Faculty Awards, Honors & Publications

2024 Honors and Awards

Drs. Aaron Cheng and Meghan Flanagan - Fall 2023 UW Medicine Cares Award Winners

Dr. Aaron Cheng

Dr. Meghan Flanagan

(January 2024) The UW Medicine Cares Awards were established in 2013 to formally recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of individuals and teams who consistently exemplify our UW Medicine Service Culture Guidelines. Nominees go above and beyond to support other members of the UW Medicine community.

Aaron Cheng, MD, Associate Professor, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery

As Harborview’s primary thoracic surgeon, Dr. Aaron Cheng is consistently thoughtful and compassionate and is widely considered to be an outstanding colleague and consultant. He collaborates well with a variety of teams within the UW Medicine system to provide the best care for his patients, and he is committed to his patients, collaboration, teamwork, and the pursuit of excellence.

Meghan Flanagan, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Division of General Surgery

Dr. Flanagan goes above and beyond with her patients who have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. She also goes above and beyond with the staff in her clinic. Dr. Flanagan is a mentor who takes care to make everyone feel valued as part of the team, inspiring her colleagues to greater achievements through her leadership of the Breast Surgery Clinic. She is a consummate academic physician who attains excellence in domains as broad as patient care, research, education, mentorship of residents and medical students. She leads with grace using a supportive, mature leadership style.

Dr. Elina Quiroga Named Society for Vascular Surgery’s Distinguished Fellow
Dr. Elina Quiroga		Dr. Elina Quiroga, Professor, Division of Vascular Surgery, was named Society for Vascular Surgery’s (SVS) Distinguished Fellow. This prestigious recognition is bestowed upon SVS members who have distinguished themselves by making substantial contributions in two of three categories: research, service, or education. The announcement was made during the SVS 2024 Vascular Annual Meeting, held June 19-22, 2024, in Chicago, IL.
		Dr. Elina Quiroga Inducted Into ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators
		Dr. Quiroga was inducted as an Associate Member in the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Academy of Master Surgeon Educators® on October 6, 2023. Dr. Quiroga is among a group of 63 esteemed surgical educators inducted and the sixth cohort of members inducted into this distinguished Academy. The first inaugural cohort was inducted in 2018 and the Academy has since grown to include 358 Members, Associate Members, and Affiliate Members who represent ten surgical specialties other than general surgery. Once inducted, Academy members actively engage in advancing the Academy ’s programs and goals, which are to advance the science and practice of innovative lifelong surgical education, training, and scholarship in the changing milieu of health care; foster the exchange of creative ideas and collaboration; support the development and recognition of faculty; underscore the importance of lifelong surgical education and training; positively impact quality and patient safety through lifelong surgical education and training; disseminate advances in education and training to all surgeons; and of her mentorship to surgeon educators throughout their professional careers.

Dr. Jonathan Sham Elected At-Large Trustee for UWP Board of Trustees—Dr. Estell Williams Completes Three-Year Term UWP Board

Dr. Jonathan Sham

Dr. Estell Williams

Dr. Jonathan Sham, Assistant Professor, Division of General Surgery, has been elected as an At-Large Trustee for the University of Washington Physicians (UWP) Board of Trustees. Dr. Sham will be an important voice to represent our the Department of Surgery and all of its UWP members on the issues addressed by the board.

Dr. Estell Williams, Assistant Professor, Division of General Surgery, just completed her three-year term on the UWP Board. She has been an important contributor and we remain in good hands with the representation from Dr. Sham.

Dr. Jeremy Sharib Awarded Kuni Foundation Grant
Dr. Jeremy Sharib		Dr. Jeremy Sharib, Assistant Professor, Division of General Surgery, Section of Hepatobiliary Surgery, was awarded a $1, 050,000, three-year Kuni Foundation Grant to study how to best personalize hyperthermic peritoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) for patients with peritoneal surface malignancies. Dr. Sharib plans to attempt to grow a model of the patient’s tumor in the lab and treat lab-grown cells with various HIPEC agents to test efficacy, while using an AI-based drug screening platform developed by Fred Hutchinson scientist Taran Gurjal, PhD, to match the patient’s tumor cell characteristics with the best chemotherapy agents. The goal will be to pre-test agents and select the most efficacious agents for each individual patient’s tumor prior to treatment. Dr. Sharib also plans to investigate whether circulating tumor DNA can be identified in abdominal fluid washings during routine cancer resection surgery. If present, this may allow surgeons to target individuals for HIPEC prior to peritoneal spread, in a preventive manner.

Dr. Nicholas Vedder Receives AAPS Clinician of the Year Award

Dr. Nicholas Vedder

Dr. Nicholas Vedder, Professor & Chief of Plastic Surgery, and the Jamie Hunter Endowed Chair in Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, received the 2024 American Association of Plastic Surgeons (AAPS) Clinician of the Year Award—the oldest and most prestigious plastic surgery organization in the world.

The Clinician of the Year is chosen annually by the AAPS President and Association members to recognize significant clinical achievement in the field of plastic surgery. Dr. Vedder’s long experience and results of treatment in hand surgery and reconstructive microsurgery were acknowledged by current AAPS President, W.P. Andrew Lee, MD, EVP, for Academic Affairs, Provost, and Dean of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, in his introduction of Dr. Vedder for his opening ceremonies presentation at the Annual Meeting held May 2024 in Boston, MA. In
receiving this award, Dr. Vedder joins a distinguished group of plastic surgery leaders going back 50 years, including surgeons such as the late Joseph E. Murray, who received the Nobel Prize for his pioneering work in organ transplantation. Dr. Vedder is also a past president of the AAPS 2018-19.

Dr. Jonathan Sham Receives Both Early Stage Investigator Award & The Charles A. Coltman, Jr. Fellowship
Dr. Jonathan Sham		Dr. Jonathan Sham, Assistant Professor, Division of General Surgery, was honored at the 2023 SWOG Fall Group Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, for receiving both the Early Stage Investigator Award and the prestigious Charles A. Coltman, Jr. Fellowship from the Hope Foundation for Cancer research. Through his work in SWOG, Dr. Sham is National Principal Investigator of S2408: Multicenter Randomized Trial of Lanreotide for the Prevention of Postoperative Pancreatic Fistulae. Dr. Sham is seen here with his study mentor, Dr. Robert Krouse (University of Pennsylvania).

Dr. Raymond Yeung Receives U01 Funding For AI Technology In Cancer Care
Dr. Raymond Yeung		Dr. Raymond Yeung, Professor & Section Chief, HPB Surgery, Division of General Surgery, was awarded a U01 grant in partnership with Dr. Taran Gujral, Associate Professor, Human Biology Division, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, for their proposal, SMARTCORE Technology. This project will use AI and patient tissue to identify potential cancer therapies for ultra-rare cancers.

Dr. Shane Morrison Selected As 2024 Presidential Leadership Scholar

Dr. Shane Morrison

Dr. Shane Morrison was selected as one of 60 Scholars who will form the Presidential Leadership Scholars’ (PLS) ninth class. For nearly a decade, PLS has served as a catalyst for a diverse network of leaders brought together to collaborate and create meaningful change in the United States and around the world as they learn about leadership through the lens of the presidential experiences of George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Lyndon B. Johnson and their administrations.

Scholars were chosen based on their leadership growth potential and the strength of their personal leadership projects aimed at improving civic engagement or social good by addressing a problem or need in their community, the country, or the world. Over the course of the program, scholars will travel to each participating presidential center to learn from key former administration officials, business and civic leaders, and leading academics. They will study and put into practice varying approaches to leadership and exchange ideas to help strengthen their impact in the communities they serve.

Dr. Morrison is an Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Urology. He and his colleagues offer comprehensive gender-affirming surgery, and his research interests are in surgical and patient-reported outcomes in gender-affirming surgery.

Beginning on January 24th in Washington, DC, Dr. Morrison will spend six months developing his initiative focused on improving the knowledge base about gender-affirming care and the quality of its delivery. He hopes to learn from the diverse set of other scholars about the implications of this work.

2023 Honors and Awards

2023 UW Medicine Well-Being Grant Awardees

Thanks to a generous donation, UW Medicine awarded well-being grants for projects that support impactful activities, programming, projects, and applied research that aligns with the goals of improving the workplace and learning environment for our community. The Department of Surgery community received the following awards.

NW Breast Surgery Clinic, Surgical Services snd Hernia Center snd NW Colorectal Surgery—New Team Bonding and Well Being 2023

The NW Meridian Pavilion New Team Bonding grant will focus their grant funds on a team bonding event. This team has 2-35 years of commitment in their perspective specialties and at the UW Medical Center. This team was told to involuntarily uproot their home (clinic), off site last year. After displaying a respectful amount of resilience and change management skills they would benefit greatly from a day of bonding with their new combined team. The well‐being grant funds will go towards a Sounders FC game for the team to kick start the path of new memories together.

General Surgery Education Reform

The General Surgery Education Reform Group is a resident‐led initiative to completely reimagine our weekly education conference. Currently we divide senior and junior residents with alternating weeks of education conference. Our vision is to instead unite all levels of general surgery residents each week for enhanced education, fostering resident‐to‐resident mentorship, ensuring consistent attendance, and flattening the PGY hierarchy. This grant funding will help to provide for a conference space large enough to accommodate all of the general surgery residents (~60 residents). Ultimately, we hope that improving educational content, including non‐clinical skills labs on wellness, communication, and teambuilding will help create a culture of well‐being that will impact the hospital through our residents’ everyday interactions.

Department of Surgery Women’s Resident Council Project Proposal

The University of Washington Department of Surgery Women’s Resident Council is comprised of female‐identifying physician trainees in General Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Vascular Surgery, and Cardiothoracic Surgery. The Women’s Council was founded in 2016 with the mission of addressing gender inequities in the field of surgery, creating educational opportunities for women surgeons, fostering collaboration across surgical subspecialties, and inspiring the next generation of women surgeons. We intend to use our UW Medicine Wellness Grant to support wellness, mentorship, and career development events for residents and medical students during the upcoming academic year.

Department Of Surgery Women’s Council Retreat

More women than men in surgery experience sex‐based discrimination, and this continues to be a concern among women considering entering the field. There is a need for women in the Department of Surgery to build community and mentorship, as well as engage in meaningful, protected dialogue about issues germaine to being a female surgeon. Our wellness grant will support a single day retreat for all faculty and residents who self‐identify as female to build community among women within the Department of Surgery. The day will include lectures on issues relevant to practicing female surgeons, as well as small group discussions on specific topics of interest to attendees.

Individual Wellness Goals And Rejuvenation Space To Support Organizational Wellness

Surgical Outcomes Research Center (SORCE) will use $1,000 from the UW Medicine Well‐ Being Grant to purchase two walking desks for their shared office space. SORCE is grateful for the opportunity to move more throughout the day and know this is only the beginning of their mission of improving well‐being at SORCE.

Carlos A. Pellegrini Diversity Visiting Student Internship Program — 2024 Awardees

Dr. Carlos Pellegrini

(December 2023) The Department of Surgery Council for the Promotion of Diversity and Inclusion created the Carlos A. Pellegrini Visiting Internship Program, which offers minority medical students from around the country a Sub-Internship (Sub-I) within our department. The Visiting Internship Program is named for Dr. Pellegrini in recognition of his many contributions to the personal and professional development of minority medical students, residents, fellows, and faculty. The internship program is open to full-time fourth-year students who are in good standing at LCME accredited U.S. medical schools; demonstrate academic excellence, strong leadership skills, and extracurricular experience; and are members of a group or groups that are recognized as historically underrepresented in the health and science professions, including African American, American Indian, Alaska Native, Hispanic American and Asian/Pacific Islander. At present, we are able to fund three opportunities per year. This sub-internship provides a stipend of up to $3000 to help cover the airfare, lodging and living expenses in Seattle during the sub-internship, with rotations lasting four weeks in duration. The first recipients were awarded in October of 2014.

INTERN AWARDEES TO DATE
Queena Chen, Transplant Surgery, 8/19-9/13/24
Cole Valerio Roblee, Plastic Surgery, 7/22-8/16/24
Maria Cristina Gil Diaz, Burn Care, 9/16-10/11/24
Keilan Michael Johnson, Cardiothoracic Surgery, 10/14-11/8/24

Drs. Mariam Hantouli, Andrew Wright, David Flum, and Giana Davidson—Published in JAMA Network
(November 2023) Dr. Mariam Hantouli, Acting Instructor Surgical Outcomes Research Center (SORCE) Dr. Andrew Wright, Professor, General Surgery Center for Video Endoscopic Surgery Endowed Professor Division of General Surgery Dr. David Flum, Vice Chair of Research & Professor Division of General Surgery Dr. Giana Davidson, Professor & Section Chief of Emergency General Surgery Division of General Surgery, published “Operative vs Nonoperative Management of Acute Cholecystitis During the Different Trimesters of Pregnancy” JAMA Network (November 2023)
Dr. Mariam Hantouli	Dr. Andrew Wright	Dr. David Flum	Dr. Giana Davidson

Drs. Benjamin Starnes, Niten Singh, and James Dittman—Published in Journal of Vascular Surgery Cases, Innovations and Techniques
(December 2023) Drs. Benjamin Starnes, Professor, Dr. Niten Singh, Professor & Division Chief of Vascular Surgery, James Dittman, Vascular Surgery R2, Division of Vascular Surgery, published “Five-Year Outcome of A Staged Giant Shamblin Type III Carotid Body Tumor Excision” Journal of Vascular Surgery Cases, Innovations and Techniques (December 2023)
Dr. Benjamin Starnes	Dr. Niten Singh	Dr. James Dittman

Drs. Deepika Nehra, Samuel E. Rice-Townsend, Lauren L. Agoubi, and Ali Rowhani-Rahbar—Published in JAMA Network Open
(September 2023) Dr. Deepika Nehra, Associate Professor, Division of Trauma, Burn & Critical Care Surgery, Dr. Samuel E. Rice-Townsend, Associate Professor, Division of Pediatric Surgery, Dr. Lauren L. Agoubi, Research Resident, Division of General Surgery, Dr. Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, Professor, Department of Epidemiology, published "Association of Community Vulnerability and State Gun Laws With Firearm Deaths in Children and Adolescents Aged 10 to 19 Years" JAMA Network Open (May 2023)
Dr. Deepika Nehra	Dr. Sam Rice-Townsend	Dr. Lauren Agoubi	Dr. Ali-Rowhani-Rahbar

Dr. Farhood Farjah Published in Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and The Annals of Thoracic Surgery
Dr. Farhood Farjah		(September 2023) Dr. Farhood Farjah, Endowed Chair in Lung Cancer Research, Professor of Surgery, Associate Medical Director, Surgical Outcomes Research Center, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, published "Evaluation of a Multilevel Laboratory Stewardship Intervention Targeted to Cardiac and Thoracic Surgical Services at an Academic Medical Center" Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine (August 2023) and "When There Are No Differences on Average and One Size Does Not Fit All" The Annals of Thoracic Surgery (April 2023).

Dr. Raymond Yeung Received the Life Science Start-Up and Development Award
Dr. Raymond Yeung		(September 2023) Dr. Raymond Yeung, Professor, Section Chief, HPB Surgery, Division of General Surgery, received the Life Science Start-Up and Development Award. This award supports researchers to translate promising research into the development of tools, devices, or therapeutics related to cancer. This grant seeks proposals for the research or development of innovative ideas that have the potential to address important needs related to cancer prevention, screening, detection, and treatment to advance cancer care, lessen the burden of cancer, and improve health outcomes.

Dr. Deepika Nehra Awarded the UW Population Health Initiative's Tier 1 Pilot Grant Program
Dr. Deepika Nehra		(September 2023) Dr. Deepika Nehra, Assistant Professor, Division of Trauma, Burn & Critical Care Surgery, and research team, was awarded the UW Population Health Initiative's Tier 1 Pilot Grant Program that encourages new interdisciplinary collaborations among investigators for projects that address critical components of grand challenges the UW seeks to address in population health.

Dr. Grant O'Keefe Awarded the 2023 ITHS Translational Research Partnership Award for New Interdisciplinary Academic Collaborations
Dr. Grant O'Keefe		(May 2023) Dr. Grant O'Keefe, Professor, Division of Trauma, Burn, & Critical Care Surgery and surgery teammate Dr. Chihiro Morishima, Professor, UW Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, were awarded the 2023 ITHS Translational Research Partnership Award for New Interdisciplinary Academic Collaborations for their project entitled “Early detection of post-traumatic sepsis.”

Dr. Tam Pham Selected March 2023 "Harborview Hero for Kids!" as part of the "Harborview Cares for Kids"
Dr. Tam Pham		(May 2023) Dr. Tam Pham, Professor & Chief, Burn Center, Division of Trauma, Burn & Critical Care Surgery, The David and Nancy Auth-Washington Research Foundation Endowed Chair for Restorative Burn Surgery, was selected as the March 2023 "Harborview Hero for Kids!" as part of the "Harborview Cares for Kids" campaign. Dr. Pham received nominations from colleagues highlighting his dedication to go above and beyond to make Harborview Medical Center systems work well for children and their families.

Dr. Jonathan Sham 2023 Recipient of the Donald E. Bocek Endowed Research Development Award
Dr. Jonathan Sham		(May 2023) Dr. Jonathan Sham, Assistant Professor, Division of General Surgery, was selected as the 2023 recipient of the Donald E. Bocek Endowed Research Development Award in Pancreatic Cancer. This award recognizes a junior level researcher making significant contributions to research related to pancreatic cancer.

Dr. Robert M. Sweet Received 2023 Society of Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgeons EXCEL Award
Dr. Robert Sweet		(May 2023) Dr. Robert M. Sweet, Professor & Chief, Division of Healthcare Simulation Science, was selected to receive the 2023 Society of Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgeons EXCEL Award. The society's highest honor is awarded to a surgeon, in any specialty, in recognition of outstanding contributions in the fields of laparoscopy, endoscopy, minimally invasive surgery and robotic surgery.

Faculty Awards, Honors & Publications