for graduates of the the UCSF General Surgery Residency Program and associate members, will hold its 2nd annual "Naffziger Society Day" symposium on Friday May 11th in San Francisco.  Naffziger Society Day brings together multiple generations of UCSF surgeons including former chief residents, surgeons in academic medicine, those with community practices, and retired surgeons. The symposium generates substantive discussion of the history and future of surgical training and practice, while celebrating the common lineage of [...]

UCSF was recently ranked No. 4 nationally for the surgery curriculum taught in medical school, placing it in the top 2.5% of the 177 medical and osteopathic schools surveyed in the U.S. News & World Report survey of best graduate and professional schools.   The curriculum, developed by highly acclaimed Department of Surgery faculty, encompasses didactic in-class learning fused with early longitudinal immersion in clinical teams, and an inquiry-focused learning environment that encourages medical students to ask questions that push the frontiers of science and understanding of human [...]

The 31st Annual J. Engelbert Dunphy Resident Research Symposium will be held Wednesday, April 25, 2018 at UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay beginning at 9:00 a.m. The Department of Surgery is honored to have Stanford professor Carla M. Pugh, MD, PhD, FACS as this year's visiting Dunphy Professor. The J. Engelbert Dunphy Resident Research Symposium showcases the laboratory research of residents, fellows and medical students in the Department of Surgery, and honors the life and accomplishments of J. Engelbert Dunphy, M.D., a legendary surgeon and a former chair of the UCSF Department of [...]

The UCSF Department of Surgery now ranks No. 3 nationally in NIH research funding among all academic surgery programs, a stunning rise from 6th the last time the survey was done. Three Department of Surgery faculty also ranked in the top 20 of all NIH-funded principal investigators nationally in the category of surgery. The highly respected Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research utilized data from the Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT) to survey U.S. medical schools for their NIH funding levels between October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017. UCSF was the top public recipient [...]

The Department of Surgery warmly welcomes our seven new categorical residents comprising the Class of 2025. We congratulate them in matching with our program. This is a diverse group of highly accomplished individuals that bring a wide array of life experiences and academic excellence to UCSF. We look forward to these newly minted residents' arrival and to providing them an enriching and rewarding experience over the next seven years as they train to become future leaders in academic surgery.   UCSF DEPARTMENT OF SURGERYPGY-1 Categorical General Surgery Residents (2018-19)

Jeff Pearl was Mount Zion. He lived and breathed the hospital, its patients and families, and staff; and he was as much a part of Mount Zion as the hospital was a part of him. Known for his warmth as well as his medical skill, Pearl, who died in August 2017, was professor emeritus of surgery at UCSF and held a number of key positions at Mount Zion for 35 years.  His friends, family, and closest colleagues gathered recently in the heart of the UCSF Mount Zion campus to announce the renaming and dedication of the Jeffrey M. Pearl, MD, Meditation Room, where they celebrated his profound [...]

Renowned breast surgeon Laura J. Esserman, MD, MBA gave a captivating talk about her richly textured life and innovative research at a Staff Engagement Event hosted by the Department of Surgery on February 9th at UCSF Mount Zion. The research portion of her talk focused on two landmark clinical trials she serves as principal investigator on. The first, the WISDOM Study (Women Informed to Screen Depending on Measures of Risk (WISDOM), is a pragmatic, adaptive, randomized clinical trial comparing a comprehensive risk-based, or personalized approach to traditional annual breast cancer [...]