Richard L. Simmons Lecture in Surgical Science and Department of Surgery Research Day

22nd Annual

Richard L. Simmons Lecture in Surgical Science and Department of Surgery Research Day

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

The University Club

Richard L. Simmons, MD

Chair Emeritus, Department of Surgery Distinguished Service Professor of Surgery

Richard L. Simmons graduated magna cum laude in biochemical sciences from Harvard University and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his MD at Boston University, graduating summa cum laude, and was elected to AOA. He completed his surgical residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital, where he was a National Institutes of Health (NIH) postdoctoral fellow, a visiting fellow in surgery at Columbia University, and an American Cancer Society (ACS) clinical fellow. During this time, he also won the Mead Johnson Award of ACS and was a clinical and research fellow in surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and a research fellow at Harvard Medical School. He became principal investigator of an RO1 grant as a resident and was NIH funded for more than 40 consecutive years thereafter.

After heading the surgical research team of the U.S. Army in Vietnam in 1967, Simmons joined the surgical faculty of the University of Minnesota, where he was a Markle scholar in academic medicine and held professorships in both surgery and microbiology. Between 1987 and 1998, Simmons served as chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and in 1996, he became the medical director of UPMC—a position he held until 2015.

During his tenure at Pitt, Simmons has received many honors. Locally, he was given the annual award from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter of ACS and the Gift of Life Award from the National Kidney Foundation of Western Pennsylvania and was named Man of the Year (1998) in Science by Vectors of Pittsburgh. He was selected by Archives of Surgery as one of two dozen 20th-century surgeons who have made significant contributions to surgery, and in 2001, ACS dedicated the Surgical Forum to Simmons. In 2004, Simmons received the Medawar Prize for his work in transplantation immunology and infectious disease. He was awarded the Thomas E. Starzl Prize in Surgery and Immunology in 2005 and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of University Surgeons in 2010. The Allegheny County Medical Society Foundation honored Simmons with the Ralph C. Wilde Leadership Award in March 2014. Most recently, Simmons was awarded the Pioneer Award from the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and The Medallion for Scientific Achievement from the American Surgical Association. Simmons is past chair of the Surgical Forum and past president of the Society of University Surgeons, American Society of Transplant Surgeons, and Surgical Infection Society. Simmons also has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Surgery. He has authored or edited 15 books and more than 1,000 articles. In 1994, he was elected to the The National Academy of Medicine.

Simmons continues to serve the Department of Surgery as chair emeritus and as an advisor and mentor.

Jen Jen Yeh, MD

Oliver Smithies Investigator

Professor of Surgery and Pharmacology

Vice Chair of Research, Department of Surgery

Director, UNC Lineberger Pancreatic Cancer Center of Excellence

Co-Associate Director of Education, Co-Clinical Research Program Leader, UNC Lineberger

Dr. Yeh is a Professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrinology in the Department of Surgery at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill where she is Vice Chair for Research. She has an active surgical oncology practice focused on patients with melanoma, endocrine and pancreatic cancers, and is the Director of the Pancreatic Cancer Center of Excellence in the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she is also co-Leader of the Clinical Research Program and coAssociate Director for Education.

Dr. Yeh’s research interests have been focused on integrating clinical, computational and biological approaches to tackle the complexities of pancreatic cancer. Her work has included the identification of tumor-intrinsic molecular subtypes of pancreatic cancer that are prognostic and may predict treatment response. Dr. Yeh is cofounder of Focal Medical, Inc, focused on the advancement of iontophoretic delivery of oncology drugs for challenging tumors such as pancreatic cancer. She currently leads the UNC Selective Targeting of Pancreatic Cancer P50 SPORE and a U01 in the Pancreatic Cancer Stroma Reprogramming Consortium (PSRC). Her long-term goal of her research is to identify promising approaches for pancreatic cancer and accelerating their translation to the clinic.

She is a member of the NIH Molecular Cancer Diagnosis and Classification Study Section and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Clinical/ Translational Research Study Section. She is a Scientific Advisory Board member for the Lustgarten Foundation, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, the Seena Magowitz Foundation.

“My Journey Beyond Tumor Subtypes”

Jen Jen Yeh, MD

Oliver Smithies Investigator

Professor of Surgery and Pharmacology

Vice Chair of Research, Department of Surgery

Director, UNC Lineberger Pancreatic Cancer

Center of Excellence

Co-Associate Director of Education, Co-Clinical Research Program Leader, UNC Lineberger

Poster Viewing

Session 1

7:30-8:00 AM

Ballroom A (Downstairs)

3-minute presentation, 2-minute questions

Basic Science 1/Monitor 1 - Moderators: Shea/Scott

Renee Anderko, PhD

Autophagy inhibition enhances the maturation and activity of tertiary lymphoid structures in patients with pancreatic cancer Mentor: Zureikat/Bruno

Nijmeh Alsaadi (Reem Younes, MD Presenting)

Predictive Value of Platelet Function Assays in Traumatic Brain Injury Patients on Antiplatelet Therapy: Insights from a Randomized Controlled Trial Mentor: Neal

Aishwarrya Arivudainambi, BS

Nigericin dampens thrombin-mediated platelet P-selectin expression Mentor: Neal

Asmita Chopra, MD

KRAS Mutations allelic frequency dynamics using plasma extracellular vesicles: association with survival outcomes in localized pancreatic adenocarcinoma Mentor: Paniccia

Jennifer Darby, MD

Do Trauma Patients Get TRALI? Exploring Unique Plasma Multiomic Signatures Among Trauma Patients Developing Acute Lung Injury Following Massive Transfusion Mentor: Billiar

Clinical Science 1/Monitor 2 – Moderators: Liang/Bernardi

Abiha Abdullah, MD

Effect of P2Y12, SGLT2, and P-Selectin Inhibitors on Long-Term Quality-of-Life Outcomes in Critically Ill Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19: A Secondary Analysis of the ACTIV4a Randomized Clinical Trial Mentor: Leeper/Neal

Hind Anan, MD

Contemporary Comparison between the Hemodialysis Reliable Outflow Device and Femoral Arteriovenous Graft Mentor: Yuo

Erin Bayley, MD, MSc

Determinants of Value-Based, Guideline-Concordant Breast Cancer Care in the Veterans Health Administration: An Implementation Science Initiative Mentor: McAuliffe

Sebastian Boland, MD

Flying Faster: Defining the Time-Savings Threshold for Air versus Ground Transport Survival Benefit after Injury Mentor: Brown

Marissa Jarosinski, MD

Contemporary National Incidence and Outcomes of Acute Limb Ischemia Mentor: Reitz

Poster Viewing Session 1 cont.

Ballroom B (Upstairs)

3-minute presentation, 2-minute questions

Basic Science 4/Monitor 3 – Moderators: Tohme/Paniccia

Firuz Feturi (No Presentation/Poster Viewing Only)

Fecal Microbial Transplantation (FMT): Uncovering Therapeutic Potential in Restoring Gut Microbiome and Mitigating Antibiotic-Induced Dysbiosis Mentor: Morowitz

Ting Gong, PhD

Macrophage-Derived Exosomal eCIRP Induces ZBP1-dependent PANoptosis in Pulmonary Vascular Endothelial Cells in Sepsis Mentor: Fan

Cindy Guadalupe Avalos De Leon, MD

Liver exosomes after hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury differentially affect bone marrow-derived versus liver-resident dendritic cell function Mentor: Geller

Rafael Munitz, B.SC. MED

Function of Whole Blood Units is Storage Solution Independent and Retained for 35 Days Mentor: Shea

Christopher Reed, MD

Factor IX Forms an Extravascular Hemostatic Reservior in Trama Mentor: Neal

Clinical Science 4/Monitor 4 – Moderators: Tessler/Neal

Zachary Dallal, BS

Longitudinal Analysis of General Surgery Residency Match from 2020 to 2024Signaling Need for Improvement. Mentor: Abdelhamid

Tamara Byrd, MD

Disentangling the Impact of Trauma Center Proximity and Social Determinants of Health Mentor: Brown

David Silver, MD, MPH

Association Between Timing of Operative Interventions and mortality in Emergency General Surgery Mentor: Brown

Jose Ricardo Paiz Beneitez, MS

Implementation science approach to assess the role of community-based interventions to improve blood transfusion systems in Kenya. Mentor: Puyana

Neil Carleton, BS

Longitudinal ctDNA Surveillance in Older Women With ER+ Breast Cancer Who Omit Surgery and Receive Primary Endocrine Therapy Mentor: McAuliffe

Poster Viewing

Session 2

9:00 - 9:30 AM

Ballroom A (Downstairs)

3-minute presentation, 2-minute questions

Basic Science 2/Monitor 1 – Moderator: Scott

Abiha Abdullah, MD

Enhancing Antithrombotic Efficacy with Subtherapeutic Doses of P2Y12 receptor antagonist and thromboxane receptor antagonist Mentor: Neal

Abiha Abdullah, MD

Trauma-Induced Alterations of Megakaryocyte Progenitors Mentor: Neal

Bashar Al Matour (Meliksah Dolap, MS Presenting)

Lysyl Oxidase expression on Murine hepatic matrix-bound nanovesicles Mentor: Scott

Mouhamad Al Moussawy

Simultaneous snRNA&ATACseq characterizes specific innate immune memory Mentor: Abou Daya

Katelin Rahn, B.S.

Hemostatic capacity of lyophilized cryoprecipitate in a microfluidic model of hyperfibrinolysis. Mentor: Shea

Clinical Science 2/Monitor 2 – Moderators: Tessler/Bernardi

Erin Bayley, MD, MSc

Initial Telemedicine Consultations for Screen Detected Noncancerous Findings is Feasible and Provides Excellent Patient Satisfaction Outcomes Mentor: McAuliffe

Erin Bayley, MD, MSc

ChatGPT Provides High Quality Patient Education Materials for Common Breast Cancer-Related Questions Mentor: Diego

Pamela El Hayek, MD

Multidisciplinary Treatment Protocol Improves Time to Vascular Involvement in Patients with Acute Mesenteric Ischemia Mentor: Chaer

Marissa Jarosinski, MD

“No Pain, No Problems”: Barriers and Facilitators to Follow-Up after Endovascular Aortic Repair (EVAR) Mentor: Phillips

Poster Viewing Session 2 cont.

Ballroom B (Upstairs)

3-minute presentation, 2-minute questions

Basic Science 5/Monitor 3 – Moderators: Shea/Neal

Ronit Kar, B.S.

Aptamer Inhibitor of Von Willebrand Factor Improves Vascular Patency in a Microfluidic Model of Ischemic Stroke by Prevention of Platelet-Mediated Re-occlusion Mentor: Shea

Ronit Kar, B.S.

Platelet Dysfunction following Severe Trauma: Temporal Insights from a Microfluidic Assay Mentor: Shea

Joud Mulla, PhD

Investigating Caspase-11 and Gasdermind in Inflammatory Responses and Coagulopathy Post-Polytrauma. Mentor: Scott

Lauren Rosenblum, MD, PhD

Intraoperative Molecular Imaging of Neuroblastoma with DTPA[In-111]-dinutuximab-IR800 Mentor: Malek/Kohanbash

Yang Ruiqi

Exercise Training Modulates the Hepatic Pre-Metastatic Niche by Regulating TREM-1 Signaling Mentor: Tohme/Yazdani

Clinical Science 5/Monitor 4 – Moderators: Liang/Molinari

Rebecca Kotcher, MD

Blue Light as an Anti-inflammatory and Analgesic Strategy in Thoracic Trauma (BLASTT): protocol for a randomized controlled trial in adult patients with multiple rib fractures Mentor: Neal

Jack Lorence

Characterization of Adverse Events In Injured Patients At Risk of Hemorrhagic Shock: A Secondary Analysis of Three Harmonized Prehospital Randomized Clinical Trials Mentor: Sperry

Muhammad Mazroua

Outside Emergency Department Dwell Time May Not be Associated with Outcomes in Patients Transferred for Repair of Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Mentor: Liang

Hasan Nassereldine, MD

Blunt Cerebrovascular Injury Infrequently Results in Post-Discharge Stroke Mentor: Reitz

Oral Presentations

Session 1

9:30-10:45 AM

Ballroom B Center Stage (Upstairs)

10-minute talk, 5-minute discussion

9:30 AM

9:45 AM

10:00 AM

10:15 AM

10:30 AM

Anna Ramos, MD

Mitophagic Flux Is Elevated in the Intestinal Epithelium of Mice

Subjected to Chemical Colitis and Amenable to Therapeutic Targeting

Mentor: Mollen

Neil Carleton, B.S.

EHR-Based Nudge Intervention to Reduce Low-Value Axillary Surgery in Older Women with Breast Cancer: A Nonrandomized Controlled Trial (NCT06006910)

Mentor: McAuliffe

Andrew Sayce, MD

A Quantitative Transcriptomic Scoring System scUPR Identifies a Time-Dependent PERK-to-IRE1α Shift in the Unfolded Protein Response Associated with Proliferation of Myeloid Cells in Trauma Patients

Mentor: Billiar

Tony Haykal, MD

Surgery-induced Neutrophil Extracellular Traps reprogram cancer cell metabolism leading to tumor progression.

Mentor: Tohme/Yazdani

Jack Killinger, B.S.

The Use of a Microfluidic Model Reveals No Change to Platelet Count or Function After Platelet Transfusion in Traumatic Brain Injury Patients

Mentor: Shea

Poster Viewing Session 3

10:45-11:15 AM

Ballroom A (Downstairs)

3-minute presentation, 2-minute questions

Basic Science 3/Monitor 1 - Moderators: Paniccia/Tohme

Ander Dorken Gallastegi, MD

Bridge to Heart Transplant with Temporary Mechanical Circulatory Support: Trends and Waitlist Outcomes in the 2018 UNOS Policy Era Mentor: Kaczorowski

Hussein El Bourji, MD

APCs Are Central to Treg Suppressor Function Within Allografts Mentor: Camirand

Charbel Elias, MD

The Clinical Utility of Follow-up Allograft Biopsies After Early Acute TCMR In Renal Transplantation Mentor: Cherukuri

Tony Haykal, MD

Surgery promotes persistent protumorigenic changes in the bone marrow derived cells to facilitate tumor progression. Mentor: Tohme/Yazdani

Celine Tohme

ZLN005: A Surrogate for Exercise, Protects the Liver against Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury and Metastatic Progression Mentor: Tohme/Yazdani

Clinical Science 3/Monitor 2 – Moderators: Bernardi/Molinari

Avril Betances, MD (Nel Fernandez, MS presenting)

Financial de-escalation for patients with T3N0M0 luminal breast cancer (BC) Mentor: Soran

Anthony Gebran, MD

Pretreatment CA19-9 Predicts Survival in Pancreatic Cancer With Optimal Response to Neoadjuvant Therapy Mentor: Paniccia

Asmita Chopra, MD

Robotic Versus Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: Surgical Outcomes And Cost Analysis Mentor: Zureikat

Stuthi Iyer, BA

In-hospital revascularization reduces the association between peripheral artery disease and amputation Mentor: Reitz/Marron

Hasan Nassereldine, MD

Strategies to Promote ResiliencY (SPRY): a randomized embedded multifactorial adaptative platform (REMAP) clinical trial to study interventions to improve recovery after surgery in high-risk patients Mentor: Neal

Poster Viewing Session 3 cont.

10:45-11:15 AM

Ballroom B (Upstairs)

3-minute presentation, 2-minute questions

Basic Science 6/Monitor 3 - Moderator: Scott

Nicholas Rocchio-Giordano, BA

Consequences of Apheresis Platform on Hemostatic Function of Platelet Concentrates: Insights from the Ongoing CHIlled Platelet Study in vitro (CHIPSiv) Study Mentor: Shea

Kayla Stanley, B.S.

Gamma Detection of GD2 Targeted Dual-Labeled Intraoperative Molecular Imaging Probe for Neuroblastoma Mentor: Malek

Xuejing Sun, MD

Gasdermin D drives the systemic storm and mortality after trauma with hemorrhage to a greater degree in biological females than males Mentor: Billiar

Reem Younes, MD

Does Whole Blood Storage Duration Affect Platelet Activation in a Massive Transfusion Model? Mentor: Neal/Shea

Luis Velez Renteria, MD

Assessment of Rabbit Whole Blood Units: Methodology for Rabbit Blood Banking Mentor: Shea

Clinical Science 6/Monitor 4 – Moderators: Shea/Liang

Insiyah Campwala, MD

Utility of Indocyanine Green for Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Pediatric Sarcoma and Melanoma Mentor: Malek

Yang Ruiqi

Characterizing the role of Paired Immunoglobin Receptor (PIR) B in murine models of acute and chronic liver injury Mentor: Tohme/Yazdani

Nazih Bizri, MD

cGAS Deficiency is Associated with Altered Tumor Microenvironment (TME) and Dysfunctional Autophagy Leading to Increased Colitis associated Colorectal Cancers (CAC). Mentor: Khan/Mollen

Erin Feeney, MD

Microfluidic Analysis of Post-Traumatic Platelet Function in Children

Mentor: Leeper/Shea

Oral Presentations

Session 2

11:15-12:30 PM

Ballroom B Center Stage (Upstairs)

10-minute talk, 5-minute discussion

11:15 AM

11:30 AM

11:45 AM

12:00 PM

12:15 PM

Alexander Kreger, MD

Chemical pancreatectomy increases B-cell volume and islet vasculature

Mentor: Gittes

Hasan Nassereldine, MD

Long term survival, stratified by frailty, after operative and nonoperative management of 8 conditions where management depends on patient and surgeon preference.

Mentor: Reitz/Hall

Renee Anderko, PhD

Pancreatic cancer organoids recapitulate chemotherapy response and identify potent T cell subsets

Mentor: Zureikat

Vincent Anto, MD

Extracellular Matrix Hydrogel Reduces Leak Rates in a Rodent Model of a Low Rectal Anastomosis

Mentor: Badylak

Daniel Muchnok, B.S.

Eary calcium supplementation is associated with reduced mortality in patients requiring blood transfusion after injury

Mentor: Brown

Closing Remarks

12:15 PM

12:30-2:00 PM

Timothy Billiar, MD

Lunch

Ballroom A (Downstairs)

Past Lecturers

2003

“Hyperosmolar Solutions for Fluid Resuscitation During Critical Illness”

Ori D. Rotstein, MD

Professor of Surgery, Department of Surgery

University of Toronto

2004

“The Inflammatory Reflex”

Kevin J. Tracey, MD

Professor and Director, Center for Patient-Oriented Research

Program Director, General Clinical Research Center

North Shore-LIJ Research Institute

2005

“Why Are You Killing My Patient?”

Michael B. Yaffe, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Biology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2006

“Reparative and Regenerative Medicine: A Surgeon’s Perspective”

Michael T. Longaker, MD, MBA, FACS

Deane P. and Louise Mitchell Professor

Director, Children’s Surgical Research Program

Deputy Director, Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine

Director, Program in Regenerative Medicine

Stanford University School of Medicine

2007

“How Microbial Pathogens Sense Host Stress and Respond Accordingly”

John C. Alverdy, MD, FACS

Professor of Surgery

Director, Minimally Invasive/Bariatric Surgery

University of Chicago

2008

“VEGF and VEGF Receptors in CRC: Beyond Angiogenesis”

Lee M. Ellis, MD, FACS

Professor of Surgery and Cancer Biology

William C. Liedtke Jr. Chair in Cancer Research Chair, Ad Interim, Department of Cancer Biology

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

2009

“Liver Translational Research: The Bench Work Does Matter”

David A. Geller, MD

Professor of Surgery

Codirector, UPMC Liver Cancer Center

University of Pittsburgh

2010

“Enhancing Vein Graft Patency: From the Molecular to the Obvious”

Colleen M. Brophy, MD

Professor of Surgery

Division of Vascular Surgery

Vanderbilt University

2011

“Memory, Surgery, and Surgical Research”

Daniel R. Meldrum, MD, FACS, FAHA

Professor of Surgery and Physiology

Section of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Indana University School of Medicine

2012

“Advancing Translational Research in Pancreatic Cancer”

Diane M. Simeone, MD

Lazar J. Greenfield Professor of Surgery and Molecular and Integrative Physiology

Chief, Division of HPB and Advanced Gastrointestinal Surgery

University of Michigan Health System

2013

“Regenerative Medicine: Current Concepts and Changing Trends”

Anthony Atala, MD

Director, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine

W.H. Boyce Professor and Chair, Department of Urology-Wake Forest School of Medicine

2014

“Small Molecules for Small Patients: A Surgical Journey into the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Necrotizing Enterocolitis”

David J. Hackam, MD, PhD, FACS

Watson Family Professor of Surgery

Associate Dean for Medical Student Research

Professor of Surgery and Cell Biology and Physiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Codirector, Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment Center, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC

2015

“The Challenges and Rewards of Translational Research–One Surgeon’s Journey”

Melina R. Kibbe, MD, FACS, FAHA Professor and Vice Chair of Research

Edward G. Elcock Professor of Surgical Research

Department of Surgery, Northwestern University

2016

“Trauma Care: A Case Study in Translating Research into Policy”

Avery B. Nathens, MD, PhD, FRCS(C) Surgeon-in-Chief, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Professor of Surgery, University of Toronto

DeSouza Chair in Trauma Research

2017

“Gut lntegrity in Sepsis”

Craig M. Coopersmith, MD, FACS, FCCM

Professor and Vice Chair, Surgery

Emory University School of Medicine

Director, 5E Surgical ICU

Associate Director, Emory Critical Care Center

2018

“Considerations on the Creative Process in Clinical Problem Solving”

Elliot L. Chaikof, MD, PhD

Surgeon in Chief, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Chair, Roberta and Stephen R. Weiner

Department of Surgery

Johnson and Johnson Professor of Surgery Harvard Medical School

2019

“New Approaches to Pancreatic Cancer Immunotherapy”

George Miller, MD

H. Leon Pachter Professor

Departments of Surgery and Cell Biology Leader, Cancer Immunology Program

New York University (NYU) School of Medicine

2020

“Bench to Bedside: 1) Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia; 2) Chronic Pancreatitis; 3) Diabetes Mellitus”

George K. Gittes, MD

Benjamin R. Fisher Chair of Pediatric Surgery, Professor of Pediatric Surgery and Pediatrics, and Chief of Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh

School of Medicine

Surgeon in Chief Emeritus and Scientific Codirector of Research, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

Director, Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research

2021

“What We Become”

Yolonda L. Colson, MD, PhD

Hermes C. Grillo Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Chief, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital

2022

“Chasing Cure of a GI Cancer”

Ronald P. DeMatteo, MD, FACS

John Rhea Barton Professor of Surgery

Chair, Department of Surgery

Penn Medicine

2023

“Leading the Way: Applying American Surgical Leadership Principles to Improve Health Care For All”

Adil Haider MD, MPH, FACS

Dean, Aga Khan University Medical College

Kanji Jamal Endowed Professor of Surgery and Community Health Sciences

Department of Surgery

School of Medicine