News & Events

Cardiac and heart/lung transplant surgeon-scientist Tobias Deuse, M.D. has been awarded a 4-year $400K grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to investigate space-related physiological changes in liver aging and regeneration. The work will be carried out aboard the International Space Station (ISS) using a novel platform, tissue engineered liver immune chips in microgravity. Dr. Deuse is Professor and Interim Chief of the Division of Adult Cardiothoracic Surgery, and Director of Minimally-Invasive Cardiac Surgery at UCSF. He is also a principal investigator in the Transplant and [...]

The Department of Surgery is pleased to announce that Elizabeth C. Wick, M.D. and Jason H. Pomerantz, M.D. have been appointed Co-Chairs of the Department of Surgery Research Committee. Dr. Wick is a professor of surgery in the Section of Colorectal Surgery. She is an experienced laparoscopic surgeon, treating the entire spectrum of colorectal conditions including diverticular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, colon and rectal cancer, anal cancer, and perianal disease with a patient-‐centered approach. Dr. Wick has contributed to the understanding of almost every aspect of perioperative [...]

Researcher of the Month: Peter Stock, MD, PhD As a pivotal figure in HIV-to-HIV organ transplantation and its legalization through the passage of the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act, transplant surgeon Peter G. Stock, MD., PhD., continues to strive toward breakthroughs in research. While Stock is mostly known for his HIV transplantation work, he has been investigating pancreatic islet transplantation (also known as beta cell replacement) to cure type 1 diabetes since his days as a PhD student at the University of Minnesota. In May, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine [...]

In this pilot randomized clinical trial of 21 first-year surgery residents led by PI Carter Lebares, MD,  director of the UCSF Center for Mindfulness in Surgery, taking a modified mindfulness-based stress reduction class was associated with higher mindfulness, lower stress, better executive function scores, faster motor skills, and unique activation of neural substrates associated with executive control and self-awareness during an emotional regulation task compared with control participants. Mindfulness-based stress reduction appeared to mitigate stress and enhance executive function in [...]

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) awarded $11.08 Million to Dr. Peter Stock at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) to conduct a clinical trial for treatment of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D)... The trial will be using parathyroid glands to aid in the success and viability of the transplant procedure.  Co-transplantation of islets and parathyroid glands, from the same donor, substantially increases beta cell survival, potentially enabling adequate long-term insulin production and removing the need for multiple donors.  Additionally, the co-transplantation will [...]

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

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

In the medieval ages, alchemists dedicated their lifetimes searching for the formula that would transform ordinary metals into gold. In our bodies, several cases of "cellular alchemy" have been reported. Known as transdifferentiation, this process consists of one specialized cell type transmuting into a different one.  Until now, this phenomenon had only been observed in the context of replenishing cells lost from pre-existing structures. Now, UCSF researchers, led by Holger Willenbring, MD, PhD, professor of surgery and associate director of the Liver Center at UCSF, and a member of the Eli [...]

Academic hospitals have all the makings for rich medical device development. They have physicians to identify surgical needs, researchers to test theories, bioengineers to design and create devices and patients to participate in clinical trials. However, the disconnect between engineering and surgical departments makes innovation a challenge. So does surgeons' all-consuming job Number One—treating patients. Providing the Infrastructure for Surgeons to Innovate Surgical Innovations, part of the University of California, San Francisco's Department of Surgery and Bioengineering & [...]

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

Transplant surgeons Sandy Feng, M.D., Ph.D. and Peter G. Stock, M.D., Ph.D. continued their stellar records of accomplishment in garnering NIH funding for their cutting-edge clinical research, ranking in the top 20 of all NIH-Funded principal investigators in the category of surgery nationally for 2017. Stock ranked 8th and Feng 20th out of 534 investigators nationwide, both in the top 4%, this according to survey data analyzed by the highly respected Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. Blue Ridge utilized data from the Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT) to survey U.S. [...]