2022-2014 News and Events
12/17/2022 Vascular Surgery Holiday Party
Stanford Vascular Surgery Holiday Party 2022. Thank you to all who contribute to making our division the standard of excellence. Congratulations to Dr. Manuel Garca-Toca on his next adventure. Thank you for all your dedication and contributions.
11/28-29/2022 Visiting Professor | Dr. Murray Shames
11/7/2022 - AHA Early Career Investigator Awarded to Derek Klarin
Congratulations, to Dr. Derek Klarin on receiving the AHA Early Career Investigator Award presented by the Council on Genomic and Precision Medicine, at the Scientific Sessions 2022.
11/1/2022 Dr. Shipra Arya Promoted to Professor of Surgery
Congratulations to Dr. Shipra Arya on her promotion to Professor of Surgery, effective November 1, 2022. We congratulate you on your academic achievements and look forward to your future accomplishments.
11/16/2022 Dr. Venita Chandra Promoted to Clinical Professor of Surgery
Congratulations to Dr. Venita Chandra on her promotion to Clinical Professor of Surgery, effective November 16, 2022. Thank you for your contributions to the department, we look forward to your future accomplishments.
9/26/2022 Dr. Elizabeth George joins Stanford Faculty
We are excited to announce that Dr. Elizabeth George will be joining the Stanford Vascular Surgery Faculty as a Clinical Instructor on September 26, 2022. We are so proud of Dr. George as a Stanford vascular surgery integrated program graduate. We look forward to her continued contributions to the Stanford Vascular Surgery Family. Dr. George will maintain her practice at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Hospital.
Dr. Shipra Arya serves as President of the Surgical Outcomes Club
We congratulate Dr. Shipra Arya on her roll as the President of the Surgical Outcomes Club started in November of 2021. Dr. Arya will serve a multi-year term through 2023. Learn more about Dr. Arya and the Surgical Outcomes Club in this Stanford Surgery article.
9/17/2022 - Robert Hye Memorial Best Resident Presentation award
Dr. Vivian Ho, received Second Place for her presentation on "Most Privately Insured Patients Are Not Screened for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms"
9/20/2022 - Western Vascular Resident Presentations
8/18/2022 - Dr. Aalami presents Keynote address at Stanford Biodesign 3rd health(hack) hackathon
8/17/2022 Srub Cast | Discussion on the LIMIT Trial
Dr. Ron Dalman discusses the LIMIT Trial Limiting AAA With Metformin (LIMIT) with Rachel Baker on the Stanofrd Surgery Podcast "Scrub Cast"
Link to ScrubCast Recording
8/10/2022 - Dr. Lee and Dr. Stern give presentations at the 2022 UCSF Vascular Symposium
7/15/2022 - Dr. Ho graduated from the Stanford-Intermountain Healthcare Fellowship
7/11/2022 Vascular Surgery Anastomosis Skills workshop
7/1/2022 Lisa Forneris joins as the new Division Manager of Vascular Surgery
6/26/2022 - Vascular Surgery Residency and Fellowship Graduation
6/26/2022 - Vascular Surgery Trainee Educational Award
Dr. Mike Sgroi received the inaugural Stanford Vascular Surgery Teacher of the Year award for Dr. Sgroi's “Sgroi Rounds” 2021-2022.
6/24/2022 Trainee Appreciation Day 2022
6/21/2022 - Intern Bootcamp Vascular Skills session
6/17/2022 - Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM)
6/7/2022 - Dr. Leeper gives they keynote talk on PVD at the ESVS in Stockholm
5/22/2022 Weesam Al-Khatib, MD Visiting Professorship
We are excited to announce the Visiting Professor for our Weesam Al-Khatib, MD Visiting Professorship in 2022.
Malachi G. Sheahan, MD,
May 30-31, 2022
Professor and Chair of the Division of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery
Louisiana State University
5/11/2022 Holman Resident Research Day
Vy Ho, MD representing Vascular Surgery Integrated at #Holman22 with a presentation on timesaving methods using remote medical records and poster on using echocardiogram to predict LVEF.
5/11/2022 Vascular Surgery Fellowship Match
Arielle Lee, M.D.
General Surgery: University of California San Diego
M.D.: Georgetown University School of Medicine
3/18/2022 Vascular Surgery Integrated Match
2/20/2022 TEDx Talk
Dr. Leeper showcases his research on the commonalities of cancer and heart disease in a Ted Talk at TEDxVienna. Watch the talk and read about Dr. Leeper's research in an interview in "The TEDx Vienna Magazine".
2/1/2022 - Promotion to Clinical Associate Professor
Congratulations to Dr. Jennifer Avise on her promotion to Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery. Thank you for all your contributions to the Division.
1/30/2022 - Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Society | 2022 Presidential Address
Congratulations to Dr. Jason Lee on his presidential address at the Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Society 2022 Annual Winter meeting in Snowmass, Colorado.
2022 News and Events
12/22/2021 - Dr. Sayed receives his second RO1
Dr. Nazish Sayed, Assistant Professor in the Division of Vascular Surgery and The Stanford Cardiovascular Institute has received his 2nd NIH-NHLBI R01 grant. This ~ $2M grant for 5-years “Unraveling the Role of Endothelium in Chemotherapy-induced Cardiotoxicity” will investigate the impact of chemotherapy on the vasculature and what role does the endothelium play in imparting cardiovascular dysfunction.
11/7/2021 - Dr. Tran receives Young Researcher Prize
Dr Kenneth Tran, a resident in the Division of Vascular Surgery, recently received the Young Researcher Prize (awarded to top 3 abstracts presented) at the 20th anniversary of the European Symposium on Vascular Biomaterials meeting (ESVB) in Strasbourg, France. In addition, he was awarded the Frank J Veith LEAD Award for best resident presentation at the Vascular Techniques & Technology Thinktank (VAST3) meeting in Hilton Head, SC. His research, entitled “Patient-specific computational flow simulation for thrombotic risk prediction after fenestrated endovascular aneurysm repair”, involves the novel application of fluid dynamic modelling for analyzing patient-specific hemodynamics after complex aortic repair.
Supported by Drs. Jason Lee (Vascular Surgery) and Alison Marsden (Bioengineering), his work represents the unique collaborative opportunities between Stanford’s Departments of Surgery and Bioengineering.
10/4/2021- Congratulations to Dr. Chelsea Dorsey for her promotion to Vice-Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for DOS
We are thrilled to congratulate former integrated residency alum Dr. Chelsea Dorsey on her promotion to Vice-Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for DOS.
10/28/2021 - Dr. Nazish Sayed receives R01
Dr. Nazish Sayed, an Assistant Professor in the Division of Vascular Surgery and The Stanford Cardiovascular Institute has received a NIH-NHLBI R01 grant. This ~ $2M grant for 5-years "Deciphering the Endothelial Cell-Cardiomyocyte Crosstalk in LMNA Cardiomyopathy” will investigate the role of the vasculature in inherited cardiac diseases, thereby bridging work from both the Division of Vascular Surgery and the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute.
8/20/2021 - Society for Vascular Surgery | Dalman Presidential Address
Vascular Annual Meeting
Society for Vascular Surgery
Vascular Annual Meeting
Stanford Strong at the VAM
Congratulations to Dr. Ron Dalman on his inspiring VAM Presidential Address, "The Next 75 Years of the SVS: Finding our Voice, Ensuring our Future". Your leadership and dedication will serve to inspire the current and future leaders of vascular surgery. We are honored to be represented by such an amazing mentor.
Watch Dr. Dalman's Presidential Address
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0NQ-PnwON4&list=PLdMQA5pt2x0JIkWeeUUBZHJI-wBpMuecI&index=12
Presentations at the VAM
Posters at the VAM
8/5/2021 - Dr. Ross receives Clinical Scientist Development Award
Congratulations to Dr. Elsie Ross on receiving the 2021 Clinical Scientist Development Award (CDSA) from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Dr. Ross will receive $495,000 in funding (over three years) towards her research proposal: "The application of deep learning for automated vascular imaging analysis."
8/7/2021 - Dr. Stern Promoted to Clinical Associate Professor
Dr. Jordan Stern is promoted to Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery, effective August 7, 2021. We are proud of your contributions and commitment to the Division and look forward to your future accomplishments.
7/26/2021 - Dr. Leeper receives Hoag Award
We are excited to announce that Dr. Nick Leeper, will be awarded the Jeffrey M. Hoeg Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology Award for Basic Science and Clinical Research. Dr. Leeper will receive his award during the Vascular Discovery: From Genes to Medicine Scientific Sessions 2021.
Stanford Surgery News
7/12/2021 - Dr. Chandra receives VCA Award
Congratulations to Dr. Venita Chandra for receiving the 2021 VIVA Vascular Career Advancement Award. The Vascular Interventional Advances (VIVA) recognizes young physicians with promise to be the future leaders in vascular surgery.
VIVA Vascular Career Advancement Award
Stanford Surgery News
7/12/2021 - Publication in Nature Aging
Congratulations to Dr. Nazish Sayed MD, PhD for his recent paper in Nature Aging. The paper highlights a new type of age ‘clock’ that can assess chronic inflammation to predict whether someone is at risk of developing age-related disorders such as cardiovascular diseases. The inflammatory aging clock (iAge) is one of the first tools of its kind to use inflammation to assess vascular health.
7/8/2021 - Dr. Ross in the General Surgery News
Dr. Elsie Ross, along with her colleagues at Stanford University’s Center for Biomedical Informatics Research, evaluate machine learning algorithms to identify patients at risk for PAD
7/8/2021 - 2021 Program Coordinator Award
We are very excited to announce that Kate McGurk, Vascular Surgery Integrated and Fellowship program coordinator was selected at the awardee of the 2021 GME Program Coordinator Award for Outstanding Contribution.
7/1/2021- Dr. Jason T. Lee Vascular Surgery Division Chief
Vascular Surgery Division Chief
We are excited to announce Dr. Jason Lee as the new Chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery. Dr. Lee joined the faculty in 2006 after completing his 2-year vascular fellowship at Stanford. He was Residency/Fellowship Program director from 2011-2020 and is currently the President of the Vascular and Endovascular Surgical Society. We look forward to Dr. Lee's leadership.
6/17/2021 - Dr. Dalman completed term as 2020-2021 SVS President
2020-2021 SVS President
Dr. Dalman complted his term as 2020-2021 SVS President on Wednesday, June 16th, at the virtual SVS business meeting. Dr. Dalman's presidential address will be in-person at The Society for Vascular Surgery, Vascular Annual Meeting, held in San Diego August 18-21, 2021.
7/1/2021 - Dr. Aalami Promoted to Clinical Professor
Congratulations to Dr. Oliver Aalami on his promotion to Clinical Professor of Surgery, effective July 1, 2021. We congratulate you on your academic achievements and look forward to your future accomplishments.
7/1/2021 - Dr. Sgroi Promoted to Clinical Associate Professor
Congratulations to Dr. Michael Sgroi on his promotion to Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery, effective July 1, 2021. We are proud of all your accomplishments and look forward to your future contributions to the Division.
5/12/2021 - Vascular Surgery Fellowship Match Day
5/5/2021 Weesam Al-Khatib Visiting Professor | Wei Zhou, MD, FACS
Weesam Al-Khatib, MD Visiting Professorship in 2021
Wei Zhou, MD, FACS
April 5-6, 2021
Chief, Division of Vascular Surgery
Professor, Surgery
University of Arizona, College of Medicine
3/30/2021 - E.J. Wylie Traveling Fellowship Award
Congratulations to Dr. Shipra Arya for being awarded the 2021 E.J. Wylie Traveling Fellowship. We are very excited for Dr. Arya on this prestigious recognition.
3/18/2021 - Vascular Surgery Integrated Match Day
2/1/2021 - Visiting Professor | Dr. Thomas Bower
Lecture: “Complex Open Aortic Surgery in the Endovascular Era”
1/28/2021 - New England Journal of Medicine
Letter to the Editor
Congratulations to the Leeper lab and colleagues for publishing in the NEJM the first human evidence that promoting “efferocytosis” (the phagocytic removal of diseased and dying cells) may have a beneficial effect on atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Using PET/CT scans from an ongoing cancer trial, the investigators were able to retrospectively analyze vascular inflammation in the arteries of subjects before and after treatment with an anti-CD47 antibody. They found that blockade of this key so-called ‘don’t eat me’ molecule was associated with reduced inflammation in the carotid arteries. These findings are consistent with the groups previously published studies in mice (Nature, 2016), and may pave the way for prospective cardiovascular studies to determine if ‘macrophage checkpoint inhibition’ has the potential to become a new therapy to prevent heart attack and stroke.
1/22/2021 Dr. Lee VESS President
Congratulations to Dr. Jason Lee on his leadership position as president of the Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Society (VESS).
1/18/2021 General Surgery Innovation Grant Rounds
Dr. Oliver Aalami
As part of the Stanford Surgery Innovation Council Grand Rounds presentation, Dr. Oliver Aalami, Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery, presented the challenges and successes designing and building Digital Health research studies at Stanford and most recently leveraging these learnings to work with the Society of Vascular Surgery to deploy a national SVS Supervised Exercise Therapy (SET) Program for patients with Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD). To help others interested in remote patient monitoring studies and solutions, he co-founded the open-source framework CardinalKit to save research groups $120,000 and 12 months in development time. As director of Biodesign for Digital Health, Dr. Aalami teaches two courses, Biodesign for Digital Healthto teach best practices for digital health implementation and Building for Digital Health to actually build and deploy on-campus research projects using CardinalKit. This year a post-Kidney transplantation navigation program (PI: Dr. Marc Melcher) and a remote blood pressure monitoring program (PI: Dr. Paul Wang) are examples being built.
1/11 - Leeper Lab Paper Named Top 10 Manuscript for 2020 by Health innovations
Congratulations to Alyssa Flores for having her article named a Top 10 manuscript for 2020 by Healthinnovations.
2021 News and Events
12/8/2020 - Dr. Caitlin Bell, CZ Biohub Physician-Scientist Fellow
Caitlin Bell, MD, general cardiology fellow at Stanford University and Leeper Lab member, has been selected as a biomedical research fellow through the CZ Biohub Physician-Scientist Fellowship Program. Dr. Bell, will join 6 other physician-scientests from Stanford and UCSF in July of 2021, to pursue their biomeidal research through the fellowship program. Congratulations to Dr. Bell on this amazing achievement!
12/1/2020 - Dr. Ronald Dalman Surgery Grand Rounds
11/12/2020 - Suleman Khan, MS3 Dorothy Dee & Marjorie Dee Helene Boring Trust Award Winner
Suleman Khan, a third year Stanford Medical Student, has been awarded the 2020 Dorothy Dee and Marjorie Helene Boring Trust Award under the guidance of Vascular Surgery faculty: Dr. Oliver Aalami, Dr. Carla Pugh, and Dr. Ronald Dalman. The Boring Trust Research Award supports Stanford Medical Students to spearhead independent research projects aiming to transform Cardiovascular care. It provides students with $15,000 over the course of a year to be applied towards research and educational expenses.
Suleman's project, entitled Vascular1, aims to combine Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality to teach medical students and surgical residents ultrasound guided vascular access (USGVA) strategies. USGVA is often learned on patients who suffer unnecessary complications or through expensive mannequins. Through Vascular1 and affordable Oculus Quest VR headsets, medical trainees will dynamically learn the hand-eye coordination skills required for safe USGVA. Suleman's project will also include an educational study of trainees to compare pre- and post- training performance with Vascular1 with the hope of distributing the platform to other institutions.
Boring Trust Website
11/18/2020 Dr. Leeper receives Falk Award
Dr. Nicholas Leeper is the recipient of the 2020 Falk Medical Research Trust Transformational Award. The $1M in funding from Health Resources in Action will fund Leeper's project "Precision Nanotherapies for Cardiovascular Disease" through November 2022.
11/1/2020 - Dr Garcia-Toca Promotion to Clinical Professor
We are excited to annonce that Dr. Manuel Garcia-Toca has been promoted to Clinical Professor of Surgery, effective November 1, 2020. We congratulate Dr. Garcia-Toca on this accomplishment and thank him for his didication to our division. We will continue to look forward to future achievements.
10/29/2020 - Dr. Ken Tran 2021 VESS/Medtronic Resident Research Award
Kenneth Tran, MD, PGY 3, Vascular Surgery Integrated resident on professional development, recieved the 2021 VESS/Medtronic Resident Research Award. Dr. Tran's research proposal “Patient-specific computational fluid dynamics modeling for assessing the hemodynamic performance of complex endovascular aneurysm repair”, was selected in a competative application process. Dr. Tran will receive $12,500 in research support this coming year. Congratulations to Dr. Tran on this outstanding achievement.
9/1/2020 Metformin Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Suppression Trial
Dr. Dalman's publication in the Vascular & Endovascular Review outlines the background and proposed design for his study on metformin for growth suppression in patients with small AAA.
Dr. Dalman recently received an NIH R61-33 grant to fund his Limiting AAA with Metformin (LIMIT Trial). The trial will study Metformin Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Suppression. Patients will be enrolled starting Summer 2021.
8/1/2020 - Audible Bleeding Podcast: Representation Matters
Representation Matters: Recruitment and Retention of URM to Vascular Surgery
Dr. Ron Dalman, Chief of Vascular Medicine joins faculty member Dr. Elsie Ross and program alumna Dr. Chelsea Dorsey along with UCSF's Dr. Joel Ramirez in a discussion on recruitment and retention of URM to vascular surgery in this episode of the Audible Bleeding podcast.
Link to Podcast
8/1/2020 - Dr. Arya Chair of AVAS Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Dr. Shipra Arya has been chosen to chair the Association of VA Surgeons' (AVAS) new Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
7/16/2020 - Faculty Promotion | Dr. Eri Fukaya
Dr. Eri Fukaya has been promoted to Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery, effecitve July 16, 2020. We congratulate Dr. Fukaya on her spectacular clinical and scholarly performance and thank her for her didication to vascular health.
7/1/2020 Publication in JVS
Editorial in July JVS
Dr. Dalman provides a perspective on the controversy surrounding the recently released guidelines by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's (NICE) regarding abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), in an editorial article published in the July 2020 edition of the Journal for Vascular Surgery.
6/1/2020 - SCVMC Leadership Announcement
We are excited to announce that Dr. Garcia-Toca has been selected as the Chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC). We believe that under Dr. Garcia-Toca's leadership the division will continue on a trajectory excellence and continued growth.
Since the hire of Drs. Sorial and Garcia-Toca at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC) in 2015, we have witnessed incredible growth in the Vascular Surgery service. Due to their excellent in patient care and increased patient volume, SCVMC requested that we hire a third surgeon in 2018. We were fortunate enough to recruit Dr. Sgroi. Together, our three physicians have continued to expand the breadth of the Vascular Surgery service at SCVMC.
We look forward to continued Vascular Surgery programmatic growth and expansion at SCVMC.
5/13/2020 - 2021 Vascular Surgery Fellow Match - Brian Sheehan, MD
2021 Vascular Surgery's Fellow
After a successful first ever virtual interview process, we are thrilled to announce that Brian Sheehan, M.D. will be our new vascular surgery fellow beginning in August 2021.
General Surgery: University of California, Irvine
M.D.: Tufts University School of Medicine
5/11/2020 - Dr. Chandra Assumes Leadership of Vascular Surgery Training Programs
The Division of Vascular Surgery's Training Program has a new director. Dr. Venita Chandra has assumed leadership of both the Vascular Surgery Residency and Fellowship Programs. This announcment was the top @StanfordSurgery tweet of the month of May 2020. The enthusiasm this annoucment has received reflects both Dr. Chandra’s leadership potential as well as Dr. Lee’s decade-long effort to make our training program worthy of this much attention. Unlimited opportunity, building off of peer-leading market position - unbeatable combination.
4/29/2020 - Dr. Elsie Ross receives Chang Zuckerberg Initiative Grant
Dr. Elsie Ross Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery, in collaboration with Dr. Philip Tsao and lead invistigator, Dr. Joseph Wu from the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, recieved the Chang Zuckerberg Initative Grant to study vascular disease in diverse patients.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Awards $14 Million to Support Inflammation Research
4/27/2020 - 2nd Annual Weesam Al-Khatib, MD Visiting Professorship
2020 Weesam Al-Khatib, MD Visiting Professorship
Weesam AlKhatib, MD Visiting Professorship 2020
Matthew Mell, MD - April 27-28, 2020
Professor and Chief of Vascular Surgery
Medical Director, Vascular Center
3/20/2020 - 2020 Vascular Surgery Residency Interns
3/18/2020 Vascular Surgery Fellowship Interviews
The Division of Vascular Surgery had the pleasure of interviewing an excelent group of vascular surgery fellowship applicants on March 18, 2020. The Division of Vascular Surgery faculty and staff were dedicated to keeping the interviews running as planned dispite a rapidly changing environment due to the COVID-19 shelter-in-place restrictions.
Article: Fellowship Interviews Move Online
3/6/2020 - AVF-JOBST Grant
Congratulations to Dr. Fukaya on being selected as the winner of the AVF-JOBST grant by the American Venous Forum Foundation. Dr. Fukaya will use this grant to study the role of leg bioimpedance as a biomarker for determining venous disease progression.
3/6/2020 - AVF Distinguished Fellow Award
Dr. E. John Harris received the Distinguished Fellow Award at the AVF 2020 Annual Meeting. The Distinguished Fellow awards are provided to recognized AVF members who have enhanced the AVF by volunteering for committees, as meeting Faculty, provided educational enhancment for trainees, and advanced venous disese by research and education. Congratulations to Dr. Harris on this achievment.
2/26/2020 C-I-CARE - WOW Card
Commitment to patient care
We are proud to announce that Vascular Surgery's Lead Advanced Practice Provider Ani Bagdasarian, received a Stanford Health Care Virtual WOW Card as a result of her outstanding team work and dedication to high quality patient care at SHC. Ani's actions are another example of C-I-CARE in action.
Stanford Health Care's C-I-CARE program is a framework for structuring best practice communications and developing relationship based care approaches with patients.
Learn more about SHC's C-I-CARE
1/8/2020 - Vascular Surgery Applicant Interview
The Division of Vascular Surgery had the pleasure of interviewing an excelent crop of medical students applying for the Vascular Surgery Integrated program. While we can only match two of them, we look forward to working with all of them in future collaborations.
2020 News and Events
12/1/2019 - December 2019 CVI Travel Award Winner
Congratulations to Aditi Kashikar, MBBS, Post Doctoral Scholar with Vascular Surgery on her CVI Travel Scholarship. Dr. Kashikar received the scholarship to travel to the 15th Annual Academic Surgical Congress to present her research on Frailty Reduces Long-term Survival after Peripheral Artery Revascularizations Regardless of Approach with Dr. Shipra Arya, Associate Professor in the Division of Vascular Surgery.
11/26/2019 - Dr. Ehab Sorial Surgery Grand Rounds
11/1/2019 - VEITHsymposium™ 2019: The Treatment Of AAA Disease In Diabetics — Dr Ronald L Dalman
VEITHsymposium™ 2019: The Treatment Of AAA Disease In Diabetics — Dr Ronald L Dalman
Dr Ronald L Dalman (Stanford Medicine, US) discusses the impact of diabetes on patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) disease and the different indications and treatment strategies compared to non-diabetic patients.
11/1/2019 - Interview with Tait Shnafelt about physician burnout
The Division of Vascular Surgery's Dr. Pavlos Tsantilas interviews Chief Wellness Officer Dr. Tait Shanafelt about physician burnout as part of the 9th Munich Vascular Conference.
Watch Interview with Stanford Chief Wellness Officer Dr. Tait Shanafelt
11/1/2019 - Surgical Outcomes Club Secretary
Dr. Shipra Arya, Associate Professor in the Division of Vascular Surgery, was elected secretary of the Surgical Outcomes Club. Dr. Arya will ascend to the presidency in two years.
The Surgical Outcomes Club is a consortium of surgeons and scientists interested in advancing health services and outcomes research in surgery. Dr. Arya was one of the club's Zinner Fellows as a junior faculty member.
9/23/2019 - Subspecialty Young Investigators Award
Vascular Surgery Resident Dr. Elizabeth George won the 2019 Subspecialty Young Investigators Award from the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS). The award is open to residents or fellows in Cardiothoracic, Vascular, Orthopedics, Urology, Plastics and Otolaryngology.
"The award sponsors my attendance to the AAS Fall Courses which are designed to inspire young academic surgeons and facilitate a lifelong career in academic surgery," said George. "Last year I attended the Annual Fundamentals of Surgical Research Course, and this year I will attend the Annual Early Career Development Course."
9/21/2019 - Dr. Dalman interview at ESVS 2019
8/25/2019- 2019 Welcome BBQ and Vascular Medicine Graduation
The Division of Vascular Surgery welcomes the new vascular surgery and vascular medicine trainees for the 2019-2020 year and celebrated the graduation of the Vascular Medicine fellow, Dr. Mohammad Atif Rana.
Vascular Medicine Fellow: Amy Kaufman, MD (left)
Vascular Surgery Interns: Shernaz Dossabohy, MD and Shaunak Adkar, MD (right)
Vascular Surgery Fellow: Teddy Hart, MD (not pictured)
8/1/2019 - Notice of K01 Award to Elsie Ross, MD
Dr. Ross’ research builds on the promise of artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify patients at risk for, or already affected by, peripheral arterial disease (PAD) through analysis of unstructured electronic health records. This focus is directly aligned with Stanford Medicine’s Integrated Strategic Plan - “Value focused, digitally driven, uniquely Stanford” (http://med.stanford.edu/isp/strategic-priorities.html), as well as our emphasis on Precision Health - "predicting, preventing and curing, precisely". (http://med.stanford.edu/precisionhealth.html). Her research promises to revolutionize how tens of millions patients with PAD, at 3-fold risk for premature death by virtue of this diagnosis, are identified, offered early intervention and ultimately managed, all in the most efficient and cost-effective method possible. Potentially paradigm changing research in cardiovascular care - a powerful partnership between the Divisions of Vascular Surgery and Bioinformatics at Stanford Medicine.
8/1/2019 - Dr. Ross on cover of Vascular Specialist
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Dr. Elsie Ross was featured on the front cover of the August 2019 edition of the Society for Vascular Surgery publication Vascular Specialist.
8/1/2019 - Promotion to Professor, Nick Leeper, MD
Congratulations to Dr. Leeper on his promotion to Professor! The University Provost approved the promotion of Dr. Nicholas Leeper to Professor in the Department of Surgery and the Department of Medicine, effective August 1, 2019. Join us in congratulating Dr. Leeper on this well-deserved promotion!
6/28/2019 - Vascular Surgery Graduation
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Case Western Reserve University.
Assistant Professor in Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital.
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Medical College of Virginia.
6/27/2019 - Textbook on Vascular Motion Publication
Chris Cheng, PhD’s Handbook of Vascular Motion has been published this week. His publication is a reference textbook on device-vessel interactions and design considerations to maximize performance and durability of vascular devices. Congratulation to Dr. Cheng on this accomplishment.
6/12/2019- Wearables could transform monitoring and outcome assessment for vascular interventions
Health technology solutions—such as mobile apps and wearables—can play a huge role in activity tracking and assessing the outcomes of peripheral vascular interventions, says Ronald L Dalman (Stanford, USA), president-elect of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS). Down the road, the SVS plans a branded mobile activity tracker and Dalman notes that such tools may also be used to measure aneurysm diameter, or look for evidence of stroke when patients are sleeping. Still, accuracy, expense, appropriateness, privacy, reliability, reproducibility and “those types of issues” will be a concern, he states.
Dalman spoke to Vascular News at the SVS Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM; 12–15 June 2019, National Harbor, USA).
5/15/2019 - 2019 Fellowship Match Results
We are excited for Drs. Rojas and Paisley to start August 1, 2020
Elianne Rojas
General Surgery: Christiana Care Hospital
Michael Paisley
General Surgery: Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital
5/9/2019- Dr. Lee in the News
KGO TV- The Heart of a Warrior: Saving Tom Tolbert
Bay Area sports personality and former Golden State Warrior Tom Tolbert suffered an aortic dissection in 2017. The documentary shows how Stanford Hospital treated the life-threatening tear near his heart. Dr. Joseph Woo, Chair of the Dept. of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Dr. Jason Lee, Director of Endovascular Surgery, and Dr. David Liang, professor of cardiovascular medicine, are interviewed for the story.
4/1/2019 - The Inaugural Weesam AlKhatib, MD Visiting Professorship Lecture
Title of Lecture: “The Anatomy of a Successful Manuscript”
Visiting Professor:
Anton Sidawy, MD, MPH, DFSVS, FACS
Professor and the Lewis B. Saltz Chair
Department of Surgery
George Washington University
3/19/2019 - Dr. Leeper awarded the American Heart Association Established Investigator Award
Congratulations to Dr. Nicholas Leeper, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Medicine for receiving the Established Investigator Award (EIA) from the American Heart Association (AHA). Per the AHA, this award is designed “to support mid-career investigators with unusual promise and established records of accomplishments.” The Leeper Lab plans to use this support to investigate emerging immunological aspects of atherosclerosis, with a focus on developing new translational therapies designed to suppress vascular inflammation.
3/15/2019 - Vascular Residency Match News
Shernaz Dossabhoy
University of Massachussets Medical School
Shaunak Adkar
Duke University School of Medicine
3/14/2019 - Dr. Venita Chandra has been elected to the Stanford Health Care Medical Executive Committee.
Contratulations to Dr. Venita Chandra on her election to the Stanford Health Care Medical Executive Committee. We appreciate her commitment to excelence and dedication to our instituion.
3/1/2019 - Dr. Ronald Dalman is published in the March 2019 Journal of Vascular Surgery
Dr. Dalman's article comparing recent SVS and ESVS guidelines for AAA care is published in the March 2019 edition of the Journal of Vascular Surgery. Congratulations to Dr. Dalman.
2/13/2019- Dr. Nicholas Leeper nominated to the American Heart Association's (AHA's) Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee (SACC)
Dr. Nicholas Leeper has been nominated to the American Heart Association’s (AHA’s) Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee (SACC), which is the organization’s highest scientific body, and is responsible for mapping the scientific agenda of the organization. We offer our congratulations to Dr. Leeper on this significant achievement.
2/1/2019- Dr. Jason Lee elected to Vascular Surgery Board of the American Board of Surgery
Dr. Jason Lee, has been elected to the Vascular Surgery Board of the American Board of Surgery (VSB-ABS). The VSB-ABS was established in 1998 and is solely responsible for defining all requirements and processes related to board certification in vascular surgery. Congratulations to Dr. Lee for his outstanding achievement.
2/4/19 - Visiting Professor- Hans-Henning Eckstein, MD
Professor, Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Surgery, Head of the Department of Vascular and Endovascular, Surgery/Vascular Center and the Munich Aortic Centre at the “Klinikum rechts der Isar” Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich Germany
We are honored to host Dr. Hans-Henning Eckstein as our Visiting Professor on Monday, February 3rd at the Vascular Surgery Conference and again on Tuesday, February 4, 2019 at the Department of Surgery Grand Rounds.
Special Lecture: “Vascular evidence can be generated from RCT’s and registries or routine data- the example of aortic aneurysms and carotid stenosis”
1/15/19 Leeper Lab Receives Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (R35) by the National Institutes of Health
Congratulations to the Leeper Lab for receiving a 7 year R35 award from the NIH. This grant will allow the team to study the fundamental origins of atherosclerosis, with a particular focus on the mechanisms by which cells undergo clonal expansion during disease progression, and how they can be translationally targeted for therapeutic purposes.
12/10/2018 - Headline News: Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
Dr. Jason T. Lee, Professor of Sugery, Division of Vascular Surgery uses his 15 years of experience to discuss thoracic outlet syndrome.
11/16/2018 - Stanford Faculty Leading Top National Organizations
Dr. Ronald Dalman, Chief, Division of Vascular Surgery, is one of four distinguished Stanford School of Medicine faculty appointed to prominent national health care organizations in the field of cardiovascular medicine. Dr. Dalman is the Vice President of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) for the 2018-2019 academic year. Dr. Dalman will serve as President-Elect (2019-2020) followed by President (2020-2021).
11/1/2018 - Stanford’s Department of Surgery’s first Seed Grant Program Award
Congratulations to Dr. Jason T. Lee and his research team, Kenneth Tran, MD and Celine Deslarzes-Dubuis, MD, on receiving an inaugural Department of Surgery seed grant funding for their research project "Use of Remote Renal Ischemic Preconditioning to Reduce Incidence of Acute Kidney Injury During Complex EVAR of Juxtarenal Aortic Aneurysms".
9/20/2018 - Talking Successful Leadership Practices with Dr. Ronald Dalman
Dr. Ronald Dalman, Chief of Vascular Surgery, was recently interviewed by Clinical Associate Professor, Dr. Venita Chandra for the Society of Vascular Surgery, September 2018 Issue of Vascular Specialist.
9/24/2018 - Headline News: Leeper Lab research on Varicose Veins
In the largest genetics study ever performed on varicose veins, Dr. Fukaya and colleagues pursue the inherited and environmental drivers of disease and identify a novel link between varicose veins and human height.
9/22/2018 - "Docs in Socks" for PAD Awareness
"Docs in Socks" for PAD Awareness
The Stanford Extremity Preservation Program (STEPP) and Wound Care Center, in conjunction with SHC Doctors and clinical staff, are promoting the "Docs in Socks" campaign to raise awareness of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD). The SHC Vascular Surgery team pictured above is joining in on the campaign.
9/11/2018 - Dr. Avise named clinic chief of CAP clinic
Congratulations to Dr. Jennifer Avise on her appointment to Clinic Chief of the Community Academic Practice (CAP) Multidisciplinary Clinic at Stanford ValleyCare.
"This new leadership role is a fine recognition of Dr. Avise’s efforts and success at ValleyCare," said Chief of Vascular Surgery Dr. Ronald Dalman.
9/6/2018 - Stanford research predicts risk of deadly vascular condition
Precision Health: Vascular Disease
Stanford researchers Michael Snyder, PhD and Philip Tsao, PhD, use genome sequencing to predict risk of deadly vascular condition.
8/31/2018 - Stanford's Extremity Preservation Program (StEPP) takes the national state.
Dr. Chandra's talk on limb salvage at the Society for Vascular Surgery's Vascular Annual Meeting is highlighted in the following article in VascularNews.
8/23/2018 - Dalman Hollier Visiting Professorship
Congratulations to Dr. Ronald Dalman on being honored as the Mayo Clinic's 12th Larry M. Hollier Visiting Professor. Dr. Dalman's lecture was entitled "AAA Update: Emerging Insights on Medical and Surgical Management in 2018.”
8/23/2018 - Dr. Venita Chandra spoke at the Hendolat Endovascular Horizons in Mexico City, Mexico
7/1/2018 - Welcome New Faculty
We are excited to welcome Stanford Vascular Surgery graduates Dr. Elsie Gyang Ross and Dr. Michael Sgroi to the Stanford Division of Vascular Surgery Faculty. Dr. Ross is an Assistant Professor of Surgery and will be at Stanford Hospital and Palo Alto VA. Dr. Sgroi is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery and will be at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.
6/18/2018- Dr. Dalman nominated Vice President of the SVS for 2018-2019
We are excited to announce that per the June 2018 business meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), Dr. Ron Dalman has been appointed to Society Vice President for the 2018-2019 academic year. SVS bylaws state that, in sequential years the Vice President accedes to the positions of President-Elect, and then President. Thus, Dr. Dalman will serve as SVS President during the 2020-2021 academic year. In his future role as SVS President, Dr. Dalman will be preceded by emeritus Stanford Vascular Surgery faculty Drs. Thomas J. Fogarty (1995) and Christopher K. Zarins (1999).
The SVS is the world’s oldest (founded in 1947) and most influential society dedicated to the advancement of vascular health and well-being, with 6,000 members in the USA and in 13 international chapters worldwide.
6/29/2018 - Vascular Surgery Graduation
2018 Graduation
Vascular Surgery is celebrating the graduation of our trainees
Dr. Graeme McFarland, Dr. Mike Sgroi and
Dr. Elsie Ross
We congratulate them on all their hard work and wish them well in their future endeavors.
6/21/2018 - 2018 Fondation Leducq Award
Congratulations to the Leeper lab for receiving a 2018 Fondation Leducq award. This grant, led by Drs. Gary Owens and Gerard Pasterkamp, will use advanced genomics approaches to investigate the contribution of matrix producing cells to atherosclerotic vascular disease. Additional details about this exciting new collaboration can be found at http://plaqomics.com/.
6/20/2018 - SUS Junior Faculty Award
Dr. Elsie Ross is awarded the SUS Junior Faculty Award for her project: “A precision medicine approach for the early identification of PAD”. Congratulations on this accomplishment! Excited to welcome Dr. Ross to the faculty on July 9th.
6/19/2018 - 2018 AHA Transformational Project Award
Dr. Nicholas Leeper was awarded an AHA Transformational Project Award. Dr. Leeper will be working with Dr. Bryan Smith, Molecular Imaging to study “Macrophage-specific nanoparticles which we hope will home to the diseased blood vessel and promote the clearance of necrotic debris as a new method to treat atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease”.
6/16/2018- 2018 Firestone Medal for Excellence in Undergraduate Research
Congratulations to Sophia Xiao, Leeper Lab Member, on receiving the 2018 Firestone Medal for her graduating thesis. The Firestone medal is prestigious honor awarded to the finest honors thesis in social science, science, and engineering.
6/7/2018 - Dr. Neelima Katragunta recognized by Biodesign
Congratulations to Dr. Neelima Katragunta for her recognition by Biodesign for her leadership in guiding and mentoring fellows.
5/20/2018 - Dr. Jason Lee in the News!
Congratulations to Dr. Jason Lee for his featured news story about a grateful patient who was connected to Dr. Lee through twitter.
5/20/2018 - Vascular Surgery Match for Fellowship
We are thrilled to announce that Teddy Hart, M.D. will be our new vascular surgery fellow beginning in August 2019. Congratulations and welcome Teddy to the Stanford Vascular Surgery family!
4/2/2018 - Visiting Professor
Dr. Peter Gloviczki
We are honored to host Dr. Peter Gloviczki as our Visiting Professor on Monday, April 2nd at the Vascular Surgery Conference and again on Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at the Department of Surgery Grand Rounds.
March 30, 2018 - Farewell to Matthew Mell, MD
3/16/2018 - 2018 Integrated Match News!
Krishna will be the eleventh resident to join our vascular surgery residency training program since its inception in 2008. He received his Bachelor’s Degree and Masters of Public Health from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before attending Albany Medical College. While there he developed an interest in bioengineering and device-related outcomes and sought out early mentorship in vascular surgery with several prominent leaders in our specialty. He is absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to spend his formative surgical years here and we are excited to have the chance to train him. Please join us in congratulating Krishna for his accomplishments thus far in medical school and welcoming him to Stanford.
3/5/2018 - S-SPIRE Work-In-Progress session with Dr. Shipra Arya
“Introducing a Surgical Pause: Frailty Screening and the Risk Analysis Index”
Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign: From the Innovator's Workbench
March 20, 2018
Featuring: Featuring Jose E. Almeida, chairman, president, and CEO, Baxter International INC.
Ticket Registration: tickets.stanford.edu
2/22/2018 - Facebook Live Event with Stanford Cardiologists #Heart2Heart
Dr. Nicholas Leeper, associate professor in the Division of Vascular Surgery, joined Stanford Cardiologists Drs. Abha Khandelwal and Marco Perez to discuss the latest trends in preventing heart disease, options for treatment and more in a Facebook Live Event on February 22, 2018. Watch the video here
2/16/2018 - Dr. Fukaya is a finalist in the Jay D. Coffman Young Investigator Award (YIA)
Congratulations to Dr. Eri Fukaya, clinical assistant professor in the Division of Vascular Surgery, for being selected as a finalist in the prestigious Jay D. Coffman Young Investigator Award (YIA) Competition for her abstract, Clinical and Genetic Determinants of Varicose Veins: A Prospective, Community-Based Prospective Study of ~500,000 Individuals. We are very excited for Dr. Fukaya and wish her continued success.
2/16/18 - “New Circulation study suggests that ‘taking out the trash’ may help prevent aneurysm disease” or similar?
Impaired cell cleanup associated with abdominal aortic aneurysms, new study finds.
According to a new Stanford study, the body’s ability to get rid of dead cells plays a role in the development of abdominal aortic aneurysms. The research could pave the way to preventing aneurysms from enlarging. Nicholas Leeper, Associate Professor of Surgery, is the senior author. The study builds on research by co-author Irving Weissman, the Virginia and Daniel K. Ludwig Professor in Clinical Investigation in Cancer Research, professor of pathology and of developmental biology and director of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.
02/14/2018 - Stanford Extremity Preservation Program
Stanford's first meeting of the Stanford Extremity Preservation Program (StEPP) included representatives from Radiology, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Orthopedics, Podiatry, Infectious Disease, Vascular Surgery, and Wound Care! Vascular Surgeon Dr. Venita Chandra leads Stanford's efforts to expand the limb preservation program. We look forward to continued collaboration and success!
Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Seed Grants Program
Stanford Bio-X Accepting Letters of Intent for the Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Seed Grants Program, Round 9
Letters must be received by: Monday, March 19, 2018 by 5:00 PM (PST)
Learn more here.
Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign: From the Innovator's Workbench
February 13, 2018
Featuring: Josh Makower, founder & Chairman ExploraMed Development LLC
Ticket Registration: tickets.stanford.edu
January 19, 2018: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute
The Division of Cardiovascular Sciences of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute is seeking physician-scientists with cardiovascular disease expertise across the lifespan.
Ideal candidates will have an outstanding record of research accomplishments, excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and the ability to oversee complex research programs. Desired expertise include, but not limited to, interventional cardiology, cardiovascular device, electrophysiology, coronary artery and/or vascular disease, hypertension, and heart failure.
Interested candidates please contact
Dr. Yves Rosenberg at rosenbey@nih.gov or 301-435-1292 (tel) 301-480-3667 (fax)
January 2018: Welcome Dr. Shipra Arya
The Division of Vascular Surgery welcomes faculty member Shipra Arya, MD. Dr. Arya will join the Division of Vascular Surgery as Chief of Vascular Surgery at the Palo Alto VA.
"I am thrilled to be joining Stanford Vascular Surgery, one of the top most programs in the country under Dr. Dalman's leadership. As a health services researcher, I am really looking forward to working with Dr. Hawn and a highly talented group of researchers she has recruited at the S-Spire Center and Palo Alto VA," said Arya. "I hope to learn from the best and contribute to the research portfolio of the department in the coming years. My main goal is to improve quality and delivery of surgical care for older and vulnerable patients, especially those with vascular disease." - Dr. Arya
Dr. Arya has a masters of science degree in Epidemiology from Harvard University. She completed her categorical general surgery residency at Creighton University Medical Center followed by a Vascular Surgery Fellowship at University of Michigan. Most recently, Dr. Arya has worked as an Assistant Professor of Surgery and of Epidemiology at Emory University and Director of Vascular Lab and Endovascular Therapy at the Atlanta VA Medical Center.
Dr. Elsie Ross Invited to SBAS Leadership & Faculty Development Institute
Vascular Surgery Resident Dr. Elsie Ross has been invited to participate in the upcomming Society of Black Academic Surgeons (SBAS) Leadership and Faculty Development Institute.
2018 News and Events
12/1/2017 - Book Deal with Elsevier and Visiting Fellowship
Book Deal
Adjunct Professor Chris Cheng has signed a book deal with Elsevier to write a book tentatively titled, "Determining Dynamic Boundary Conditions For Cardiovascular Device Durability". For medical device companies to properly design and evaluate cardiovascular implants, they must not only know the primary function of the implant, but also the dynamic environment in which the implant needs to survive. This is a relatively new field that is not well studied, and much of the sparse knowledge resides as tribal know-how within individual companies. With his combined experience in academia and the medical device industry, Dr. Cheng has been commissioned to write the first book to cover this topic.
Oxford Visiting Fellowship
Dr. Chris Cheng has accepted a Visiting Fellowship at Exeter College at the University of Oxford for January-June 2018. He will be collaborating with the departments of Vascular Surgery and Cardiovascular Medicine, and is excited to write his biomechanics book where JRR Tolkien wrote "The Lord of the Rings"!
11/20/2017 - Dr. Dalman elected to a three-year term on the American College of Surgeons Board of Governors
We are excited to announce that Division of Vascular Chief, Dr. Ronald L. Dalman, was elected to a three-year term on the American College of Surgeons Board of Governors. He will be representing Vascular Surgery as a Surgical Specialty Society Governor.
11/13/2017 - Venita Chandra, M.D., Promoted to Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Venita Chandra has been promoted to Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery. Dr. Chandra completed her Vascular Surgery Fellowship at Stanford University before joining the Division of Vascular Surgery in 2013. Dr. Chandra has served as the Medical Director of the Stanford Advanced Wound Care Center since 2013 and the Vascular Surgery Residency and Fellowship Associate Director since 2014. Dr. Chandra was selected as the Patient Safety Champion for the Stanford University School of Medicine Center for Patient Safety in 2016. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Chandra on her well-deserved promotion.
11/10/2017 - Visiting Professor Dr. Ramesh Tripathi
Special Guest Lecture
Friday, November 10, 2017
“Hybrid Aortic Arch Surgery. Lessons Learnt from a Ten-Year Experience”
Presented by:
Ramesh K. Tripathi, MD, FRCS, FRACS
Adjunct Professor
Vascular and Endovascular Surgery
Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
University of the Sunshine Coast
Queensland, Australia
10/22/2017 - American College of Surgery Clinical Congress
Congratulations to Dr. Venita Chandra and Dr. Neelima Katragunta on their acceptance to the Fellowship of the American College of Surgeons.
9/26/2017 - Western Vascular Society 32nd Annual Meeting
We would like to offer congratulations to Dr. E. John Harris has he assumes his role as President of the Western Vascular Society!
Dr. Harris was joined by Stanford Vascular Faculty Drs. Ronald Dalman, Venita Chandra, and Matthew Mell along with Vascular Trainees Drs. Graeme McFarland (Vascular Fellow), Mike Sgroi (Vascular Fellow), Nathan Itoga (Vascular Resident), and Kenneth Tran (Vascular Resident) representing Stanford at the
32nd Annual Meeting of the Western Vascular Society on September 23-26, 2017.
Posters:
Effects of Regional and General Anesthesia on Infrainguinal Bypass Surgery Outcomes
Michael D. Sgroi, MD, Graeme McFarland, MD, Matthew Mell, MD
Stanford University, CA
Presentations:
Complex EVAR is Associated with Higher Peri-Operative Mortality but Not Late-Mortality Compared to Infrarenal EVAR Amongst Octogenarians
Kenneth Tran, MD, Andy Lee, MD, Graeme McFarland, MD, Mike Sgroi, MD, Nathan Itoga, MD, Jason Lee, MD
Stanford School of Medicine, CA
Long-Term Outcomes after Repair of Symptomatic Non-Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms
Karen Trang, BS, Venita Chandra, MD, Whitt Virgin-Downey, BA, Jason T. Lee, MD, E. John Harris, MD, Ronald L. Dalman, MD, Matthew W. Mell, MD, MS
Stanford School of Medicine, CA
Episode-Based Cost Reduction for Endovascular Aneurysm Repair
Ronald L. Dalman, MD1 , Ning Tang, MD2 , Diana Patterson2 ,Harnoor Jolly2 , Rika Ohkuma2 , Matthew W. Mell, MD1
1Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 2Stanford Health Care,
Stanford, CA
11/6/2017- Stanford Population Health Science Annual Symposium
The Stanford Population Health Science is holding their Annual Symposium on
November 6, 2017 | 8:30AM - 5:00PM
326 Galvez Street, Stanford, CA 94305
9/2017 Babies in Vascular Surgery
We want to offer congratulations to our familes with new babies. Vascular Resident, Dr. Nate Itoga's family expanded to include Sachi Itoga in May. Vascular Nurse Practioner, Ani Bagdasarian welcomed baby Arev Abnous and Division Manager, Dr. Wajhma Aboud welcomed baby Zane Aboud in June. Vascular Resident, Dr. Elsie Ross's family expanded to include Alexander Ross in August. Vascular Adjunct Professor Dr. Chris Chang welcomed baby Cameron Cheng and Vascular Resident Dr. Patrick Thompson welcomed William Thompson in September. We are excited for our growing Vascular family and wish everyone the best.
9/21/2017 Stanford - China Cardiovascular Research Symposium
September 21 - 22, 2017
Li Ka Shing Center | Stanford, CA
Event Registration
Agenda and Event Information
9/29/2017- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Third Annual Dr. Lawrence H. and Mrs. Robert Cohn Visiting Professor Lecture
10/2/2017- Faculty Development Opportunity
Stanford Medicine's Office of Faculty Development and Diversity is offering a workshop with Stanford Graudate School of Business lecturer Matt Abrahams.
"Think Fast, Talk Smart: Confident, Connected, and Compelling Presentations"
Monday, October 2, 2017 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM, LK120
8/21/2017- Solar Eclipse
Stanford Faculty and Staff gathered on Monday, August 21, 2017 to watch the partial solar exlipse over Stanford School of Medicine.
7/31/2017 - Stanford Aortic Festgraft
The Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Division of Vascular Surgery hosted Stanford Aortic Festgraft. A celebration of Aortic Stent-Grafts and the 25th Anniversary of the first U.S. Case. Worldwide leaders in the development of endovascular techniques were in attendance.
6/23/2017- Vascular Surgery Graduation 2017
Congratulations to Vascular Surgery fellowship graduates
Drs. Andy Lee and Tiffany Wu
We honor your commitment to Vascular Surgery and look forward to your future accomplishments.
Vascular Surgery Chief Dr. Ron Dalman and Vascular Surgery Program Director Dr. Jason Lee reflect on the training of graduating fellows Drs. Andy Lee and Tiffany Wu at the 2017 Vascular Surgery Graduation Dinner.
6/1/2017 - Vascular Annual Meeting | Society for Vascular Surgery
8/17/2017- Biodesign Innovation Fellowship Applications
7/31/2017 - Stanford Festgraft Symposium
Dr. Ron Dalman, Vascular Surgery Chief will be co-moderating a session on the "Current Status of TEVAR for aneurysm and dissection" at the Stanford Festgraft Symposium on Monday, July 31, 2017.
Event Location
Li Ka Shing Learning and Knowledge Center
291 Campus Drive, Palo Alto, CA 94305
5/17/2017- Fellowship Match News
After a very competitive fellowship MATCH this year, we are thrilled to announce that Ben Pham, M.D. and Kim Thompson, M.D. will be our new vascular surgery fellows beginning in August 2018. Congratulations and welcome Ben and Kim to the Stanford Vascular Surgery family!
Ben Pham, M.D.
General Surgery Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
M.D. Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
B.S. General Biology, University of California, San Diego
Kim Thompson, M.D.
General Surgery Naval Medical Center San Diego
M.D. Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Herbert School of Medicine
B.S. Biochemistry and Cell Biology and Health Care Social Issues, University of California, San Diego
5/9/2017- Visiting Professor Dr. Frank Veith
Visiting Professor, Dr. Frank Veith
Professor of Surgery
New York University and The Cleveland Clinic
The William J. von Liebig Chair in Vascular Surgery The Cleveland Clinic
presented at Surgery Grand Rounds on Tuesday, May 9, 2017:
"Why Randomized Controlled Trials- Even in Top Journals Can Be So Misleading: The Crest and Improve Trials Are Two Prime Examples"
Vascular Surgery was pleased to welcome emeritus faculty members Drs. Thomas Fogarty and Chris Zarins who attended Dr. Frank Veith’s lecture. Dr. Fogarty retired from the Vascular Faculty in 2001 after serving as Professor of Vascular Surgery at Stanford from 1995-2001. Dr. Zarins successfully served as Chief of Vascular Surgery from 1993-2005 and retired from the Vascular Faculty in 2012. It was a pleasure and an honor to welcome these distinguished guests at our Visiting Professor Lecture.
5/5/2017- Dr. Mohammad Zayed Grant Award
We want to congratulate Dr. Mohamed Zayed, former Vascular Surgery Integrated Residency alumnus on his Career Development Award from the American College of Surgeons/Society for Vascular Surgery. This award will provide matching grant funds for his lab and research program. Our congratulations to Dr. Zayed for his tremendous accomplishment!
4/25/2017 Visiting Professor Dr. Bernadette Aulivola
Visiting Professor, Dr. Bernadette Aulivola, Director of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy Division at the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University, presented:
"Give an Inch and It'll Take a Foot: The Role of Ischemia in Limb Salvage in the Diabetic Patient"
at Surgery Grand Rounds on Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Dr. Nick Leeper, Visiting Professor at Houston Methodist Debakey Heart & Vascular Center
Dr. Leeper discusses recent lab efforts as a Visiting Professor at Houston Methodist Debakey Heart & Vascular Center with Dr. John P. Cooke, Chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at the Houston Methodist Research institute.
4/15/2017 - Dr. Elsie Ross, Vascular Surgery Integrated Resident is quoted in ScienceMag.org
Dr. Ross is quoted in the article "Self-Taught artificial intelligence beats doctors at predicting heart attacks." written by Matthew Huston, at Sciencemag.org
4/14/2017- Vascular Offices have moved!
The Division of Vascular Surgery has moved
3/17/2017 Vascular Surgery Integrated Match Results 2017
We are thrilled to announce that we successfully matched our top recruit, Vivian Ho, from Columbia University School of Medicine, into the Vascular Surgery Integrated Residency beginning this summer!
Vivian will be the tenth resident to join our vascular surgery residency training program since its inception in 2008. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Stanford University in 2013 and is extremely excited to be returning to the Farm. Please join us in congratulating Vivian for her accomplishments thus far in medical school and welcoming her back to Stanford.
3/17/2017 Leeper Lab Fellow, Alyssa Flores, receives HHMI Medical Research Fellows award
We are excited to announce that Alyssa Flores, the incoming Leeper Lab postdoctoral research fellow, received the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Medical Research Fellows award for the 2017-2018 academic year. We look forward to this and many more accomplishments.
3/20/2017 Visiting Professor Daniel Clair, MD
Dr. Daniel Clair, Chair of General Surgey at the Palmetto Health/University of South Carolina School of Medicine, will be visiting on March 20-21, 2017. Dr. Clair will be giving a Surgery Grand Rounds Lecture Titled: A Surgeon's Responsibilities on Tuesday, March 21, 2017.
3/1/2017 Congratulations to Dr. Aalami and his VascTrac team!
Oliver Aalami, MD and his VascTrac team received a 2017 Stanford Spectrum Pilot Grant Program for the project VascTrac: A Peripheral Artery Disease Remote Monitory Platform. VascTrac is a mobile application designed to track steps and activity during the day for people who have peripheral artery disease.
Link to Stanford Medicine news article on VascTrac from September 2016.
3rd Annual Resident Quality Improvement/Patient Safety Symposium
Registration & Call for Abstracts!
Event Date: Monday, May 15, 2017, 3:30PM - 6:00PM, SHC Atrium
Abstract Deadline: Friday, April 14, 2017 Prizes are awarded for the top 10 abstracts!
Who can submit an abstract?
Residents and fellows can submit abstracts of quality improvement and safety projects that are either ongoing or completed.
Can I send a revised abstract?
Yes, you can send a revised abstract. Please select "Yes, I am submitting a revised abstract" under the question "Are you submitting a revised abstract to the symposium?" Revisions are due by Friday, 4/28/17.
Dr. Ron Dalman, Stanford Vascular Surgery Division Chief, disusses this year's Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM) with the Vascular Specialist, the Society for Vascular Surgery's official publication. "This is going to be a spectacular meeting."
January 2017 Dr. Patrick Thompson Accepts Biodesign Fellowship
Vascular Surgery Integrated Resident Dr. Patrick Thompson accepted a Biodesign Fellowship!
We are so excited for Dr. Thompson and look forward this and many more great accomplishments.
12/18/2016 Dr. Patrick Thompson Accepts Biodesign Fellowship
Vascular Surgery Integrated Resident Dr. Patrick Thompson accepted a Biodesign Fellowship!
We are so excited for Dr. Thompson and look forward this and many more great accomplishments.
12/31/2016- Dr. Wei Zhou Moving to Tucson, AZ
After nine years of dedicated service, Dr. Wei Zhou will be moving to Tucson, AZ, to assume leadership of vascular surgery at the University of Arizona.
In her nine years on the Stanford faculty she has led many important clinical and research initiatives, and provided stellar leadership of our thriving VA Vascular Surgery program. We are confident that she will succeed in her new leadership role in Tucson, and wish her well in all her future endeavors. Dr. Zhou is relocating to Arizona at the end of 2016.
11/16/2016 Stanford's Inaugural Health++Hackathon
Dr. Oliver Aalami, Associate Professor of Vascular Surgery, was a faculty advisor for Stanford's first health++Hackathon.
(Image credit: Thomas Lau)
11/21/2016- CVI Postdoctoral Conference
The Stanford Cardiovascular Institute presents "The Future of Cardiovascular Research" in the 2016 Inaugural CVI Postdoctoral Conference.
Monday, November 21, 2016, 12PM-5PM at the Li Ka Shing Center, LK 130
10/24/2016 New Vascular Clinic Ribbon Cutting
After 22 years of dedicated Vascular Surgery service and paralleled practice expansion, we are pleased to announce our recent clinic site relocation to the third floor of Pavilion A (Boswell), suite A31. Our new location offers increased space, modernized patient rooms, and convenient access to the front of the hospital. This move allows us to expand our clinical care while preserving the superior service our patients expect. We are dedicated to our patients and are looking forward to providing continued high-quality patient care in our updated facility.
Directions
From the front entrance of the hospital (Fountain Entrance)
Take Public Elevator A up to the 3rd floor.
Turn right and go in A32.
10/24/2016- Congratulations to prior Vascular Surgery Fellow Dr. Mohamed Zayed
Dr. Zayed, Assistant Professor of Vascular Surgery Washington University, recently recevied the American Surgical Association (ASA) Foundation Fellowship Research Award.
10/20/2016 Drs. Dalman and Leeper are participating in the Stanford-Karolinska Cardiovascular Research & Medicine Symposium
Drs. Dalman and Leeper from Vascular Surgery and Vascular Medicine, respectively, will be participating as speakers and moderators
9/22/2016- Vascular Research Mobile App, VascTrac, in the News
The newly launced VascTrac app developed by Dr. Oliver Aalami and his research team has been featured in a Stanford Medicine news article.
The app measures activity of people with peripheral artery disease in an effert to help better understand the diseases progression.
10/1/2016 - Vascular Symposium
8/17/2016- Stanford is an active participant in the NIH - sponsored BEST-CLI
The BEST-CLI clinical trial is designed to determine the optimal method of lower limb revascularization in patients with critical limb ischemia.
This recent artice "The Current State of Critical Limb Ischemia: A Systematic Review" published in JAMA Surgery on August 17, 2016 reviews the current state of CLI.
7/20/16 - Anti-tumor antibodies could counter atherosclerosis
A biological drug could be used to combat cardiovascular disease by targeting not mere risk factors such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure, but the actual lesions bearing direct responsibility: atherosclerotic plaques.
6/9/16 - 2016 Alumni And Friends Reception
Vascular Annual Meeting
Thursday, June 9th
6:30-8:30 PM
National Harbor, Maryland (Near Washington DC)
Gaylord National Convention Center
Chesapeake Ballroom No. 4
5/25/16 - Portola Valley Vascular and Vein Clinic Opening
5/19/2016 - Clinic Announcements
We would like to recognize Tarina Kwong's 6th anniversary as the manager of the Vascular Clinic, relocating to 3N Boswell later this summer. Thank you Tarina for all your hard work!
5/19/2016 - Congratulations Dr. Harris
We would like to congratulate Dr. E. John Harris on his recent selection as President of the San Francisco Surgical Society.
4/13/16 - Dr. Jason Lee elected Secretary/Treasurer of APDVS
Dr. Jason Lee was recently elected as Secretary/Treasurer of the Association of Program Directors in Vascular Surgery (APDVS), a four year appointment.
Congratulations to Dr. Lee!
3/20/16 - Innovation: VirtualRehab
Our PGY-4 Resident, Dr. Benjamin Colvard participated to a three day hackathon for software based solutions to healthcare needs. The event, which took place in Starsbourg, France, was "Hacking Health Camp 2016". Dr. Colvard and his teammates developed a project entitled VirtualRehab. It uses the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset and they created a program that enables rehab therapists to expose their stroke patients
to virtual scenarios to prepare them for life outside of the hospital. For the project they won the "Most Innovative Health Solution" award as well as a Gold Sponsor award from Humanis. Humanis is a major private insurer in France and Dr. Colvard and his teammates will be working with them to continue the development of this project.
Congratulations Dr. Colvard!
3/18/16 - Integrated Residency Match News
We are thrilled to announce that Ken Tran, from Stanford Medical School, will be our new resident in July 2016! Ken will be the ninth resident to join our integrated vascular surgery training program since its inception in 2008. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Virginia and is expected to receive his M.D. from Stanford University in June.
In addition, Lizzy George from Stanford General Surgery will transfer into our program starting as a PGY-2 in June 2016. Lizzy received her Bachelor’s Degree in 2009 and her MD in 2014, both from Stanford University!
Congratulations and Welcome Ken and Lizzy!
2/22/16 - Congratulations Dr. Ross for being selected as one of the finalists in the YIA Competition
Dr. Ross's abstract, Use of Machine Learning to Accurately Predict Adverse Events in Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease Using Electronic Health Record Data, has been selected as one of the finalists in the Jay D. Coffman Young Investigator Award (YIA) Competition.
The YIA Competition will be held on Thursday, June 16, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Society for Vascular Medicine 27th Annual Scientific Sessions, June 15 – 18, 2016. Each finalist will present a seven-minute talk followed by three minutes of questions and answers.
1/14/16 - Integrated Residency Interviews
Our Integrated Residency interviews took place on Thursday, January 14th, 2016. This was our 9th year of VSI training, with three graduates to date.
1/11/16 - Special Presentation by Michael P. Murphy, MD
Special Presentation hosted by the division of vascular Surgery and the Cardiovascular Institute.
2014-2015 News and Events
5/18/16 - Fellowship Match News!
After a very competitive fellowship MATCH this year, we are thrilled to announce that Anahita Dua, M.D. and Kedar Lavingia, M.D. will be our new vascular surgery fellows beginning in July 2017. They are both extremely well published in the vascular surgery literature already and were recruited to multiple other top vascular programs in the country. Congratulations and welcome Anahita and Kedar to the Stanford Vascular Surgery family!
Anahita Dua, M.D.
General Surgery 2017 Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
M.D. 2009 University of Aberdeen School of Medicine and Dentistry, United Kingdom
MBA 2014 Business, Western Governors University, Austin, TX
MS 2013 Trauma Sciences, Barts and the London, London, UK
BA 2004 Chemistry and South Asian Politics, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA
Kedar Lavingia, M.D.
General Surgery 2017 Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA
M.D. 2011 Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA
BS 2004 Commerce School, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
2016 News and Events
2015 News and Events
11/3/15 - 2016 Biodesign Faculty Fellows Program
Dr. Aalami has been invited to join the 2016 Biodesign Faculty Fellows Program
10/28/15 - Dr. Mell at 2015 Stanford Cardiovascular Research Symposium / CVI Retreat
Dr. Matthew Mell gave a talk titled, “ Barriers to Regionalization for Complex Vascular Care” at the 2015 Stanford Cardiovascular Research Symposium / CVI Retreat.
10/22/15 - Dr. Mell to serve as Department of Surgery Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs
Dr. Matthew Mell will be serving in a new departmental role as Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs. In this position, Dr. Mell will help oversee and facilitate quality and efficiency of clinical care for the Department of Surgery.
11/1/15 - Dr. Leeper promoted to Associate Professor of Surgery
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Nicholas Leeper has graciously agreed to assume the following roles for the Division of Vascular Surgery:
- Chief, Vascular Medicine
- Director, Vascular Surgery Research
9/21/15 - Dr. Dalman received a CVI Seed Grant
The CVI review committee awarded $25,000 to Dr. Dalman's seed grant proposal entitled: 'Regulation of abdominal aortic aneurysm pathogenesis by hypoxia inducible factors'
7/20/15 - Dr. Dalman's Graduation Remarks
This year at graduation, Dr. Dalman discussed the importance of practice and ethics in Vascular Surgery. Here are his remarks and the past garduations ones
Trailblazer, team player, committed academician - in prior years we have celebrated many of the defining characteristics of our program graduates. In the case of Kevin Casey, the grace with which he effortlessly shouldered all of Weesam’s responsibilities during his initial illness and long weeks of difficult recovery - “He’s not heavy, he’s my brother”; George Lee taking a huge gamble to essentially start over again as our first integrated vascular resident; Chelsea Dorsey as the first woman to join our vascular training programs, Venita Chandra as our first woman fellow and first female graduate. Each of our 24 graduates can rightly stake their claim to their own accomplishments, their own “firsts”, both during their training with us and in their own distinguished subsequent careers.
In thinking about this year’s graduates, speaking for the faculty and our staff, we are humbled by the quality of individuals we are privileged to train.
We appreciate your trust - our talent pool is the envy of our colleagues across the nation - as exemplified by this year’s graduates, Chelsea Dorsey and Brant Ullery; ambitious, ethical, compassionate, technically gifted, well-prepared - and as with all our prior trainees, we have felt a great responsibility to help each reach their full potential. The research opportunities we provide, the range of clinical experiences and participating sites we have organized regionally and across the continent, our focused didactic educational activities and journal club, the resident & fellow-driven clinical conferences, unparalleled access to investigational devices and innovative procedures, the sponsored participation in bootcamps, skills competitions, research participations and clinical meetings nationwide: all have been purposely selected to maximize the value of your residency and fellowship experience.
In the sports world, athletes with raw talent and ability are courted by colleges far and wide. Their decision point as to which to attend comes down to which program offers each respective athlete the greatest chance of reaching their full professional potential. As fans, we have a chance to see those careers develop in person or on TV, and programs themselves are ultimately judged on how those skills mature and develop - whether the prodigies under their tutelage reach their full potential. In graduate medical education, the imperatives are the same, the stakes just as high, if not higher, based on our commitment to the public and our patients. While we can always do better, I feel gratified that the process has obviously worked so well this year, given the skills and accomplishments so evident in Drs. Dorsey and Ullery.
What I’d like us to consider today is the commitment we all have to our patients, and the choices that each of you will make regarding your own practices in the years going forward.
Learning is a life-long endeavor - hopefully the norms of our educational processes, relying to the greatest extent possible on evidence to guide decision making, will help guide you in your clinical decisions going forward. Ethical practice is also a life long endeavor - as highlighted by the national events of this last year, Plato’s construct of the “examined life” is an ongoing requirement for the ethical practice of surgery. The example of the Florida cardiologist billing Medicare $18M for performing mostly peripheral vascular interventions, with, in his words, some of the best results reported anywhere. To experienced surgeons, this boasting simply confirms the surgical truism that patients without significant problems will always have predictably good outcomes. At the 2015 VAM last week in Chicago, a solo practice vascular surgeon from Texas, who introduced his community-practice breakfast session by bragging that he was the second highest biller to Medicare in the State of Texas, provides us with a warning that avarice is a vice not limited to cardiologists. In his presentation, he emphasized that in his diabetic patient population, by virtue of his preference for retrograde tibial intervention performed in a serial fashion in his office-based interventional suite, he reliably generates a high ratio of procedures to patients, producing annual professional income in excess of $3.5M per year. By his comments, it seems he has started a business to help others learn to organize their practice in this way, too.
While everyone is entitled to fair compensation for the work they do, by any measure this surgeon’s practice is abusing the trust society places with physicians and surgeons. As a result, after learning of the details of his practice, the SVS membership voted down his application for membership. Each of us whose livelihoods dependent on our clinical productivity have decisions to make every day about which patient needs which procedure based on our best professional judgment. As nicely summarized by Peter Lawrence in his SVS Presidential Address last week, maintaining the highest ethical standards are essential to the future of our specialty, our ability to maintain the public trust, as well as our own personal and professional well-being as surgeons.
It is a fact of medical practice today that all of us need to honest with ourselves about why we choose the choices we make in our daily professional activities. Almost certainly, as new doctors we begin practice with only the best of intentions. The pressures of practice and life’s unpredictabilities often conspire to influence us in unfavorable ways, however. A few years ago the Medical Board of California ran a series of articles in their newsletter detailing how physicians had come under MBC review, categorized by examples from each of Dante’s seven deadly sins. In one particularly memorable edition I was shocked to see that the medical license of one of my medical school classmates had been revoked based on a particularly egregious act of unprofessional conduct/greed. How my formerly idealistic classmate’s career had progressed to that point was beyond me, but clearly somewhere along the way, she had lost her way, with grave consequences to her as well as the community in which she practiced.
All around us today the framework of medical practice is changing, perhaps exemplified best by the long-expected “volume to value” transition. In the next few years, most of us will be working in an accountable care environment where our professional rewards and recognition will be increasing dependent on how our patients are doing rather than how much surgery we are performing. Anticipating this change, our focus needs to shift to the holistic care of vascular disease - maintenance of ambulatory status and independent living, judicious use of screening tests and focused physical exams to identify patients at risk, constant attention to care pathways and procedural enhancements that reduce surgical risk, recovery periods and length of stay, commitment to optimizing risk factor and medical disease management within applicable guidelines- in short, population health. In this brave new world, patient satisfaction and likelihood to recommend scores will ultimately mean more to us than the Work Relative Value Units for which we are currently compensated. Honestly, this change is long overdue, and will go a long way toward eliminating the egregious abuses rampant in our fee for service practice system today.
But regardless of how or when this change unfolds, as vascular surgeons we will always have choices to make about how we can best serve our patients and our families. And today, as we recognize and celebrate your accomplishments and usher you into the next phase of your career, we have the utmost confidence that you both will continue to make professional choices that will reflect well on both you and us. Doing the right thing will always be in fashion, regardless of whatever other changes the future may hold. Thank you both for choosing to train with us, thank you for bringing such honor and fame to Stanford during your time here on the farm, and best of luck to you both in all your future endeavors.
And, I would be remiss if I didn’t take the opportunity to emphasize this, if by some twist of fate either, or both of you, do become fabulously wealthy (in an ethical way, or course), Wajhma, our Division Manager, will be happy to connect you to our colleagues in the Development Office who can explain to you the long-term tax benefits of a structured giving program to assist those who will follow in your footsteps here at Stanford Vascular Surgery. The Stanford Vascular Training Program, otherwise known as the gift that keeps on taking! Thanks to everyone for joining us tonight, and enjoy the rest of the evening!!
Ronald L. Dalman
Walter Clifford Chidester and Elsa Rooney Chidester Professor of Surgery
Chief, Division of Vascular Surgery
The modern Stanford Vascular Training program was founded twenty years ago next month. For at least fifteen years prior to that, going back to the late 1970s, vascular trainees at Stanford were required to complete two years of cardiac surgery, as well as one year of vascular training, to be board-eligible in either Cardiac Surgery, Vascular Surgery, or both. In years when Cardiac Surgery could not fill their "vascular" training position, foreign fellows were accepted for one year of vascular training. Phil Walker, now Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Queensland University in Australia, was the last foreign fellow to train in this paradigm, finishing in 1992. Jim Fann, an Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford, was the last American fellow to complete that training, in 1993.
Our first vascular-only fellow, appointed in the Department of Surgery, was Robert "Bob" Hooker, recruited outside the match from Surgery Residency at the University of Chicago. At the time, there was no endovascular training in the fellowship, and the research year, since it was not ACGME accredited, was considered optional by some fellows, including, ultimately, Bob. The fellow at that time trained exclusively at Stanford Hospital - VA vascular was covered by general surgery residents. Compared to today's standards, our 1994 SHC practice was miniscule - most of patients were referred from Stanford faculty. Imagine how small our practice would be if that were the case today. The full-time faculty (John Harris, myself, and Chris Zarins) competed directly with established community surgeons working in SHC, some in practice almost twenty years in the area, who also served as clinical faculty for purposes of providing sufficient operative volume for the fellowship program.
In those years, the biggest challenge to our practice (and professional viability) was the town-gown dynamic. We struggled to grow the academic practice in the face of established and capable internal competition, most of whom carried faculty titles of their own, even though many were in private practice. Even general surgeons like David Gregg were performing vascular procedures at SHC on a regular basis. One particular image from that era was literally emblematic of our situation - a picture of Dr. John Mehigan, a community vascular surgeon with privileges and an established practice at SHC, featured on the cover of Gentry magazine as the personification of Stanford Vascular Surgery, leaning on one of the pillars in the Dean's Courtyard across from the Alway building, his arms crossed in a self-contented pose. We didn't even control our own name! How could this happen, we asked? His wife, as it turns out, was good friends with the publisher. Dr. Harris and I took general surgery trauma call on a regular basis, in part because we had the bandwidth to do so. The scope of vascular practice was much smaller nationally than it is now, and there were many specialists competing to provide care to a finite number of patients at SHC. Many trainees nationally finishing vascular training expected to practice both general and vascular surgery.
Since 1994, all our graduates have gone on to successful practices in vascular or cardiothoracic surgery. All, with the exception of Dr. Alkhatib, are still in practice. Uniformly, all have brought honor to our program. Preparing for this evening's event, I am struck by the unifying theme of "opportunity", as it applies to both the twentieth anniversary of the founding of our program, as well as to the accomplishments and perseverance of this year's graduates. As the more experienced of us in the room recognize, opportunity comes in all shapes and sizes, sometimes obvious to all, sometimes obvious to none.
When Chris Zarins accepted John Niederhuber's invitation to serve as an external consultant to the Department of Surgery for Vascular Surgery, he had no intention of leaving his faculty position at the University of Chicago. True, despite his long and successful tenure as Division Chief in Chicago, Chris had experienced some recent professional disappointments at the time, and true, Chris and Zinta had enjoyed living in California during his Naval service in the Vietnam War, but the environment here posed significant, and on first glance seemingly insurmountable, challenges to the establishment of a nationally prominent vascular surgery program.
In addition to local competition from faculty cardiothoracic and community vascular surgeons, and the formidable market position of UCSF Vascular Surgery, already twenty years established itself and arguably a top-three program nationally at the time, at Stanford Hospital, Vascular Surgery had no block time, no dedicated anesthesia service, no dedicated ICU (or ICU service), no offices, clinic, or vascular lab in the hospital, very capable and innovative interventional radiologists working in the same hospital, who had a two year head start on building their own vascular practice, all in the setting of a weak Department, with consistent prior history of ineffective leadership. Despite the obvious challenges, we began to see the beginnings of something larger, an "opportunity" that, at the time, no one else except Drs. Niederhbuer, Zarins, Harris and myself saw.
From our own individual experiences at other programs before Stanford, each of us recognized that a great research university needed capable and innovative vascular specialists and scientists, and that a successful vascular division needed a robust university community from which to draw sustenance and inspiration. We all agreed that the School of Medicine needed a strong vascular program. Dr. Zarins' recruitment brought attention to our fledgling Division, and from his first weeks on campus, we worked hard to catalyze on that opportunity. On the clinical front, taking stock of the local competition, we integrated some community surgeons into our practice, out-competed others, established a robust VA practice, dis-engaged vascular from its roots in cardiac surgery, established specialty-specific office and clinic space for Vascular at SHC, bought out the Vascular Lab from the Fogarty practice, as well as ramping up academic productivity, midwifing the development of EVAR, the biggest technological disruption in our specialty since the discovery of heparin, and established vascular surgery as a viable "brand" at Stanford, complete with fundraising events, CME meetings, regional clinical events such as "Holman Rounds" to showcase our clinical skills, and an aggressive policy for accepting transfer patients. Our success in these endeavors was quickly recognized by the Dean's selection of Dr. Zarins as Interim Chair of the Department Surgery, following Dr. Niederhuber's departure, and, within five years, the subsequent ascension of both Drs. Fogarty and Zarins to the Presidency of our primary national academic society, the Society for Vascular Surgery. All ultimately a consequence of recognizing and relentlessly pursuing opportunity.
By the late 1990s, the Vascular Division was growing rapidly in academic stature and clinical volume. Unfortunately, the larger Department of Surgery continued to struggle, hampered by Dr. Niederhbuber's dismissal after just four years, and three years of well-intentioned but interim leadership by Drs. Zarins and Reitz, respectively. And the challenges for the Department ran deep; leadership issues, or more specifically, lack of consistently effective leadership, had plagued the Department almost since the School had moved from San Francisco to the main campus in 1959. Financially challenged, the Department was recognized nationally, when it was recognized at all, as a second tier program, with almost no extramural research funding, lingering internal dissention and resentment from Niederhuber loyalists, an underperforming residency program and no marquee general or pediatric surgical practice to speak at an otherwise world-class hospital.
As we all know, Tom Krummel recognized the opportunity inherent in the Department of Surgery, and took a big chance of his own moving his family out here in 1998. Fortunately, with his stewardship and vision, the larger Department has thrived in the subsequent sixteen years. The Dean's office recently reported that the search for Dr. Krummel's successor will generate more than 200 applications from surgical leaders from across the country - I wonder how many CVs of similar quality were submitted for the search that ultimately selected Dr. Krummel, in 1998? Perhaps a dozen? That difference alone speaks volumes to what Dr. Krummel has accomplished on behalf of all of us in the Department. Regardless of what the future holds for our Department, we faculty, and particularly the few of us remaining who were here in the desperate years, owe a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Krummel for everything he has done for our Department, Division, and the University Community. Thank you Dr. Krummel.
Our second Integrated resident, Mohamed Zayed also recognized opportunity at Stanford. A medical scientist training program (or MSTP, in NIH parlance) graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating at the top of his medical school class, Mohamed easily had his pick of the few integrated vascular surgery training program positions available in 2009. He cast his lot with us, as the first resident to match into our Integrated Program, exactly because he saw opportunity here. And throughout his five years in our program, Mohamed has consistently sought out additional opportunities, opportunities for training, learning, writing assignments, and national leadership positions. And he has pursued those opportunities relentlessly - concerned he wasn't getting enough surgical exposure, Mohamed's case list has grown to enormous proportions.
My memories of Mohamed will always include the picture of him smiling with colleagues at McMaster University Hospital (wearing a McMaster lab coat), his advocacy efforts on behalf of all integrated residents as the national resident representative to the Vascular Surgery Program Directors Association, his boundless energy and creativity as an investigator and author - speaking on behalf of the faculty; we couldn't have asked for a more enthusiastic and committed resident, at a critical juncture in our fledgling residency program. His willingness to seek out opportunities extended to the way he conducted his job search this year, cold-calling programs across the country looking for the right opportunity when even the programs themselves didn't know one existed. Again, making his own breaks. John Harris will review Mohamed's background and accomplishments in more detail, but I want to take this opportunity to thank Mohamed for his faith in our team, and our then novel educational scheme, when he joined us in 2009. We know he will do well, and wish he and his family the best.
Vinit also came to Stanford from Chicago, neatly bookending Bob Hooker's status as the first resident. Aside from some solid recommendations, we didn't know much about Vinit before he arrived, and he didn't know much about us. In a manner no less impressive than Mohamed's, and in some ways even more so, Vinit has recognized and taken advantage of his own Stanford opportunity. Leadership in quality improvement projects. Embracing endovascular approaches and skills, or "endohabits" despite his background as a classically trained general surgeon, and becoming quite good at "endo" in the process. Vinit also has embraced opportunities to participate in academic projects, and has represented our program well at presentations and competitions across the nation. His sincere interest in the Marin General position, and his willingness to evaluate it in person with me, convinced the leadership of that medical center that we could deliver top-quality vascular services there, helping to cement that opportunity for further growth for our training program. And Vinit continues to seek out further opportunities, with his plans to start a new vascular practice when none currently exists in Austin, Texas, replete with a new practice logo, his own building, physician extenders, office staff, etc. Later in the program, Dr. Lee will review Dr. Varu's accomplishment in more detail, but I want to emphasize that both Vinit and Mohamed recognized their own respective opportunities in our program, and their success in this all-important endeavor gives me great confidence in their professional futures.
Opportunity is a pervasive theme at Stanford, celebrated in the entrepreneurial culture at the Graduate School of Business, the innovative ethos of the School of Engineering, and the strong track record of accomplishment of our own Biodesign Program, so capably co-directed by Dr. Krummel. Learning to recognize opportunity is both an innate talent and learned skill, something that we nurture in every aspect of what we teach and practice in Vascular Surgery. Much success and happiness in the practice of vascular surgery, as well as life in general, comes from learning how to balance risk and return, deciding where and how you can most effectively make your mark. And on our twentieth anniversary, it is important for all of us to reflect on the humble origins of our program, and the role that recognizing opportunity has played in helping us all get to where we are today. Congratulations to both our graduates, and thank you all for helping both Drs. Zayed and Varu make the most of their respective opportunities during their time here at Stanford.
Recently, Vinit reflected on the structure of our weekly clinical case conferences, which require our residents and fellows to seek out the best representative references for their presentations and patient-specific clinical solutions from the available vascular literature. Although time consuming, particularly on weekend afternoons and evenings, over the course of his fellowship, this experience has helped Vinit master the evidence basis for our specialty, building his confidence in his ability to thrive in his own practice.
Ronald L. Dalman
Walter Clifford Chidester and Elsa Rooney Chidester Professor of Surgery
Chief, Division of Vascular Surgery
Given all that has transpired in Stanford Vascular over the past few years, this event has come to reflect, in part, the defining characteristics of each successive graduate of our program. In 2011, Kevin Casey’s grace and magnanimity in response to the unpredictable, inconvenient and ultimately prolonged incapacity of his co-fellow Weesam Al Khatib inspired me to reflect on professionalism as an essential element in the making of a vascular surgeon. In 2012, for somewhat less inspirational reasons, we emphasized the importance of compassion in the healing process, compassion both for the patient as well colleagues on the healthcare team. Following after professionalism and compassion, 2013 is the year of the risk-taker – an uncommon characterization of vascular surgeons as a whole, but particularly apt this year. The experienced among us recognize that vascular disease management often derives optimal outcomes following adherence to guidelines and proven approaches. But the example established by this year’s finishing trainees, Venita and George, reminds us that, at particular and unpredictable moments, opportunity favors the bold. Both Venita and George are trailblazers in their own right, and tonight we celebrate their courage and vision in their choice of specialty training in vascular surgery.
First, the example of George Lee. Like an investment come due, the return on the effort required to design, fund, and operationalize our integrated vascular residency in 2008, the first such program established west of the Mississippi River, is realized today in the culmination of George Lee’s training. Taciturn as he is – compared to George even Tae Song seemed gregarious - George took the extraordinary step of resigning from his categorical surgical residency position for the uncertainty of integrated training. George’s prior life experiences prepared him well for this opportunity, as well as anyone could be prepared, but when offered the chance to become the first resident in our program, George boldly stepped forward. Not a man of many words – he lets his surgical skills and superior patient outcomes speak for themselves – George generally rejects the characterization of “trail-blazer”. While time has obscured some of the challenges, be assured that in 2008, integrated training was controversial, to say the least.
How many of you would travel across the country, as George did, to repeat the least wonderful period of your life – surgical internship - all for the chance to begin training in an unproven pathway with indeterminate employability at completion? Like “Ground Hog Day”, only with a less predictable ending. Not only was the pathway itself unproven – could vascular be codified and learned as a specialty distinct from general surgery? – but so was the reception in the marketplace. Would existing surgical groups and health care systems want a vascular surgeon trained without prior general surgical experience? Would community surgical groups accept a potential partner who could not cover general surgical emergencies? Could George find love and companionship in California? At this point, that answer to each question is a resounding “yes”!
With the perspective of the past five years, it is also apparent that the success of our “experiment” in integrated training has been due in large part to George himself. Speaking for the faculty, I can state unequivocally that George has demonstrated to us, over and over again, that he was the best possible choice to be our first resident. Throughout the residency, with each new rotation, George has represented himself and our service well, with maturity, intellectual curiosity, commitment, and skill. The five year trail blazed by George has demonstrated to our surgical and medical colleagues at SHC and VA Palo Alto the value and utility of Integrated Vascular Training. Similarly George has represented Stanford well in our international rotations, also “firsts” for Stanford Vascular alone among all American surgical training programs, solidifying our reputation in both Canada and Europe and establishing important training opportunities for all subsequent trainees.
To do justice to the totality of George’s contributions and accomplishments would take far more time than we have this evening, especially considering that, for the first time since dedicated vascular training began at Stanford, this year we are privileged to be finishing two trainees, a resident and a fellow. No less a trailblazer than George, in choosing to complete the Stanford Vascular Fellowship, Venita faced risks certainly as consequential, if not more so, than any prior trainee in our program. A glance at our composite poster states the obvious; Venita is the first women to complete the Stanford Vascular Fellowship. Emphasizing that fact alone does a great disservice to the totality of Dr. Chandra’s accomplishments, and we will explore those in depth as well, but context is so essential to understanding the significance of this day to our program, out patients, our specialty and all future residents and fellows to follow.
For those of you who don’t know, academic vascular surgery has fewer women than almost any other specialty. Only 9% of academic vascular surgeons are women, and only 4 university vascular programs nationally are directed by women. To the best of my knowledge, there is exactly one women surgery department chair who trained as a vascular surgeon. While it isn’t unusual to see women surgeons in the hospital today, and I’m certainly glad I’m married to one, it wasn’t too many years ago that an emeritus neurosurgeon at Stanford, Dr. Fran Connolly, gained notoriety for her memoir of gender-based discrimination at Stanford, entitled “Walking out on the boys”. Our program is fortunate to have had two women as faculty members, and Dr. Wei Zhou provides a daily example of how to succeed in academic vascular surgery, but the fact remains that someone had to be first in our program, and Venita was it. Following in the footsteps of “The Long Grey Line”, as they describe it at the US Military Academy at West Point. But this certainly isn’t the whole of it, or even the majority.
Venita’s interest in Vascular Surgery came relatively late in her general surgery training. After her PGY-3 rotation on our service, she began to consider vascular as a real career possibility. This was after having one child, with plans for more in the future. Given her husband’s career, and her own interests in remaining local in the Bay Area, Venita approached us about the possibility of fellowship training when an opening developed unexpectedly in our program at the beginning of her chief resident year. Under the circumstances I didn’t know really what to expect, but from her first day as a fellow Venita has commanded the respect of the faculty and her peers. She is an outstanding technical surgeon – confident, competent, compassionate, and conscientious. Her easy manner, sound surgical knowledge, and outgoing personality instill confidence in our patients and their families. Indefatigable, Venita balances her surgical educational responsibilities with those for her now two beautiful daughters and husband. So essential for a surgeon, she is unfailingly upbeat, optimistic, and confident in her ability to do the right thing, at the right time, regardless of circumstances. Perhaps the greatest compliment we can pay to Venita is that, of her many accomplishments during the fellowship, being the first women was really just the icing on the cake.
As many of you know, Sheryl Sandberg’s book “Lean In” was recently published to great acclaim. In the book Sandberg, current COO of Facebook and prior executive office at Google, tries to address what she sees are societal and personal barriers that prevent women from achieving the full potential of their professional and personal lives. Suffice to say there is no such thing as “having it all”, but with appropriate planning, commitment, and spousal support women can fulfill the promise of their often stellar educational pedigrees. In defining the phrase “lean in”, Sandberg observes that all too often, in her experience, given the chance to take on new challenges and leadership roles in their chosen careers, women all too often opt out, or “lean back”, citing conflicts and concerns regarding their personal lives that may not even exist at the time – for example, asking the question “what if I want to have a family?” before they are even married. Rather than vacillate in the face of uncertainty, Sandberg advocates for commitment and “risk taking” in career and personal planning, choices embodied by Venita’s path to date. And completing training alone as a trail-blazer isn’t enough for her; she has accepted our offer to join the faculty, and in doing so taking responsibility for Stanford’s new multidisciplinary Wound Care Center opening in Redwood City in 2014, a multimillion dollar investment by the hospital and the next big thing for our Division. If we are ever able to satisfactorily address the gender gap in vascular surgery, and truly provide appealing career alternatives to 100% of today’s medical school graduates, we will need to learn from and emulate Drs. Zhou and Chandra’s examples of how to succeed in academic vascular surgery, and have fun and personal satisfaction in doing so.
Indeed, vascular surgery needs more risk-takers, now more than ever. Risk-takers; not gamblers, not thrill-seekers, certainly not yahoos, but mature and confident surgeons with the vision and foresight to recognize the way forward. Understanding the underlying fundamental pathophysiology of occlusive and aneurysmal vascular disease is within our grasp, and will likely be accomplished in our professional lifetimes. Our training program needs to recognize and reward risk-taking when appropriate, and our practice needs risk-takers to help it grow to reach its full potential. All of us recognize every day the needs of our larger community for competent vascular care, and it should be our primary mission to provide that care as effectively as possible to everyone who can benefit from our help. How do we get from here to there? By recruiting risk-takers like Venita and George to our practice, to help us find the way.
One of my favorite surgical aphorisms is summarized as “be sure in all sure things”. This observation usually applies to when and how to achieve maximum efficiency in the operating room; operating quickly whenever circumstances permit, and taking more time to great things right when speed becomes less compelling. But happily this aphorism also applies to both this year’s program graduates. From the first day they proved that they were “sure things”, in the parlance, and our offers of employment confirm our “surety” in their future professional success. So here’s to the risk-takers; may their careers continue to challenge and reward them in due measure, and may they succeed beyond their wildest dreams.
Thank you everyone for joining us tonight in celebrating the accomplishments and potential of our two latest graduates!
We need risk-takers; not gamblers, not thrill-seekers, but mature and confident surgeons who have the vision and foresight to fully realize the opportunity that is our practice. These last few years have provided us with up-close observations of the biggest profile practices in the country – how do we get from here to there?
Surgical aphorism – be sure in all sure things.
For Venita – the “long gray line”. All men at UW, OHSU, and until 2013, Stanford. Not just any woman, but a “real” woman, in every sense of the word, with a wonderful and supportive family and friends to attest to her many attributes.
Ronald L. Dalman
Walter Clifford Chidester and Elsa Rooney Chidester Professor of Surgery
Chief, Division of Vascular Surgery
7/17/15 - We welcome our 2015-16 incoming resident and fellows, as well as two new faculty members: Tina Desai, MD, FACS and Eri Fukaya, MD, PHD
2015-2020 Vascular Surgery Resident
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M.P.H. 2015 University of California, Berkeley, CA
M.D. 2014 Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
English Teaching Credential 2008
California State University, East Bay
B.A. 2007 Neuroscience and Writing Seminars, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
2015-2017 Clinical Fellow
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General Surgery 2015 Huntington Hospital, Pasadena, CA
M.D. 2010 Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA
B.A. 2006 Chemistry, Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA
2015-2017 Clinical Fellow
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General Surgery 2015 Beth Israel Diconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
M.D. 2008 University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL
M.Sc. 2004 Biology, New York University, New York NY
B.S. 2000 Microbiology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
In July 2015, Dr. Desai joined the faculty of Stanford University Division of Vascular Surgery and maintains a primary practice at Marin General Hospital.
Dr. Fukaya’s principal research interest includes interventions to increase physical activity and walking in patients with peripheral artery disease and utilizing mobile health with information technology to diagnose, treat and prevent disease. She will be joigning our team on August 1st, 2015
7/10/15 - Spectrum ICCR 2015: Congratulations George K. Lee, MD
Dr. George Lee has been selected by Ronald L. Dalman, M.D., Division Chief, Professor of Surgery, Vascular Surgery to participate in the Spectrum "Intensive Course in Clinical Research: Study Design & Performance," Sept. 14-18 at the Li Ka Shing Center for Learning and Knowledge. This course, which is solid foundation research and academic skills, gets a competitive applicant pool for a small number of available positions. Congratulations Dr. Lee for being selected!
7/9/15 - Best of AHA Specialty Conferences
Best of AHA Specialty Conferences
Dr. Elsie Ross' abstract entitled, What Matters Most, Statin Intensity or Achieved LDL? - Evaluating Concordance of AHA/ACC Guidelines for Statin Use with Practice Outcomes at Stanford Hospital & Clinics , which was presented at one of the American Heart Association’s Specialty Conferences in 2015 is among the top 10 percent of the accepted abstracts.
We congratulate Elsie on this wonderful accomplishment!
6/22/15 - Introducing Our New Faculty Member
The Division of Vascular Surgery is pleased to announce the recruitment of Dr. Tina Desai as Clinical Associate Professor effective July 1st, 2015.
Dr. Tina Desai earned her MD (1991) from the Brown University Medical Education Program in Providence, Rhode Island. She then completed a surgical residency in General Surgery at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics, including a 2-yr research fellowship. She completed her Vascular Surgery Fellowship training at the University of Chicago Hospitals (1999).
6/10/15 - Common Heartburn Drug Could Increase Heart Attack Risk
Dr. Leeper in the news for a study he participated in which links common heartburn drug to increased heart attack risk
6/9/15 - Dr. Dalman at the University of Toronto
In June, Dr. Dalman (left) was honored to be invited to the University of Toronto as the K. Wayne Johnston Visiting Lecturer in Surgery. Dr. Johnston, in the middle, is widely recognized for his many contributions to the care of the vascular patient, including his roles as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Vascular Surgery, co-editor of the reference textbook in our specialty, Rutherford’s Vascular
Surgery, and as Past President of the Society for Vascular Surgery. Drs. Johnston and Forbes (right) are long-time friends of Stanford Vascular Surgery, and we look forward to extending the relationships between our respective programs going forward.
5/20/15 - Fellowship Match News
We are thrilled to announce that Graeme McFarland, M.D. and Michael Sgroi, M.D. will be our new vascular surgery fellows beginning in July 2016. Congratulations and welcome Graeme and Michael!
Graeme McFarland, M.D.
General Surgery 2016 University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL
M.D. 2011 University of Alabama School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa, AL
B.S. 2007 Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Michael Sgroi, M.D.
General Surgery 2016 University of California, Irvine, CA
M.D. 2010 Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Flint, MI
B.A. 2005 Human Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
4/28/15 - Welcome Dr. Lundh, Visiting Professor
Dr. Torbjörn Lundh, professor of mathematics at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, will be spending his sabbatical year as a Visiting Professor in the Division of Vascular Surgery starting August 24, 2015. Dr. Lundh will join Dr. Christopher Cheng’s Vascular Intervention Biomechanics & Engineering (VIBE) Lab (vibelab.stanford.edu) to participate in research relating to biomechanical interactions between medical devices and the vascular system.
4/10/15 - AHA / ASA Committee Appointments
Dr. Leeper was invited to become a Member-At-Large of the Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for a term running through June 30, 2016.
4/7/15 - Dr. Jason T. Lee Promoted to Professor of
Surgery/Vascular Surgery
The University Provost approved the promotion of Dr. Jason T. Lee to Professor of Surgery in the Division of Vascular Surgery, effective April 1st, 2015. Dr. Lee completed his Vascular Surgery Fellowship at Stanford University in 2006. He also serves as Director of Endovascular Surgery at Stanford. Since 2011, Dr. Lee has also been appointed the Program Director of the Integrated and Independent Vascular Training Residency Programs. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Lee on his well-deserved promotion!
3/24/15 - Integrated Residency Match 2015 News!
We are thrilled to announce that Kathleen (Katy) Balazy, from Harvard Medical School, will be our new resident in July 2015! Katy will be the eighth resident to join our integrated vascular surgery training program since its inception in 2008. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from John Hopkins University in 2007, her M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 2014 and is expected to receive her M.P.H. from the University of California, Berkeley in June. Congratulations and welcome Katy!
3/22/15 - Bike Ride Across America Kick Off!
All are invited to the kick-off event
(http://www.heartacrossamerica.org/), which will include screening ultrasounds, health fair activities and speeches from former Olympic cyclists, the Mayor of Palo Alto and Silicon Valley AHA Board President and our own Division of Vascular Surgery faculty member Nick Leeper MD (right). The goal of this bike ride is to raise funds and awareness for the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. Sean Maloney, Former Intel executive and stroke survivor, (2nd to the right) will be kicking off the event and is aiming to raise $1 million.
3/1/15 - NEW PARTNERSHIP : Stanford Vascular Surgery and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
The Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery is pleased to announce a recent partnership with Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. We have successfully completed contract negotiations, effective 9.12.14 which allows Stanford to provide vascular surgery services for the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC) beginning 3.1.15. The agreement provides for the delivery of high quality vascular health care for patients throughout Santa Clara County, as well as extended clinical opportunities for graduate and postgraduate medical education for Stanford students at all levels. We are proud to announce that we have recruited two very successful university surgeons (Dr. Manuel Garcia-Toca MD and Ehab Sorial MD) to the Stanford Vascular Surgery faculty, in order to fulfill the terms of the contact and enable this collaboration. We would like to thank the Office of Business Development, the Stanford Office of Legal Council, the Department of Surgery Leadership and the entire Staff and Faculty at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center for their support. We are delighted to begin this mutually beneficial collaboration with our colleagues in Santa Clara/San Jose, and look forward to further opportunities to improve vascular care throughout Northern California in 2015 and beyond.
2/16/15 - Introducing Our New Faculty Members
Manuel Garcia-Toca, MD, FACS
As the Division of Vascular Surgery at Stanford University, we are delighted to have been able to recruit Dr. Manuel Garcia-Toca to join our team effective March 1st, 2015. Dr. Garcia-Toca comes to us from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he was one of five board certified vascular surgeons in the state. In 2010, after completing his Vascular Surgery fellowship training at Northwestern University, the faculty at Brown University recruited Dr. Garcia-Toca to their Vascular Surgery team as Assistant Professor of Surgery.
2/16/15 - Dr. Chandra featured in HealthlineNews: Women Slower to Be Diagnosed and Treated for Heart Disease
For a long time, PAD as well as coronary heart disease weren’t in line in terms of thinking that it’s a disease that we need to think about for women, said Dr. Venita Chandra, the Stanford surgeon who operated on Gianino.
2/9/15 - Dr. Jason Lee featured on ESPNS NHL: Lundqvist's Injury Rare For An Athlete
It's not every day the term "vascular injury" pops up on the injury report in any sport, and its uniqueness is enough to raise concern flags among fans.That was certainly the case when New York Rangers' goaltender Henrik Lundqvist was reported to have suffered just such an injury after taking a puck to the throat Jan. 31 in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes. (...) Dr. Jason Lee, director of endovascular surgery and associate professor of vascular surgery at Stanford University, treats vascular injuries in elite athletes and noted the biggest risk following an arterial dissection in the neck region is the risk of stroke. (...) Read the full article
2/8/15 - Dr. Mell awarded at the VESS Winter Meeting
The VESS Winter Meeting took placein Vail, CO, January 29-February 1, 2015 and Stanford Vascular Surgery had great representation as always. In the photo below, Dr. Matthew Mell received the VESS Traveling Fellowship Award to study outcomes of ruptured AAAs, presented to him by VESS President, Vik Kashyap, and National Sales Manager Ed Empero from WL Gore. In the Fellows competition, Dr. Brant Ullery won first place in Vascular Jeopardy, outperforming stiff competition from numerous other training programs. Ken Tran, MS3, working with Dr. Jason Lee, presented the top aortic plenary paper entitled Renal stent morphologic changes predicts renal function changes after complex EVAR, and Dr. Nathan Itoga, PGY-2, working with Dr. Wei Zhou, presented a plenary paper entitled A diversity survey amongst VESS and WVS. Congratulations to our trainees and faculty for their continued excellence at the VESS.
1/8/15 - NIH/NHLBI extends CVI T32 grant to 6/30/20
The NIH/NHLBI awarded the CVI T32 training grant, "Mechanisms and Innovation in Vascular Disease" with a second five year period, extending it to 6/30/2020. The program is led by Ron Dalman, MD and Phil Tsao, PhD, and administered through the CVI. It trains six post-doctoral fellows each year in vascular medicine and research, including vascular reactivity and thrombosis; vascular regeneration and development; metabolic or lifestyle influences on vascular outcomes; proteomic markers and genetic determinants of vascular disease; gender and ethnicity differences in vascular disease, and vascular bioengineering. Thirty faculty mentors from nineteen different departments/devisions within the School of Medicine and the University provide a variety of angles from which to address fundamental questions about vascular disease. Applications for training slots with start date in the fall of 2015 will be accepted through our website in the spring.
Further information and Application: http://cvi.stanford.edu/education/cvi_fellowship_training_program.html
Contact: David L. M. Preston (650) 725-7964; preston@stanford.edu
1/7/15 - Stanford University: largest aortic aneurysm practice by procedural volume of any medical center
Stanford University has the largest aortic aneurysm practice by procedural volume of any medical center, public or private, in the state, according to the 2013 report of the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (the most recent year for which complete data is available). Please see the report for more details. Taken together with our outstanding University Health Consortium vascular quality ratings, and tradition of seeking the most innovative and minimally invasive solution for every aortic problem, regardless of complexity, you can be assured that you or your loved one will receive optimal aortic surgical care at Stanford.
1/6/15 - In-Memorium: Professor Philip Walker
In-Memorium: Professor Philip Walker was the current Chairman of the Department of Surgery of the University of Queensland. Dr. Walker was the Vascular Fellow at Stanford University in 1991-1992, and a lifelong collaborator and friend of our program. He had been battling cancer for many years. He sent many trainees to Stanford for varying periods of time for clinical and research opportunities. His good nature and academic curiosity will be sorely missed.
11/25/15 - Stanford Faculty gave the following Talks at VEITH 2015 in New York on November 11-17, 2015
Dr. Ronald Dalman:
Parallel Grafts For Hypogastric Artery Revascularization During EVAR: Techniques, Advantages And Disadvantages
Is The RRC-S (Residency Review Committee-Surgery) Working Well For Vascular Surgery: Should We Have An Independent RRC-VS
Cheese Wire Technique To Eliminate An Aortic Dissection Flap In Chronic TBAD Patient: When Needed; Advantages And Limitations
Dr. Jason Lee:
For Juxta- And Pararenal AAAs Sometimes Chimney EVAR Is Best And When; Sometimes Fenestrated EVAR (F/EVAR With Z-Fen Endograft) Is Best And When: The Two Techniques Are Complementary
Functional Popliteal Entrapment In High Performance Athletes: How To Diagnose It And How To Treat It By Partial Medial Gastrocnemius Resection: Why Does It Work
Treatment Of TOS In Competitive Athletes: When Is Surgical Treatment Indicated: Technical Tips And Tricks
Dr. Matthew Mell:
When Should Ruptured AAA Patients Be Transferred: Tips And Tricks For Doing It Safely And Effectively
Dr. Wei Zhou:
What Is New In The Effects Of Carotid Disease And Carotid Treatments (CEA And CAS) On Cognitive Function: Are There Differences Between CEA And CAS
Value Of IVUS To Evaluate Residual Stenoses After SFA Interventions And SPY To Evaluate Foot Tissue Perfusion To Assess Procedure Effectiveness: How Do They Work
The University Provost approved the promotion of Dr. Nicholas J. Leeper to Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of Vascular Surgery, effective November 1st, 2015. Dr. Leeper completed his Cardiovascular Fellowship at Stanford University in 2008. He has also recently been appointed Director of Vascular Research at Stanford and Chief of Vascular Medicine. . Please join us in congratulating Dr. Leeper on his well-deserved promotion!
2014 News and Events
12/17/14 - Dr. Zhou appointed to the Program Committee of the Western Vascular Society
Dr. Wei Zhou has been appointed to the Program Committee of the Western Vascular Society. Dr. Zhou's appointment extends the influence of the Stanford faculty on the WVS - Dr. Jason Lee is completing his fourth year on the Committee as Chair in 2015, and Dr. E. John Harris completed his three year assignment as WVS Secretary at the 2014 meeting in San Diego. Drs. Dalman and Olcott (Professor Emeritus of Surgery at Stanford) are Past Presidents of the WVS.
The Leeper lab receives an NIH R01 to study the genetic determinants of angiogenesis in peripheral vascular disease. The title of this R01 is The paradoxical role of CDKN2B in blood vessel sprouting and maturation.
11/19/14 - The Leeper Lab receives an NIH R01
The Leeper lab receives an NIH R01 to study the genetic determinants of angiogenesis in peripheral vascular disease. The title of this R01 is The paradoxical role of CDKN2B in blood vessel sprouting and maturation.
10/21/14 - Stanford Health Care Opens Advanced Wound Care Center
10/16/14 - Dr. Fogarty awarded a National Medal of Technology and Innovation
Stanford Surgery faculty member Dr. Thomas J. Fogarty has been awarded a National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Dr. Fogarty’s is an Adjunct Clinical Professor in Vascular Surgery since 2006. Prior to that, he served as a Professor of Surgery (Vascular Surgery) from 1995-2001. While retired from the active practice of Surgery, Dr. Fogarty remains actively involved in the Stanford Biodesign Program and continues as Founder, Director and Chairman of the Fogarty Institute for Innovation at El Camino Hospital. He will receive the award from President Obama at a ceremony at the White House later this Fall. All are invited on Friday November 14, 2014 at 4PM to congratulate Dr. Fogarty at the 16th annual Fogarty Lecture, which will be presented by Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, past Commissioner of the FDA, past Administrator of CMS and currently Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute.
10/2/14 - Invitation to the opening reception of the Advanced Care Center
Please join on Thursday, October 23rd from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm for the opening reception of the Advanced Care Center at the Stanford Medicine Outpatient Center in Redwood City. Click here for more details. The Advanced Wound Care Center will be providing a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to optimal chronic wound care, with an emphasis on limb preservation for patients at risk for limb loss. We would like to congratulate Venita Chandra, MD, co-director of the Advanced Wound Care Center, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Vascular Surgery, for her leadership in bringing this project to completion. Learn more about the Advanced Wound Care Center.
9/26/14 - Dr. Ullery was awared the 2014 Western Vascular Society Best Trainee Award
Brant W. Ullery, M.D. presented his collaborative research with Ga-Young Kelly Suh, Ph.D and the VIBE lab at the Western Vascular Society meeting in San Diego on September 21, 2014. Dr. Ullery was awared the 2014 Western Vascular Society Best Trainee Award for his presentation entitled "Geometry and Respiratory-Induced Deformation of Abdominal Branch Vessels Following Complex EVAR".
9/4/14 - Dr. Mell promoted to Associate Professor of Surgery/Vascular Surgery
The Division is delighted to announce that Dr. Matthew Mell has been promoted to Associate Professor of Surgery/Vascular Surgery in the Medical Center Line, effective August 1st, 2014 until July 31, 2019. Dr. Mell joined the faculty in December 2009 as Assistant Professor, after serving as Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Wisconsin from July 2006 to November 2009. Dr. Mell also serves as Director of the Vascular Lab and Clinic, Co-chair of the Clinic Advisory Council, which oversees all of ambulatory care, and is a Medical Director for Service for Stanford Health Care. Congratulations to Dr. Mell!
8/20/14 - Vascular Center awarded with a certificate of accomplishment for achieving greater than 90% likely to refer
James Hereford, Chief Operating Officer of Stanford Health Care (SHC), will recognize the Vascular Center this coming Friday, August 29th, with a certificate of accomplishment for achieving greater than 90% likely to refer (LTR) Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction Scores for the last six consecutive months. In July 2014, despite seeing over 500 patients (26% new), the Vascular Center received 99% LTR ratings, at the top of all 88 specialty clinics in SHC. Ms. Tarina Kwong, Vascular Center Manager, and Dr. Matt Mell, Physician Director of the Vascular Center, will accept the award. Congratulations to Dr. Mell, Ms. Kwong, and all the staff and physicians affiliated with the Vascular Center for their timely and patient-centered provision of leading edge and coordinated care!
7/31/14 - Naoki Fujimura Farewell
Naoki Fujimura, third from the left, recently completed two very productive years with the Dalman Lab Group (see picture). He has presented his research at several important meetings, including the 2014 Vascular Annual Meeting in Boston. Dr. Fujimura is returning to Japan to join the Vascular Surgery faculty at Keio University."
7/27/14 - Dr. Gyang Interviewed at Big Data
Elsie Gyang : Stanford Vascular Surgery Resident was interviewed behind the scene at Big Data 2014. Watch Dr. Gyang's video, which emphasizes how the T32-enabled research time in the Integrated Residency will help our residents succeed in academic practice
7/22/14 - The Vascular Quality Initiative at Stanford recently passed the milestone of over 850 procedural records initiated
The Vascular Quality Initiative at Stanford recently passed the milestone of over 850 procedural records initiated. The Stanford VQI registry was initiated in January 2012, and Stanford now participates in eight modules. Process enhancements and updates to the data entry and auditing systems have been ongoing since the first module was initiated.
In 2013, in partnership with faculty member Matthew Mell, Charlene Kell RN and Scott Kronenberg (Stanford Cardiovascular Health) developed templated op-notes and data entry forms in EPIC to eliminate the need for double entry. Since July, 2013, 100% of eligible cases have been captured and included in the registry.
Recently VQI provided Stanford with its first benchmarked reports, in this case comparing hospital length of stay following EVAR between participating hospitals in the NorCal Vascular Study Group and nationally. By the three year anniversary in January 2015, Stanford will have enrolled over 1,000 procedures in VQI.
7/15/14 - The Division of Vascular Surgery represented at the Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Symposium
The Division of Vascular Surgery will be represented at the Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Symposium on August 27th, 2014 with two posters from Dr. Christopher Cheng's lab . Dr. Kelly Suh (Postdoctoral Fellow) will present, "Geometric Parameters of Complex Endovascular Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair" and Kelsey Hirotsu (2nd year Medical Student) will present, "Quantifying In Vivo Three Dimensional Geometric Changes and Deformations of the Thoracic Aorta and Branching Vessels Following Thoracic EndoVascular Aortic Repair (TEVAR)
2014-2022 News & Events
More 2014 News & Events
Jun June 19 Thu 2014
A third patient has been enrolled in the N-TA3CT : Non-Invasive Treatment of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Clinical Trial. The purpose of the study is to determine whether doxycycline administration can decrease the rate of growth of small abdominal aortic aneurysms, as demonstrated in preliminary findings in animal models of AAA and in human aneurysm tissue. The effect of doxycycline may be to decrease circulating MMP-9 levels, which weakens the strength of the wall of the aorta.
N-TA3CT is a randomized, placebo-controlled trial: neither the patient nor the research team will know whether they are receiving the drug being tested or a placebo (inert substance with no biological effect), manufactured to look and taste exactly like the drug being tested. There is a 50-50 chance of getting the drug or the placebo.
The drug being studied is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a different indication/purpose and has an excellent safety and tolerance profile reported in worldwide use. This drug is not experimental or investigational – this study is considered to be “research” only in that the drug is being tested to treat a new problem, AAA disease, and we will be collecting data on how it affects aneurysm growth.
The extent of participant involvement is one out-patient visit every three months for up to 3.5 years. The patient should not join unless he/she is prepared to continue for at least two years, and preferably the full period of time the study is on-going. As long as they are in the study, they will be seen in our clinic every three months. Each visit will take about half an hour (for 3-month visits) to 3 hours (for baseline visit).
Twice a year patients will fill out a survey about their quality of life, take a CT scan to measure the size of the bulge in their aorta, and provide a blood sample to be sure that treatment is safe, check blood for levels of the study drug, or learn what the blood findings have to do with the growth of blood vessel bulges. (Note: 9, 15, and 21-month visits may be conducted by phone with FedEx delivery of study medication.)
The potential benefit is that aneurysm growth may be reduced. It may take some months for a beneficial effect to be noticed, if a beneficial effect exists. The inherent variability in rate of aneurysm growth may increase or decrease independent of any treatment effect. There is a small risk of aneurysm rupture, which is not thought to be altered by treatment.
Jun June 12 Thu 2014
Trit Garg, BA; Laurence C. Baker, PhD; Matthew W. Mell, MD MS won the Best Student Poster Presentation for “Overutilization of routine postoperative surveillance after endovascular aortic aneurysm repair among Medicare beneficiaries: opportunity for significant cost savings” at the Academy Health Meeting in San Diego on June 8, 2014
May May 30 Fri 2014
Dr. Dalman has accepted an invitation to join the editorial board of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, a journal of the American Heart
Association. ATVB has an impact factor of 6.3, ranking #4 in all journals
for peripheral vascular disease, and #5 in hematology journals.
May May 29 Thu 2014
May May 27 Tue 2014
Fellowship Match News! We are thrilled to announce that Andy Lee, M.D. will be our new vascular surgery fellow beginning in July 2015.
Andy received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Rochester in 2000 and an MSc degree from NYU in 2004. He graduated from the University of Illinois Medical School at Peoria in 2008 and and is currently a general surgery resident at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Harvard Medical School) in Boston. Congratulations and welcome Andy!
May May 08 Thu 2014
Stanford Hospitals and Clinics attended the 2014 American Heart Association Research Roundtable this year, where Silicon Valley Board President Nick Leeper and the regional American Heart Association Board raised over $600,000 for cardiovascular research and mission purposes.
Headline Goes Here
May May 07 Wed 2014
Congratulations to Ellen Kettler who received a UAR Major Grant from Stanford University. Major Grants are awarded to undergraduates completing independent research projects. Her research project will be investigating the connections between Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms and Diabetes. Specifically, She will be testing the hypothesis that Diabetes medication, Metformin, provides protection against AAA.
Apr April 29 Tue 2014
The University of Michigan Department of Surgery, Section of Vascular Surgery, held the Milton F. Bryant Lecture on April 25, 2014. Ronald L. Dalman, MD, Dr. Walter C. Chidester Professor of Surgery, served as the 21st Bryant lecturer and presented "The Pathogenesis and Progression of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Disease"
Apr April 23 Wed 2014
Apr April 14 Mon 2014
On April 23, 2014, MED 223 - Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Sciences Seminar will talk about “Complex Endovascular aneurysm repair” as presented Jason Lee, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery (Vascular Surgery) at the Stanford University Medical Center
Apr April 01 Tue 2014
In Grand Rounds this morning were three firsts - Drs. Reed, Zhou, and Chandra were the first women to finish vascular fellowships at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Methodist/Baylor SOM in Houston, and Stanford - all three firsts in the same audience.
Apr April 01 Tue 2014
Dr. Amy B. Reed, MD, FACS, from Penn State Milton S Hershey Medical Center visited us on March 31 and April 1 and gave the following talks: "Readmission in Vascular Surgery" and "Vascular Disease in Women: We Aren't Just Little Men"
Apr April 01 Tue 2014
Congratulations to Peter Chang, MD! His abstract, “The clinical utility of a simple question quantifying physical activity sufficiently intense to induce diaphoresis in the prediction of future risk for PAD and all-cause mortality,” has been selected as one of five finalists in the Jay D. Coffman Young Investigator Award (YIA) Competition
Mar March 24 Mon 2014
Match 2014 news! We are thrilled to announce that Patrick C. Thompson, from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, will be our new resident in July 2014! Patrick will be the seventh resident to join our integrated vascular surgery training program since its inception in 2008. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Boston College in 2007 and is expected to receive his M.D. from the University of Massachusetts in June. Patrick was also recently inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honors Society. Congratulations and welcome Patrick!
Mar March 23 Sun 2014
Congratulations to Dr. Mohamed Zayed, who won the Karmody poster competition at the Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery. Dr. Zayed presented promising initial analysis on "Direct Angiosome Imaging Using Laser-Assisted Fluorescent Angiography in Patients with Critical Limb Ischemia" from the initial data in an ongoing clinical study at Palo Alto VA under the supervision of Dr. Zhou.
Mar March 05 Wed 2014
Congratulations to Sharla Powell White PhD for receiving a 2014 Cardiovascular Institute (CVI) Postdoctoral Travel Award. Dr. White presented her abstract Modulation of the PKC epsilon pathway affects macrophage expression at the Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology of Macrophages in Human Diseases in Santa Fe, New Mexico, February 9-14, 2014. This work was completed under the direction of Wei Zhou MD; Dr. White is also supported by the Stanford CVI T32 training grant (co-PIs Dalman and Tsao).
Mar March 03 Mon 2014
Dr. Gustavo S. Oderich, from Mayo Clinic visited us on February 24 and 25 and gave the following talks: "Current status of mesenteric revascularization for chronic mesenteric ischemia" and "Evolution of side branch incorporation". See the full Stanford Vascular Surgery Visiting Professor Series 2013-2014...