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Newsletter
- Winter 2008
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Welcome to the Department of Surgery Newsletter. We hope you find this information helpful.
From Where l Sit............
Richard L. Gamelli, MD, FACS
Recently the
Department of Surgery held a faculty
retreat where we discussed our successes, challenges, and long range plans. I
began the morning by giving a Departmental Overview that reviewed the status of
the department’s performance in each of our areas of mission-research, patient
care, and education. This was followed by the much harder discussion of current
day fiscal realities of life. The fiscal pressures are as strong today as they
have ever been. In the last fiscal year, we have seen our collections fall
while our work productivity has remained constant. Some aspects of the revenue
stream are well under our control and correctable, however, a significant
portion of it is not. Currently, Medicaid payments are being held back for
months at a time and Medicare reimbursement has been cut and is targeted for
further cuts later in FY08.
In the past when
facing fiscal challenges, our typical response was to work our way out of
crisis. Increased productivity was always the answer. I am not sure that the
notion of further increases in productivity will solve the problems in the
future. It seems to me that we are in a “Perfect Storm” with regard to the
Department’s long term financial health. On one side we as physicians can only
work so hard, on the other, we have several rate limiting factors including: the
operating room, clinics, internal competition and patient access. Over the years
we have been able to cover the cost of running the department and meeting the
corporate overhead. The problem today is that these expenses are relatively
fixed and in large measure based on the assumption that collections will be
stable or increasing. While we provide the professional services and “generate”
the revenue, like in any other business we must pay the bills before we benefit
from our work. Since our overhead costs are more or less fixed the financial
pressure falls directly on the faculty to remain whole. The stress exerted by
Medicare reimbursement reduction and state Medicaid non-payment together with
the present day state of the US economy makes for interesting times. The
patients continue to fill the clinics and the hospital, as illness has yet to go
on holiday. The Federal Government has attempted to reduce healthcare
expenditure but has not coupled this with a viable plan to reduce the true cost
of care. The inability to solve the complex healthcare questions facing us all
and an ever expanding uninsured and under insured number of Americans sets the
stage for a “Perfect Storm.”
As chair, I have had
more than a few sleepless nights thinking about the department’s current state
of affairs. The notion of presenting these issues to our faculty and explaining
how it is impacting us personally was not something I relished. I have always
been proud of how the department works as a team. Our retreat’s afternoon
session was filled with energy and discussion about what we could change and how
to manage that which we could not. We established a new set of working
principles and identified a list of near-term goals. At the conclusion of day we
agreed that the vice chairs would take the lead in each of their areas and work
with the members of the department to prioritize our goals and the timeline for
achieving them. Key to our continued success will be adaptability and
flexibility along with realistic expectations. First and foremost we need to
recognize that the solutions need to come from within the department, for if we
wait for others to solve these problems it will not give the outcome we seek.
While there are issues beyond our control, we can improve how we
work and we will do this as partners.
Feature
Articles
Holiday Festivities
Dr. Gamelli hosted the
Department of Surgery’s Annual Holiday
 Party on Sunday, D ecember 2, 2007. To
continue with the tradition started last year, the holiday celebration was a
brunch held at the Edgewood Valley Country Club in LaGrange. Faculty, residents
and employees were invited to bring their spouse/significant other as well as
either their children or grandchildren. Entertainment was provided in the form
of a face painter, a magician, a caricaturist and a balloonist. The balloonist,
Magical Balloon-Dude Dale performed a show enchanting both adults and children alike with a unique and highly interactive show. A fun time was had by all…..
Clinical
Spotlight
New Surgical Oncology Chief Plans to
Expand Research, Clinical Care
 Margo
Shoup, M.D., new chief of the Surgical Oncology Division in the Department of
Surgery of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, has set her
sights on growth for the division.
“One of
my goals is to expand what we are already doing in the laboratory in the area of
translational research, where bench research has direct application to improving
patient care,” explained Dr. Shoup, an associate professor of surgery.
One of
her most promising current research projects of this type targets patients with
advanced, non-metastatic pancreatic cancer, a tumor type typically considered “nonresectable.”
She and her team have devised a novel treatment that consists of harvesting the
patient’s peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and then isolating and freezing
the dendritic cells contained within them. In the lab, researchers then expand
the dendritic cells, which have cancer-fighting properties. The patient
undergoes chemotherapy and radiation, as well as an injection of these dendritic
cells directly into the tumor, she said. “At the same time, we are working to
inhibit the activation of regulatory T cells, which are known to suppress the
immune system,” added Dr. Shoup, who did her surgical residency at Loyola
University Medical Center from 1993 to 1999, and served as chief administrative
resident from 1999 to 2000.
To date,
five patients have responded favorably to this innovative therapy, she said. “We
hope to get more funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to further
this research,” observed Dr. Shoup, who already has NIH funding for similar
research to treat melanoma. “Our long-term plan is to use this approach to treat
patients with ovarian cancer and advanced pancreatic sarcomas,” said Dr. Shoup,
who served a surgical oncology fellowship from 2000 to 2002 at Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. She has authored or co-authored 68
peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and poster abstracts, and delivered more
than 70 presentations.
As the
new chief of surgical oncology, Dr. Shoup also plans to encourage medical
students and residents to pursue research as early as possible in their careers
to pursue breakthroughs in the division’s major investigational areas:
esophageal, pancreatic, breast and gastric cancers, and melanoma.
With a
specialty in gastro-intestinal oncology, Dr. Shoup also directs the
Multidisciplinary Gastro-Intestinal Oncology Center, as well as translational
research for solid tumors, at the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center. Also on her
surgical oncology team is Katharine Yao, M.D., who serves as the surgical
director of breast cancer at the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, and Gerard
Aranha, M.D. “In a few years, I also plan to expand the division so it is more
clinical active,” explained Dr. Shoup. She noted the trend toward more clinical
specialization and multidisciplinary care to bring the best combined clinical
expertise to each patient’s case.
As a
former nationally ranked figure skater, Dr. Shoup is not new to competition. “I
want to continue to grow our faculty’s reputation nationally, especially at
major professional meetings and by holding high-level positions in surgical
associations,” said Dr. Shoup. “I am aiming for our division to be one of the
country’s academic leaders in surgical oncology.”
Noting
her leadership as a woman, Dr. Shoup said her appointment confirms the growing
trend of women in surgery. “This is just the start – the tip of the iceberg,”
she noted. “It also speaks to Dr. Gamelli’s leadership as the chairman of the
Department of Surgery. He has been very proactive in recruiting women to our
faculty.”
Surgery In
the News
With the recent death of singer Kanye West’s mother,
Donda West, following a plastic surgery procedure, Dr. Victor Cimino was
interviewed by NBC 5 television to express his opinion on such procedures. The
interview aired on channel 5’s news program at 4:30 on November 13, 2007. The
following is an excerpt from that interview:
Dr. Victor Cimino, assistant professor of plastic
surgery at Loyola, said it's not unreasonable for a woman Donda West's age to
have procedures done, but it's important to make sure its done by someone board
certified.
"If they say they are board certified, ask what they
are board certified in," he said. "That's the most important thing you can do."
Announcements
Dr. Aranha Presented with the Magdeburg Rights Commemorative Medal
Dr.
Gerard Aranha was an invited speaker to the 11th annual meeting of
the European Society of Surgery held in Krakow, Poland November 28 – December 1,
2007. The title of Dr. Aranha’s presentation was “Is Central (Middle Segment)
Pancreatectomy a Suitable Operation for Lesions of the Neck of the Pancreas?”
Dr. Aranha presented Loyola’s experience of the procedure and also a video of
the operation.
On
November 29, 2007 Dr. Aranha was presented with the Magdeburg Rights
Commemorative Medal at the Krakow Town Hall by the President of the European
Society of Surgery Dr. Jan Kulig (attached photo). The medal was for
achieving excellence in pancreatic surgery and for promoting surgical exchange
between surgeons from Poland and the United States.
Division of Trauma, Critical Care and Burns – New Faculty Appointment
The Department of Surgery welcomes Hieu Ton-That, M.D. to the Division of
Trauma,
 Critical Care and Burns. On December 1st, Dr. Ton-That
joined the faculty as assistant professor of surgery.
Dr. Ton-That received his undergraduate degree from Brown University in
Providence, RI. He obtained his M.D. degree in 1998 from Brown Medical
School, which is now the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University. Dr.
Ton-That completed his residency at Loyola in 2003. In 2004, he completed
a Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at the Rhode Island Hospital/Warren Alpert
Medical School at Brown University in Providence. After completion of his
residency, he served at Brown as a clinical assistant professor of surgery as
well as the medical director of the Transfusions-Free Medicine and Surgery
Program at Rhode Island Hospital. Dr. Ton-That also served as
the program director of their surgical critical care fellowship.
Dr. Ton-That has relocated back to the Chicago-land area with his
wife Maricruz Ponce de León and their two
daughters, Elia and Lucia. We welcome him to our Trauma Team.
Perritt Award
Dr.
Margo Shoup, associate professor of surgery, and chief of the Surgical Oncology
Division in the Department of Surgery, is co-recipient for The Richard A.
Perritt Charitable Foundation award in the amount of $100,000 for the research
efforts of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Center. Dr. Shoup shares this award
with Dr. Kenneth Micetich.
Resident Corner
Life and Living Conference
By Christine Gresik, MD
The
second year of residency is filled with many learning experiences, includin g
learning new ways of looking at things we might already be familiar with.
One such learning experience I have begun to pay closer attention to
recently is our Morbidity and Mortality Conference, commonly referred to as
“M&M.” This conference basically entails a detailed review of any cases or
treatment strategies that resulted in a negative outcome over the prior
week. I remember as a medical student attending this conference thinking,
“what the heck are they talking about.” As I sit there as a second year
resident, I often still find myself asking that, but new questions
and thoughts enter my mind as well.
Typically
the chief resident on the service prepares a short segment of the hospital
course and explains the rational behind decisions and what could be done
differently to improve outcomes. Immediately following, the audience is open to
comment or give pointers regarding their own experience with the matter. All in
all, I usually walk away from the conference feeling disappointed in the
outcomes, wishing that the discussions had taken place before the conference so
that the outcomes might have been a bit better. I don’t deny the value in the
conference, a lot of important topics are discussed and important ways to avoid
error are identified by all. However, this leaves me thinking that we are very
quick to discuss shortcomings and errors in management, but as residents
secondary to our short training, are not privy to the tremendous outcomes that
occur each and every day, and may not show themselves for many years down the
road.
I was
reading an article in one of the many “throw-away” journals I have accumulated
which reflected on the same topic. This particular author was a proponent of
creating the “L&L” conference, Life and Living. He highlighted the idea that
residents often get buckled down on the day to day management of patients and
don’t always think of the big picture down the road. i.e: The fact that Mr. J
got started back on pressors and re-intubated the night prior seems like a
disappointment in our eyes at the time, but we won’t see him in two years at his
follow up appointment where he has survived his colon cancer surgical outcome
and just celebrated his 75th birthday with his grandkids. It is these
types of outcomes which are truly the reason we are surgeons after all, isn’t
it?
I don’t
think that this department will get around to creating another conference any
time soon (I think we’ve all reached the cap on that idea), but I do think it
would be nice if the seasoned attendings were able to share their long term
outcomes more often, even in a casual atmosphere. After all, the majority of
cases do have great outcomes and it is definitely something to be proud of.
Maybe we could all use some fresh air in the midst of the stale hospital
atmosphere we encounter during inpatient surgical training. After all, surgeons
should be commended for those that defy that very common five-year survival
rate! That being said, I’m sure my view will change again and be a whole lot
different (and scarier!!) next year when I will finally have the responsibility
of being on the other side of that podium!
New Rotation for Plastic
Surgery
Under the
leadership of Dr. Victor Cimino, program director, our Plastic Surgery Residency
 Program has forged an affiliation with a new educational partner, Advocate
Lutheran General Hospital. Under this arrangement, the first-year plastic
surgery resident will spend a three-month period at the hospital (located in
Park Ridge) to enhance his experience with facial trauma and pediatric cases.
He will train under the direction and supervision of Dr. Loren Schechter, a
board-certified plastic surgeon who holds an associate teaching position at the
University of Chicago. The inaugural rotation at Lutheran General was launched
at the beginning of January 2008 and will replace the rotation previously hosted
by John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital in Chicago.
Dr. Victor Cimino was
appointed program director of The Department of Surgery’s Plastic &
Reconstructive Surgery Residency Program effective November 9, 2007. He
succeeds Dr. Diane Dado in this role.
Record-Breaking Year for General Surgery
Recruiting
With the onset of winter comes
recruitment season in the Department of Surgery. We are delighted to report a
“bumper crop” of excellent candidates to consider for July 2008. For both
tracks – Preliminary (one-year) and Categorical (five-year) – the number of
applications filed has reached an all-time high of one-thousand two. Thirty-four
of these candidates became AOA members prior to submitting an application and
several more have since attained this distinction. The caliber of applicants
applying to Loyola continues to climb.
Of this number, our faculty and
program leaders have already interviewed 72 candidates for Categorical with one
additional day planned for 36 more. A separate day for Preliminary candidates
is scheduled late in January during which we hope to host 20-30
candidates. Our goal is not only to attract residents from these large groups,
but also to foster a positive impression of Loyola in these future colleagues as
they move into careers throughout the nation.
As always, recruitment is a
collaborative effort requiring help from all areas of the Department. Support
staff members assist with directing and welcoming these candidates. Our
faculty, residents and program leaders invest their time to thoroughly inform
and assess these exemplary young people. Our goal is not merely to attract the
best candidates, but rather to attract those candidates who will best fit into
our Loyola family and contribute to the rigorous yet nurturing academic climate
found here.
One enjoyable feature of our
interview day is a segment whereby our visitors have a chance to try out some of
our surgical simulators. This session has been conducted most recently by Dr.
Vinod Winston in the Golan Surgical Resident Resource Center and has been very
well received.
Another unique feature of our
interview day is a new segment designed to provide information about the diverse
research opportunities available at Loyola. Dr. Elizabeth J. Kovacs, the vice
chair of research, and Dr. Joslyn Albright, a current surgical research
resident, have hosted these sessions to rave reviews. Many of our candidates
comment that they are very impressed and excited to learn of the varied
opportunities for career growth to be found here and were previously unaware of
these possibilities.
Interviews for General Surgery
will conclude in January, and our efforts will then turn toward formulating the
Match List for the National Resident Matching Program. The results of this hard
work will not be known until Thursday, March 20, at which time our new group of
residents will be announced. We are confident that our collective efforts will
result in attracting yet another outstanding group of new trainees to join us in
July.
Research
Alcohol and Trauma 2007
Dr. Elizabeth J. Kovacs, professor and vice-chair of
research, Department of Surgery, teamed up with Dr. Patricia E. Molina (from
Louisiana State University, in New Orleans) and Dr. Mashkoor A. Choudhry (from
University of Alabama at Birmingham) to co-organize a satellite symposium
entitled “Alcohol and Trauma 2007.” The one day symposium was held in
conjunction with the Annual meeting of the Shock Society, in Baltimore, MD in
June 2007.
The meeting included podium presentations by invited
speakers who are experts in their field, a poster session, and short oral
presentations selected from the submitted abstracts. The oral presentations
consisted of talks by faculty and trainees, including Parth Amin, M.D., Wayne
State University; Charles H. Lang, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State College
Medicine; Xiaoling Li, M.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham; Kathleen H.
McDonough, Louisiana State University Health Science Center;
Keisa W. Mathis, M.S., Louisiana State University Health Science Center; Marc Moss,
M.D., University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Eva L. Murdoch, B.S.,
Loyola University Medical Center; Valerie Schaeffer, Ph.D., Harborview Medical
Center; Carol R. Schermer, M.D., M.P.H., Loyola University Medical Center; and
Gyongyi Szabo, M.D., Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School, as well
as the three co-organizers, Drs. Choudhry, Kovacs, and Molina. There were also
special presentations by Scott Somers, Ph.D., NIGMS and R. Thomas Gentry, PhD,
NIAAA.
Approximately 35 students, fellows, residents and faculty
attended the meeting. Support for the meeting was provided, in part, by an R13
meetings grant awarded to Dr. Kovacs by the National Institute of General
Medical Sciences and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of
the National Institutes of Health. Additional support came from generous
contributions from the Alcohol Research Program, the Burn and Shock Trauma
Institute, and the Department of Surgery, Loyola University Medical Center,
Maywood, IL, the Alcohol Research Center and the Department of Physiology,
Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, LA, the Society
for Leukocyte Biology and the Shock Society.
2007 AIRIG Meeting
Dr. Kovacs and members of the Alcohol Research Program, the
Burn and Shock Trauma Institute and the Department of Surgery hosted the Annual
Meeting of the Alcohol and Immunology Research Interest Group (AIRIG) in
November 2007. While the primary purpose of holding AIRIG meetings is to
provide the opportunity for investigators to discuss current and novel research
in the field, an additional purposed is to give junior scientists and those who
are new to the field the opportunity to present their work orally in front of a
friendly audience. To accomplish this, Dr. Elizabeth Kovacs, professor and
vice chair of research, Department of Surgery, co-chaired the meeting with Dr.
Lou Ann Brown, Emory University; Dr. Luisa DiPietro, University of Illinois
Chicago; Dr. Robert Cook and Dr. Tom Waldschmidt, University of Iowa; and
Dr. Thomas Jerrells, University of Nebraska.
The meeting was attended by 65 faculty, staff and trainees,
such as graduate and medical students, postdoctoral fellows and residents and
included Dr. M. Katherine Jung from the National Institute on Alcohol abuse and
Alcoholism. There were 6 invited speakers: Joseph H. Sisson, MD, University of
Nebraska Medical Center (Airway cilia: A target for alcohol); , Angela
Dolganiuc, MD, University of Massachusetts (Alcohol interferes with TLR4
signaling within raft membrane microdomains); Chantal A. Rivera, PhD, Louisiana
State University Health Science Center, Shreveport (The role of Toll‑like
receptor‑4 in steatohepatitis); Bin Gao, MD, PhD, National Institute of Alcohol
Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH (Effects of ethanol consumption on innate immunity in
the liver); Gavin Arteel, PhD, University of Louisville (Role of plasminogen
activator inhibitor‑1 (PAI‑1) in the initiation and progression of
alcohol‑induced liver disease); , and Geoff Thiele, PhD, University of Nebraska
Medical Center (The induction of autoimmune hepatitis by malondialdehyde‑acetaldehdye
adducts).
Additional short oral presentations selected from submitted
abstracts were given by Prajwal Gurung, PhD, University of Iowa (Toll-like
receptor (TLR) agonist treatment reduces antigen specific CD8+ T cells after
Listeria monocytogenes inoculation); Makio Iwashima, PhD, Loyola University
Medical Center (Selective enrichment of regulatory T cells by alcohol); Joanna
Goral, PhD, Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University
(Vitamin D restores the ethanol impaired inflammatory responses of macrophages);
Sonja Tang, PhD, Emory University (Antioxidant treatment rescues chronic
ethanol-induced alveolar impairment of Klebsiella pneumoniae clearance); Melanie
D Bird, PhD, Loyola University Medical Center (Decreased lung inflammation
following ethanol and burn injury in ICAM-1 knockout mice);, and Suhail Akhtar,
PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham (CINC-1 is critical in IL-18-mediated
increase in neutrophil superoxide anion production and intestinal edema in a two
hit model of alcohol intoxication and burn injury).
Like the Alcohol and Trauma 2007 meeting, the AIRIG meeting
was supported, in part, by another R13 meetings awarded to Dr. Kovacs by the
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Additional support was
provided by participant registration fees and funds from the Society for
Leukocyte Biology, The Alcohol Research Program, and the Department of Surgery,
Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL.
Burn and Shock Trauma
Institute
Dr. Elizabeth J. Kovacs is a co-principal investigator on a
newly funded Department of Defense grant entitled “Burn Trauma and Infection:
Sex Differences,” garnering $1,178,000 in direct costs over two years. Dr.
Kennedy is the principal investigator. Dr. Richard L. Gamelli, Dr. Ravi Shankar,
and Dr. Douglas E. Faunce are investigators on the project.
Two PhD students in the Kovacs’ laboratory were awarded
National Research Service Awards (NRSA) from the National Institutes of Health
in the form of pre-doctoral fellowships. The fellowships described below,
provide stipend support for the trainees, supply money, and funds to allow them
to attend a scientific meeting where they can present their work:
“Pulmonary Bacterial Clearance of Acute Ethanol and Burn
Injury” NIH F31 AA017032-01, Eva L. Murdoch, PhD, pre-doctoral trainee,
Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology, & Anatomy
“Alcohol and Impaired Macrophage Phagocytosis” NIH, F31
AA017027-01, John Karavitis, PhD, pre-doctoral trainee, Department of Cell
Biology, Neurobiology, & Anatomy
In 2007, Dr. Kovacs was nominated for the Vanderbilt Prize
in Biomedical Science, an award given to one woman scientist for outstanding
contribution to the training of women scientists. Dr. Kovacs was one of seven
finalists selected out of 51 nominees from around the country.
In her advisory capacity to the National Institutes of
Health, Dr. Kovacs served as a discussant and speaker at an NIH Workshop on
“Animal Models of Co-morbidities in Aging,” Rockville, MD, September, 2007. She
also served as a facilitator and speaker in the Cell, Molecular, and
Developmental Biology Session. Dr. Kovacs represented the Committee on Public
Affairs of the American Association of Immunologists at the NIH CSR Open House
Workshop: Integrated Biology Group II, NIH, Bethesda, MD, November 2007. This
meeting was held by the NIH to provide input from selected scientists about the
NIH grant review process and policies.
Dr. Kovacs co-chaired a symposium entitled “Alcohol: An
Immunological Jack-of-all-Trades” at the 11th Congress of the European Society
for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism, Berlin, Germany, September 2007. In
addition, Dr. Kovacs co-chaired the Shock Society sponsored symposium entitled
“Inflammatory Dysfunction in Disease,” which was held at the annual meeting of
the Society for Leukocyte Biology, in Cambridge, MA, in October 2007. As in
2006, Dr. Kovacs was the chair of the program committee for the Alcohol and
Immunity Research Group Meeting which was held in the Department of Surgery, at
Loyola University Medical Center, in Maywood, IL, November 2007.
Dr. Kovacs was interviewed by Fox Business News in November
2007 for a web based article on alcohol abuse, immunity, and susceptibility to
infectious diseases.
Dr. Kovacs was asked to run for program chair for the 2011
meeting of the Shock Society.
On Friday, November 30, Dr. David Schneider won the
American College of Surgeons (ASC) / Region V Committee on Trauma Resident Paper
Competition for his presentation entitled "Natural Killer T (NKT) Cells
Regulate the Inflammatory Phase of Cutaneous Wound Healing." He will compete
in Washington DC for the ACS National Competition.
Publications
Bhangoo, S., Ren, D., Miller, R.J., Henry, K.J., Lineswala,
J., Hamdouchi, C., Li, G., Monahan, P.E., Chan, D.M., Ripsch, M.S., and White,
F.A.: Delayed Functional Expression of Neuronal Chemokine Receptors Following
Focal Nerve Demyelination in the Rat: A Mechanism for the Development of Chronic
Sensitization of Peripheral Nociceptors. Molecular Pain, in press.
Bird, M.D., Karavitis, J., and Kovacs, E.J.: Sex
Differences and Estrogen Modulation of the Cellular Immune Response After
Injury. Cell. Immunol., Invited Review. 2007; in press.
Emanuele, N.V., LaPaglia, N., Kovacs, E.J., and Emanuele,
M.A.: Profound Effects of Burn and Ethanol on Proinflammatory Cytokines of the
Reproductive Axis in the Male Mouse. J Burn Care Res. 2007; in press.
Li, X., Kovacs, E.J., Schwacha, M.G., Chaudry, I.H., and
Choudhry, M.A.: Interleukin-18-Mediated Neutrophil Recruitment Contributes to
Lung Tissue Damage in a Two Hit Model of Injury. Amer. J. Physiol. 2007;
292:L1193-1201.
Melstrom, K.A., Kozlowski, R., Hassertt, D.J., Suzuki, H.,
Bates, D.M., Gamelli, R.L., and Shankar, R.: Cytoxicity of Pseudomonas Secreted
Exotoxins Requires OxyR Expression. J Surg Res. 2007 Nov; 143(1): 50-7.
Murdoch, E.L., Brown, H.G., Gamelli, R.L., and Kovacs, E.J.:
Effects of Ethanol on Pulmonary Inflammation in Post-Burn Intratracheal
Infection. J. Burn Care Res. 2007; in press.
Nomellini, V., Gomez, C., and Kovacs, E.J.: Impairment
of Innate Immunity: Hereditary and Age Related Alterations. In Contributions to
Microbiology: Innate Immunity. 2007; (eds., H. Herwald, A. Egesten, and A.
Schmidt), Karger AG, Basel, Switzerland. In press.
Plackett, T.P. and Kovacs, E.J.: Acute Models of Ethanol
Exposure. (ed., L.E. Nagy) In Alcohol Methods in Molecular Medicine. NY: Humana
Press. 2007; in press.
Scalfani, M., Chan, D.M., Murdoch, E.L., Kovacs, E.J., and
White, F.A.: Acute Ethanol Exposure Combined with Burn Injury Enhances IL-6
Levels in the Murine Ileum. Alcohol. Clin. Expt. Res. 2007; 31:1731-1737.
White, F.A., Jung, H., and Miller, R.J.: Chemokines and
the Pathophysiology of Neuropathic Pain: An Invited Perspective. Proceedings of
the National Academy of Science, in press.
Zhu, Q., Emanuele, M.A., LaPaglia, N., Kovacs, E.J., and
Emanuele, N.V.: Vitamin E Prevents Ethanol-Induced Inflammatory, Hormonal, and
Cytotoxic Changes in Reproductive Tissues. Endocrine. 2007; 32:59-68.
Presentations
Aranha, G.V.: Is Central (Middle Segment) Pancreatectomy a
Suitable Operation for Lesions of the Neck of the Pancreas? Invited Didactic
and Video Presentation at the 11th Annual Meeting of the European Society of
Surgery – Krakow, Poland – December, 2007
Aranha, G.V.: Interface, Surgery and Psychiatry – Grand
Rounds -Department of Psychiatry – LUMC – December 2007
Brems, J.J.: Participated as a discussant at the Western
Surgical Association conference session – “Does Health Related Quality of Life
Correlate with Model for End Stage Liver Disease Score before Liver Transplant”
Gamelli, R.L.: “Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis Syndrome – A
Problem for all Ages” – Presented at the quarterly meeting – Indiana State
Chapter – American College of Surgeons – Indianapolis
Gamelli, R.L.: “Management of Burns & the Patient with
Multi-Trauma” – 2007 The Will C. Moore Lecturer – Department of Surgery –
Indiana University School of Medicine – Indianapolis
Gamelli, R.L.: “Critical Injuries – Sepsis & Inflammation”
– 5th Annual Visiting Burn Professor – Harborview Medical Center – Seattle
Gamelli, R.L.: “Burns/Nutrition/Therapy” Scientific
Program -Session Moderator -66th Annual Meeting American Association for the
Surgery of Trauma-Las Vegas
White, F.A.: “Latest Light on Complex Regional Pain
Syndrome. Translational Pain Research: From Bench to Bedside” Midwest Pain
Society, 31st Scientific Session, Chicago IL October, 2007.
White, F.A., FitzGerald, M.P., and Miller, R.J.: Poster
Presentation; “Expression of Functional Chemokine Receptors in
Bladder-Associated Sensory Neurons is Correlated with Chronic Pelvic Pain”
Special Interest Group on Neuropathic Pain Conference, International Society
for the Study of Pain. Snowbird, Utah, November, 2007.
Yao, K.: “Breast MRI: Clinical Implications.” Targeted
and Tailored Therapies in Hematology/Oncology Conference. Cancer Center at
Hamburger University, Oak Brook, IL September, 2007.
Abstracts
Bird, M.D., Morgan, M.O., Ramirez, L., and Kovacs, E.J.:
Decreased Lung Inflammation Following Ethanol and Burn Injury in ICAM-1
Knockout Mice. Alcohol and Immunology Research Interest Group Meeting, Maywood,
IL, November 2007.
Gomez, C.R., Karavitis, J., Ramirez, L., Nomellini,V., and
Kovacs, E.J.: Interleukin-6 Contributes to Age-Related Alteration of Cytokine
Production in Macrophages. Annual Meeting of the Society for Leukocyte Biology,
Cambridge, MA, October 2007.
Karavitis, J., Gomez, C.B., and Kovacs, E.J.:
Interleukin-6 contributes to Age-Related Alteration of Cytokine Production in
Macrophages Fcg-Receptor Mediated
Phagocytosis is Attenuated After Acute in vivo or in vitro Ethanol Exposure.
Annual Meeting of the Society for Leukocyte Biology, Cambridge, MA, October
2007.
Karavitis, J., Murdoch, E.L., Ramirez, L., Gomez, C.R., and
Kovacs, E.J.: Acute Ethanol Exposure Attenuated Macrophage Cytokine Production
and Phagocytosis. Alcohol and Immunology Research Interest Group Meeting,
Maywood, IL, November 2007.
Kovacs, E.J., Karavitis, J., Morgan, M.O., Ramirez, L., and
Bird, M.D.: Influence of Alcohol on Sex and Immune Response After Injury. 11th
Congress of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism, Berlin,
Germany, September 2007.
Murdoch, E.L. and Kovacs, E.J.: Effects of Ethanol on
Neutrophil Infiltration in Mice Given Burn Injury and Pulmonary Infection.
Alcohol and Immunology Research Interest Group Meeting, Maywood, IL, November
2007.
Nomellini, V., Gomez, C.R., and Kovacs, E.J.: Decreased
Tight Junction Formation in Lungs of Aged Mice Following Injury. Annual Meeting
of the Society for Leukocyte Biology, Cambridge, MA, October 2007.
Awards & Honors
Angelats, J.: Tumi USA Award – Award is given to
outstanding members of the Peruvian community living in the U.S. Ceremony was
held in Miami on January 12th. Award was established in 1995 to recognize
Peruvian Americans for their overall achievements in their professions and
service to the community. The Tumi is a Peruvian ceremonial symbol
representing, by coincidence, a surgical instrument.
Aranha, G.V.: America’s Top Doctors for Cancer – Castle
Connolly Guide
Aranha, G.V.: Magdeburg Rights Commemorative Medal –
Presented for excellence in pancreatic surgery and for fostering exchange of
surgical knowledge between surgeons from Poland and the United States – Krakow,
Poland – November, 2007
Aranha, G.V.: Master Teacher Award – One of the recipients
of the 2007 Ralph B. Leischner, M.D. Master Teacher Award.
Brems, J.J.: Served as a mentor for Luke Brewster, MD who
received 1st Place in the ALF Debate – Donors Should be Paid for Organ Donation
Brems, J.J.: 2007 America’s Top Doctors – (Surgery) Castle
Connolly Guide
Gamelli, R.L.: 2007 America’s Top Doctors – (Surgery)
Castle Connolly Guide
Glynn, L.A.: Medical
Director of Pediatric Surgical Services. Loyola University Medical Center
Ronald McDonald Children’s Hospital. July 2007.
Greisler, H.P.: 2007 America’s Top Doctors – (Vascular
Surgery) Castle Connolly Guide
Meetings
Shoup, M.: Discussant on Panel of Oncology Surgeons.
Living Well Presentation (Cancer Support Group.) September 2007.
Yao, K.: Discussant on Panel of Oncology Surgeons. Living
Well Presentation (Cancer Support Group.) September 2007.
Alumni Corner
Graduate Remembers Days in Loyola “Family”
T he year was 1990 when Dan
Conway, M.D., F.A.C.S., completed general surgery residency training at Loyola,
but his residency memories are still fresh today.
He fondly recalls the many
social functions available then to residents in the Department of Surgery. In
particular, residents enjoyed a yearly barbecue at the home of now-retired
faculty member Dr. Frank Harford, after salmon fishing on Lake Michigan.
The department also hosted an
annual golf outing, which Dr. Conway said was at a different golf course every
year. “We were never invited back because we hacked up the grass,” he joked.
“Dr. [Robert] Freeark used to say ‘God only gave us so many gifts. If you’re a
good golfer, you’re probably not a good surgeon.’ Of course, he said that
because he wasn’t a very good golfer.”
The Medical Center Campus also
offered social opportunities, including singing “goofy” songs at The Pub, a
sandwich shop in the former gym building that served beer on Fridays. Free food
was available for residents at many educational meetings, Dr. Conway remembers.
He said, “We used to refer to tumor board as ‘masses and muffins.’” Joe
“Mefoxin” DePrima was the perennial sponsor of the Tuesday night pizza and
journal club.
Becoming a working surgeon
It wasn’t the social life,
however, that first drew him to Loyola’s residency program. It was the
opportunity to perform a large volume and variety of surgical procedures.
“Residents did all the surgeries, assisted by attendings,” Dr. Conway said. “The
attendings made sure we were book-smart surgeons and also that we could
operate.”
To ensure surgical variety at a
time when the medical center did not have as many trauma cases as today, Dr.
Conway was given a three-month trauma rotation at a University Hospital in
Louisville, Ky. The extra training proved useful, as he now performs many trauma
procedures.
In the Jesuit spirit,
surgeons-in-training also learned “to be a nice guy,” he said. “Dr. Herb
Greenlee was such a gentleman, I wanted to be just like him. I wasn’t sure I
could ever be as smart as Dr. Jack Pickleman, as famous as Dr. Freeark, or as
technically adept as Dr. Bill Baker, but I hoped I could be the kind and thoughtful
surgeon that Dr. Greenlee was.”
Without the many renowned
surgeons he trained under (whom he calls “giants” in surgery), Dr. Conway said
he would not be where he is today. He is a partner in a thriving private
surgical practice in Elk Grove Village and Arlington Heights, along with three
other surgeons. Dr. Conway joined the practice right after finishing residency
17 years ago. He performs general surgical procedures, including for cancer,
trauma, and degenerative and inflammatory diseases. In particular, he enjoys the
technical challenges of thyroid cancer surgery and the ability “to cure
cancer.”
All of his partners graduated
from Loyola’s surgical residency program. What he likes about having
Loyola-trained partners is their similar surgical approach. “We think the same
way and do things the same in surgery,” he said.
Family man
Dr. Conway is partners in life
with his wife, Pat. In addition to their late son, Kevin, they have three
children: Sean, 20, Megan, 18, and Jack, 14.
As for his other “family,” Dr.
Conway said he keeps in touch with many of his residency classmates. Five of the
seven residents in his class, including himself, were from the same medical
class at Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine, so they spent nine years
together.
“For my residency class,” he
said, “we were truly one big family.”
Staff Corner
Annual Pumpkin Decorating Contest
Congratulations to Andrea Szilagyi, research assistant to
Dr. Kay Muthu and Dr. Ravi S hankar
of the Burn and Shock Trauma Institute, on taking first place in Loyola’s annual
pumpkin decorating contest this past fall. The winning pumpkin was decorated in
the fashion of the character from the popular children’s movie
Ratatouille. The picture shows the winning pumpkin
along with members of the BSTI, (Andrea was not present the day of the judging.)
The Department of Surgery
submitted a pumpkin for Loyola’s annual pu mpkin decorating contest this past
October. The team of Gail Baron, Pam Ignarski, April Medrano, Melissa Miller
and Sandy Ransom put their collective talents together and created a very unique
pumpkin display entitled “The Presidential Candidates.” Three pumpkins were
painted in the likenesses of Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, and Barack Obama.
Thanksgiving Gift
Baskets
The
 Department of Surgery
demonstrated its caring side in November by donating Thanksgiving gift baskets
to two in-need families. The team of Gail Baron, Pam Ignarski, and Melissa
Miller headed this project by collecting and purchasing food items from the
proceeds donated by the members of our department.
The Last Word
Department of Surgery Annual
Cocktail Reception
The American College of Surgeons
held their 93rd Annual Clinical Congress in New Orleans this past Octo ber 7 -
11.
On Tuesday, October 9th – The
Department of Surgery and Dr. Richard L. Gamelli hosted their Annual Cocktail
Reception. The event was held in the courtyard of the Louis the XVI Restaurant
Francais in New Orleans.
Many of our current and former
Loyola family were in attendance as well as many of our colleagues from across
the nation. Below are a few pictures from the evening. 
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