New Faculty
It is with great pleasure we announce and welcome our new faculty members. Each new faculty member introduces an added level of experience, quality, and service to the Department of Surgery.
Bassel Al-Alao, MBBS , MD, MRCSI, FRCSI(CTh)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Bassel Al-Alao, MBBS, MD, MRCSI, FRCSI(CTh), joined the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery in January 2024 as a Clinical Assistant Professor. Dr. Al-Alao’s practice site is UW Medical Center-Montlake as a cardiothoracic organ procurement specialist. In addition, he will provide essential cardiac and thoracic surgical duties and fully participate in the clinical education of our cardiothoracic residents and fellows. He will work closely with Dr. Jay Pal, Professor and Surgical Director for Heart Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support.
Dr. Al-Alao received his medical degree from Damascus University, Syria, in 1999 and began his General Surgery training at that same site, continuing it in Ireland, until 2003. He then pursued his cardiothoracic surgical training in the U.K. until 2013. Dr. Al-Alao completed an one-year advanced thoracic surgical fellowship at the Mayo Clinic-Rochester, MN, an advanced adult cardiac fellowship at Emory University then returned to the U.K. to John Radcliffe hospital at Oxford University from 2016 to 2017. He relocated to the U.S. as Clinical Instructor at the University of Minnesota, and in 2018 was Clinical Associate for Thoracic Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. He was a Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Cleveland Clinic/Fisher-Titus Medical Center affiliated hospital from 2019-2020. Dr. Al-Alao returned to the U.K. to continue his training in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital from 2020-2022 and 2023 at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cardiothoracic Transplant Surgery.
Ryutaro Hirose, MD
Professor & Chief
Division of Transplant Surgery
Dr. Ryutaro Hirose was recently appointed Chief of the Division of Transplant Surgery and Co - Director of the UW Medicine Transplant Institute, starting his position on November 1, 2023. Dr. Hirose is a senior and well-known transplant surgeon who had previously worked at UCSF. He has extensive experience in UNOS, within the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) , and he currently serves as the Surgical Director of the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). As a leader in transplantation, Dr. Hirose has served as Chair of the UNOS Liver Committee, Chair of the ASTS Fellowship Training Committee, the Standards and Quality Committee and served as Councilor at Large. He is currently the chair of the AASLD Liver Transplantation and Surgery Committee. As an academic surgeon he has focused on ischemia reperfusion injury in the past, has current and past research funding, and now has extensive publications and national/international presentations on policy and health services research.
Yusha Katie Liu, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Division of Plastic Surgery
Dr. Yusha Katie Liu joined the Division of Plastic Surgery in September 2023. Dr. Liu received her doctorate degree in neurobiology in 2014 and her medical degree in 2016 from the University of Washington Medical Scientist Training Program before joining the UW Department of Surgery’s integrated plastic surgery residency.
Dr. Liu is a member of the DoS Division of Research. Her basic science interests include mechanisms of axonal regeneration and muscle denervation/reinnervation. Her clinical/translational research focuses on surface EMG-based rehabilitation of muscle weakness, ultrasound in diagnosis and prognostication for peripheral nerve injuries, and functional outcomes after surgery. Dr. Liu’s science research home is in the UW Institute for Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine (ISCRM) and her clinical research home is within the Surgical Outcomes Research Center (SORCE) and the Clinical Learning, Evidence and Research (CLEAR) Center.
As a member of the combined orthopaedics and plastic surgery UW Hand Center, Dr. Liu’s clinical practice focuses on hand and peripheral nerve surgery. Dr. Liu has also led the creation of the Northwest Institute for Nerve Injury at Harborview Medical Center, a new multidisciplinary clinic caring for peripheral nerve patients, in close collaboration with the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, and Department of Radiology.
Gloria Kim, MD, MPH, MS
Assistant Professor
Division of Vascular Surgery
Gloria Kim, MD, joined the Division of Vascular Surgery as Assistant Professor in October 2023. She graduated from Wellesley College with a BA in Computer Science and earned her MD from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2016. She completed an integrated Vascular Surgery residency at the University of Michigan, which included two years of dedicated research and a Master of Science in Health and Healthcare Research from the University of Michigan. During the two years of dedicated research, Dr. Kim received T32 funding and was a University of Michigan Center for Healthcare Outcomes & Policy fellow as well as an active member of a multidisciplinary aging research group. In a prior career, her work involved health policy research at one of the largest county public health departments in the country. She also has a Master of Public Health in Biostatistics and Epidemiology from Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
Dr. Kim’s practice site is VA Puget Sound Health Care System, covering scheduled outpatient clinics and inpatient and outpatient surgeries. She holds clinical privileges at UW Medical Center-Montlake, UW Medical Center-Northwest, and Harborview Medical Center, participating in divisional clinical call coverage and rotation at all sites with fellow vascular surgery attendings.
Dr. Kim’s research focuses on optimizing surgical care for frail patients, improving disparities in vascular surgery, better understanding the patient-doctor relationship with the aim of enhancing shared treatment decisions for peripheral artery disease, taking a wide-angle approach to improving patient-reported outcomes, and developing new technology to improve patient care. She also conducts research evaluating clinical outcomes and has significant research experience using large administrative data and registry data as well as qualitative research methods. Dr. Kim’s long-term goal is to facilitate patient-centered care in real world clinical settings through valuable, easily applicable ways.
Dr. Kim participated in clinical education during her residency as a vascular surgery trainee curriculum coordinator and as an instructor for the University of Michigan Clinical Simulation Center. She will continue her teaching responsibilities for the department’s medical students, residents, and fellows both in the clinic and operating room, as well as participate in scheduled didactic sessions for medical students and residents.
Yong K. Kwon, MD
Associate Professor
Division of Transplant Surgery
Yong K. Kwon, MD, FACS, Associate Professor of Surgery, joined Seattle Children’s Transplant Surgery Division in June 2023 as Surgical Director of Pediatric Liver Transplantation. Additionally, he serves as Director of Clinical Innovation in Organ Perfusion and Procurement in the Transplant Surgery Division at the UW Medical Center and Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Kwon earned his MD degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine, where he also completed his general surgery residency, followed by a transplant and hepatopancreaticobiliary fellowship.
Prior to joining Seattle Children's Transplant Surgery Division, Dr. Kwon served as a faculty member at the University of Southern California and Children's Hospital Los Angeles, one of the top pediatric and living donor liver transplant centers in the United States. In addition, he served as a surgical co-director of the living donor liver transplant program and as a quality director for the division. Dr. Kwon's expertise lies in performing segmental and split liver transplants, as well as living donor transplants. He is a passionate supporter of organ donation and actively advocates for the development of allocation policies that prioritize the welfare of children.
John W. Scott, MD, MPH
Associate Professor
Division of Trauma, Burn & Critical Care Surgery
John W. Scott, MD, MPH, is a trauma surgeon, surgical intensivist, and surgeon-scientist who has returned to the University of Washington to join the Division of Trauma, Burns, and Critical Care Surgery at Harborview Medical Center (HMC).
Dr. Scott grew up in South Carolina and attended college at Harvard University where he was a varsity letter winner in football and track. After earning his MD at Vanderbilt, he completed his general surgery residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA. While in residency, Dr. Scott obtained an MPH at the Harvard School of Public Health and completed a research fellowship at the Center for Surgery and Public Health.
Dr. Scott was fortunate to complete his fellowship in Trauma and Surgery Critical Care at HMC in 2018-2019, and after fellowship, he joined the faculty at the University of Michigan where he co-founded a statewide coalition to address unmet social health needs for surgical patients.
Dr. Scott’s research focuses on healthcare policy, health services research, and patient-reported outcomes. Dr. Scott's research is being funded through an Agency for Research and Healthcare Quality (AHRQ) career development award and he was recently awarded an R-01 through NIDDK. Dr. Scott looks forward to working at the Surgical Outcomes Research Center (SORCE) and collaborating with researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation to ensure all patients have timely access to high-quality, affordable surgical care. Outside of work, Dr. Scott enjoys hiking through the beautiful Pacific Northwest and watching college football.
Erika Bisgaard, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Trauma, Burn & Critical Care Surgery
Erika Bisgaard, MD, is a trauma surgeon and surgical intensivist with primary interests in surgical education. She was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and completed her undergraduate studies at Auburn University. She then returned home to New Orleans where she earned her medical degree from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in 2016, and where she first found her love of trauma surgery. Dr. Bisgaard then completed her general surgery residency at UT Southwestern/Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas. She finally decided to leave the South and was lucky enough to complete her Surgical Critical Care fellowship at Harborview Medical Center. She was hired to stay on as faculty after graduation in July 2022, and begin her career here at Harborview as a Trauma and Acute Care surgeon. Her clinical interests include trauma resuscitation, team communication dynamics, and resident and fellow surgical education. Outside of the hospital, she likes to bake, dance, and spend time exploring the Pacific Northwest with her husband Dr. Dylan Jason, who is also joining the Division of Truma, Burn & Critical Care Surgery as a burn surgeon.
Kirsten D. Dansey, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Vascular Surgery
Kirsten D. Dansey, MD, is a vascular surgeon with a wide range of interests including complex aortic surgery, advanced peripheral arterial reconstruction, and carotid disease. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and had the opportunity to live in multiple regions before obtaining her undergraduate degree in pharmacology at University of California Santa Barbara. Dr. Dansey then went to medical school at University of South Florida, followed by vascular surgery residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. During her residency she also completed a Master's in Public Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Dansey has a deep interest in quality improvement and patient safety, and in her free time enjoys traveling, exploring new restaurants, and hiking.
Jake Hemingway, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Vascular Surgery
Jake Hemingway, MD, was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and he has attended the University of Washington for the entirety of his training. After completing medical school, he stayed in Seattle for his integrated vascular surgery residency at the University of Washington. Dr. Hemingway joins the Division of Vascular Surgery as an Assistant Professor, where he will primarily be based at Harborview Medical Center and the UW Medical Center-Northwest campus. Dr. Hemingway has a special interest in acute aortic pathology, vascular trauma, limb salvage, and complex venous disease, and he is trained in both open and endovascular techniques to treat a wide range of vascular pathology. Outside of the hospital, Dr. Hemingway enjoys spending time with his family while skiing, windsurfing, hiking, or biking.
Dylan Jason, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Trauma, Burn & Critical Care Surgery
Dylan Jason, MD, attended Louisiana Tech University where he earned his undergraduate degree in biology before enrolling in LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, Louisiana for medical school. Dr. Jason then completed his General Surgery training at UT Southwestern/Parkland Memorial Hospital where he developed his interest in burn surgery. Following residency Dr. Jason completed an ABA verified burn and surgical critical care fellowship at the Arizona Burn Center in Phoenix. His clinical interests include the acute management of thermal, electrical, and chemical burns as well as laser scar management. Dr. Jason has a special interest in burn outreach and pre-hospital care and enjoys working with EMS providers to ensure the safe transport and initial resuscitation of the burn patient. Outside of work, Dr. Jason enjoys competing in Ironman triathlons, hiking, camping, and enjoying new restaurants with his wife, Dr. Erika Bisgaard, who also joined the department as a trauma and acute care surgeon.
Jeremy Sharib, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of General Surgery
Jeremy Sharib, MD, is a surgical oncologist who joins the Division of General Surgery in the Section of Complex Abdominal Oncology. He is originally from Needham, Massachusetts and studied biomedical engineering at the University of Rochester prior to attending medical school at University of California Irvine. His surgical training has included general surgery residency at University of California San Francisco, followed by a Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Duke University. In his position at the University of Washington, Dr. Sharib has a clinical focus on the treatment of advanced GI and peritoneal malignancies, including the use of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), as well as retroperitoneal sarcoma. Outside of work, Dr. Sharib loves to run, bike, drink wine, and play tennis. He is extremely excited to explore the Pacific Northwest with his wife, Ali, and two children- Samantha (6) and Benjamin (3).
Emily Palmquist, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of General Surgery
Dr. Palmquist 's primary interests are in benign and malignant disease of the breast. She is excited to join the Division of Breast Surgery at UWMC. Originally from Denver, Colorado, she completed her undergraduate training at Boston College, before continuing on to medical school at Tufts University School of Medicine as well as her General Surgery residency at Tufts Medical Center, both in Boston, MA. Subsequently, she completed her Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. She is excited to relocate to the West Coast to join the staff at UW as her first faculty position to continue to advance the field of breast cancer care. She has an interest for improving patient reported outcomes after breast surgery as well as educating our future surgeons. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking and exploring the outdoors with her family, including hiking, running, biking, and skiing.
Rhea Udyavar, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of General Surgery
Rhea Udyavar, MD, is a general and endocrine surgeon at UW Medical Center-Northwest. An East Coast native, she grew up primarily in the Baltimore-Washington, DC area and attended medical school at the George Washington University. She then began general surgery residency at Duke University Medical Center, before transitioning to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA for her research fellowship in health services research at the Center for Surgery and Public Health. She then completed her general surgery residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, before returning to Baltimore for endocrine surgery fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Her research focuses on the intersection of provider-level factors and social determinants of health as causal factors for persistent racial disparities in surgical care. Clinically, her interests include disease of the thyroid and parathyroid, both benign and malignant, as well as functional and nonfunctional adrenal disease and familial endocrine disorders. An avid musician and performing arts aficionado, Dr. Udyavar enjoys attending concerts and musical theater performances in her free time. She is looking forward to exploring the Pacific Northwest with her rescue puppy, Wallace.
Austin J. Baird, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Division of Healthcare Simulation Science
Dr. Baird received his PhD in applied mathematics as it relates to heart tube electrophysiology and fluid dynamic modeling at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. At his post doc training at Duke University he worked with Dr. Anita Layton on physiological modeling of the kidney, specifically how the reabsorptive and autoregulatory mechanism change as a function of venous return pressure abnormalities. At UNC Dr. Baird was an HHMI and future faculty scholar and was responsible for creating a new curriculum on dynamical systems modeling for non-math majors. At Duke he taught multiple courses on differential equations in the engineering department. He then left academia to work in industry at Applied Research Associates where he was the PI of the BioGears project for 4 years.
At ARA Dr. Baird was the PI on multiple DoD funded medical modeling and simulation grants and contracts related to burncare, TBI modeling and prolonged field care training. His team was awarded the federal IT innovation award for their work on the BioGears project. At ARA he was promoted to Senior Engineer and was denoted a distinguished member of the technical staff. He eventually became the biomedical engineering, modeling, and applications (BEMA) group leader where he oversaw and created a vision for biomedical work at the southeast division of the company. At ARA he co-led the internship program and was responsible for ARA’s involvement in the Google Summer Code project. Interns who he advised now work at General Motors and Becton Dickerson as engineers.
Dr. Baird’s research focuses on mathematical modeling of biological systems, specifically mathematical models in physiology in the context of whole-body patient responses. He aims to connect multiple spatial and time scales which determine dynamics of biological systems at the molecular and system levels to create a picture of the larger patient response to injury. His work also focuses on carful validation of biological systems, specifically their response to perturbations such as trauma and the problem of connecting experimental data to computational models. He believes in cross disciplinary collaborations and aims to nurture those groups at UW.
Austin is on the leadership circle in the healthcare systems modeling and simulation affinity group, part of the Society of Simulation in Healthcare (SSH). He’s an active member of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and the NIH multiscale modeling group.
Lyubomyr Bohuta, MD
Associate Professor
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery/Pediatric Cardiac Surgery
Dr. Bohuta's specialty is pediatric cardiac surgery with a focus on neonatal surgery and surgery in low-weight patients. Originally from Ukraine, he graduated from Lviv State Medical University, and after completing his training in general surgery spent over 10 years at Ukrainian Children’s Cardiac Center in Kyiv. Over this period, he was able to progress from junior fellow to a leading surgeon and department head. During his training, Dr. Bohuta spent 18 months as a fellow at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. He obtained his PhD in the Ukraine per forming clinical research focused on anomalous pulmonary veins. In 2015, Dr. Bohuta moved to Denmark, where he worked for two years at Aarhus University Hospital. Following that, he joined the world-famous Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, UK, where he served for three and a half years as a consultant surgeon and one of the leaders in complex neonatal cardiac surgery. Dr. Bohuta is excited to join University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital to contribute his knowledge and ex tensive experience to the program. He also enjoys being so close to the beauties of the Pacific Northwest with his family.
Scott Brakenridge, MD
Associate Professor
Division of Trauma, Burn & Critical Care Surgery
Dr. Brakenridge returns to UW as an Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of Trauma, Burn & Critical Care Surgery. Born and raised in Chicago, Dr. Brakenridge earned his medical degree from Rush Medical College in 2004. He then completed his general surgery residency at UT Southwestern/Parkland Memorial Hospital where he also was a Clinical Research Scholar in the Department of Clinical Sciences. After completing a Trauma/Surgical Critical Care fellowship at Harborview Medical Center, Dr. Brakenridge was a faculty member at the University of Florida, where he was an active acute care surgeon and surgical intensivist, tenured investigator and center Core Leader for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded UF Sepsis and Critical Illness Research Center (SCIRC). Since 2014, Dr. Brakenridge’s research has been funded by the NIH, and he was recently granted an R35 award from National Institute of General Medical Sciences to continue his research program on clinical, translational, and precision medicine approaches to understand the role of persistent inflammation as a driver of chronic immunosuppression and acute muscle wasting after severe trauma and surgical sepsis. Outside of work, Dr. Brakenridge enjoys all outdoor activities with his wife, Jillianne, and two sons Bryce (8) and Ryan (3).
Claire Buchanan, MD
Professor
Division of General Surgery
In April Dr. Buchanan joined the breast team at UW Medical Center-Northwest and Seattle Care Cancer Alliance. Dr. Buchanan has lived in the Seattle area since 2005, and worked at the True Family Women’s Cancer Center at the Swedish Cancer Institute before joining UW. After completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago, she stayed for her medical degree at the University’s Pritzker School of Medicine. Dr.Buchanan completed her general surgery residency at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and during this time she developed an interest in caring for breast cancer patients, and enjoyed the collaborative and multidisciplinary nature of the specialty. Encouraged by her teachers in residency, she spent a year at the University of Southern California doing clinical research with Dr. Melvin Silverstein, an expert in ductal carcinoma in situ. An amazing mentor and surgeon, Dr. Silverstein guided Dr.Buchanan to seek breast surgery fellowship training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Dr. Buchanan is excited to return to academics and thrives on relationships with her patients, staff and colleagues. Her clinical interests include nipple sparing mastectomies, oncoplastic approaches, and aesthetic flat closure for women who choose not to have reconstruction after mastectomy. Outside of work, she enjoys West Coast Swing/Lindy Hop dancing, baking pies for friends and family and watching action movies with her sons.
Scott DeRoo, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Dr. DeRoo attended Colgate University in upstate New York where he completed his undergraduate degree in molecular biology and was a three-season athlete competing in both cross-country and track and field. After completing his undergraduate degree, Dr. DeRoo spent a year at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigating the molecular pathogenesis of leukemia and lymphoma before matriculating to the University of Michigan Medical School. While there he completed a research fellowship through the Howard-Hughes Medical Institute with a focus on genetics and genomics and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. Following medical school graduation, Dr. DeRoo completed an integrated cardiothoracic surgery residency at Columbia University in New York City, while also pursuing a one-year research fellowship in outcomes research. Upon completion of his residency, he spent a year at the University of Pennsylvania as an advanced fellow in aortic surgery where he focused on both open and endovascular treatment of complex aortic disease including pathology of the aortic root, valve, ascending aorta, arch, and descending thoracic aorta. Dr. DeRoo is excited to join the faculty at UW and help expand both the general cardiac and aortic surgery programs. Outside of the hospital Dr. DeRoo enjoys spending time camping, hiking, cycling, and skiing, and is excited to explore the Pacific Northwest. He is joined at UW with his wife, Dr. Emily Wang, a cardiac anesthesiologist.
Christina Greene, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Dr. Greene is a congenital heart surgeon joining UW from Boston Children’s Hospital. Originally from Los Angeles, CA, she completed her undergraduate studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, then returned home for medical school at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. She remained in California for general surgery residency at LAC+USC, then during her research years transferred to Stanford University’s I-6 Cardiac program which she completed in 2019. She continued to Boston Children’s Hospital to train with Dr. Pedro del Nido for her congenital fellowship from 2019-2021 immediately prior to joining us.
Dr. Greene’s research interests center around the genetics of congenital heart disease with a focus on growing human tissue. She will be starting a cardiac tissue bank at Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH) with many opportunities for translational research. Dr. Greene plans to practice the full breadth of congenital heart surgery and hopes to establish a biventricular repair program at SCH. She is very excited to join her new partners and explore the Pacific Northwest. Dr. Greene joins us with her husband, Andy, and their two young daughters, Quinn and Callie.
Rachel Lentz, MD, MHS
Assistant Professor
Division of Plastic Surgery
Dr. Lentz is excited to join the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Washington. Originally from New Jersey, she received her bachelor’s degree in the History of Science and Medicine at Yale University, where she was also a member of the varsity field hockey team. She remained at Yale for medical school, earning her medical degree and master's degree in Health Science. Dr. Lentz then completed an integrated plastic surgery residency at the University of California, San Francisco, followed by a microsurgery fellowship at the University of Southern California.
Dr. Lentz's primary clinical interests include oncologic and traumatic reconstruction, limb salvage, and the surgical management of lymphedema.
Outside of work, Dr. Lentz enjoys running, cooking, podcasts, and exploring the Pacific Northwest with her partner, Sean.
Shane Morrison, MD, MS
Assistant Professor
Division of Plastic Surgery
Dr. Morrison is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon with specialized training in gender affirmation surgery. He grew up in Tucson, Arizona where he completed his undergraduate and master’s degree in Biochemistry at the University of Arizona. Prior to medical school, Dr. Morrison explored protein engineering research in Switzerland as a Fulbright Scholar. During his six years in medical school at Stanford, Dr. Morrison studied wound healing as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Medical Research Fellow and worked on healthcare policy in Kosovo as a Boren Fellow. It was in medical school where his passion for “surgical justice” and gender affirmation arose. He completed his plastic surgery residency at the University of Washington and did further specialized training in gender affirmation surgery at the University of Michigan and Ghent University Hospital in Belgium. Dr. Morrison is excited to offer gender-affirming surgery to the adolescent and adult populations in the Pacific Northwest. His research interests are in surgical and patient-reported outcomes in gender-affirming surgery.
Outside of work you can find him and his wife, Dr. Kathleen Berfield, on their Peloton, gardening, or lounging with their cats.
Victoria Roach, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Division of Healthcare Simulation Science
Dr. Roach joined the Division of Healthcare Simulation Science at The University of Washington as a Research Assistant Professor in 2021. Dr. Roach is a medical education researcher, with a focus on the Human Factors that govern learning and performance in simulation.
Dr. Roach received her PhD in Anatomy and Cell Biology from The University of Western Ontario. Her dissertation sought to determine if eye movements could serve as an indicator of success in spatial reasoning, and if eye movements associated with successful completion could be applied to strategically train spatial reasoning.
Over the course of her academic career, Dr. Roach has led and lectured in graduate and undergraduate courses in anatomy, histology and research, in both online, and face to face formats. Dr. Roach has also served as a Program Director for the Embark Scholarly Concentration Program at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine and has served as a primary research supervisor for twelve medical students, two graduate students, and three surgical residents.
In the context of research, Dr. Roach aims to leverage human factors science to support the cognitive and physical work of professionals and trainees, in an effort to optimize training, working and receiving care in the healthcare setting. Dr. Roach’s research focuses on four domains of human factors science, each of which impact individual and team performance, as well as learning. These domains include Physical Considerations (such as environmental design and layout, equipment design, information displays), Cognitive Considerations (including learning, memory, judgment, decision making, and cognitive workload), Emotional/Motivational Considerations (including burnout, and stress), and Sociocultural Considerations (including teamwork, communication, production pressure, and the interactions between healthcare workers, and their environment).
Dr. Roach has a special interest in professional development in higher education. She presently serves as the Chair of the Committee for Early Career Anatomists, an active subcommittee of the American Association for Anatomy. She is a member of the American Association for Anatomy (AAA), the Association for Surgical Education (ASE), an Affiliate Member of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), and a member of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH).
Isaac Stein, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Plastic Surgery
Dr. Stein is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon with a clinical focus on oncologic reconstruction of the breast, trunk, and extremities. He is excited to join the excellent team of reconstructive surgeons at UW-Montlake and UW-Northwest campuses.
Dr. Stein grew up in Kalamazoo, MI, and remained in the Midwest to attend college at Washington University in St. Louis. A keen interest in science and a love of developing interpersonal relationships brought him back home to the University of Michigan for medical school, where he developed a passion for the complex problems solved by plastic surgeons. Dr. Stein then came to the University of Washington for plastic surgery residency and has called Seattle home ever since. He is looking forward to remaining in the UW family and collaborating with other surgical services to offer excellent patient care to the growing and changing patient population. As a former UW resident, he hopes to be an integral part of resident education and continue the tradition of excellence for the next generation of trainees.
When not working, Dr. Stein enjoys everything the beautiful Pacific Northwest has to offer with his wife, Emily, husky, Pippa, and their friends.
Joy Chen, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of General Surgery
Dr. Chen joins us from the San Francisco Bay Area where she grew up and attended college at Stanford University. After completing undergraduate studies, she spent three years working in the laboratory investigating oncogene–initiated tumorigenesis in a mouse model of lung cancer. As a medical student at Case Western Reserve University, Dr. Chen pursued her interest in improving access to preventive health and education in local underserved communities. At the same time, she discovered her love for the operating room. Dr. Chen completed her general surgery residency at Stanford University, where she conducted health services research in cancer disparities. She spent this past year completing her colon and rectal surgery fellowship at the University of Minnesota. She brings her passion for minimally invasive and endoscopic surgical approaches and enthusiasm for multidisciplinary, collaborative care of colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and pelvic floor disorders. Dr. Chen’s primary scholarly interest is institutional partnerships to promote equitable access to colorectal cancer prevention and treatment. Outside of work, she enjoys baking and misses live music. Among the many reasons she is excited to be living in the Pacific Northwest, Dr. Chen loves running and is eager to explore the trails.
Michelle Cowan, MD
Associate Professor
Division of General Surgery
After completing her undergraduate training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dr. Cowan spent three years working at the National Institutes of Health where she studied T–cell development and subsequently attended the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical College. She completed a general surgery residency at the University of Chicago followed by a fellowship in Colon and Rectal Surgery at Washington University in St. Louis. Since then, she has spent the last several years practicing as a colon and rectal surgeon at the University of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain VA Hospital. During that time, she was an active member and invited speaker for the American College of Surgeons, American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, and the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, and was named the Chief of Surgical Endoscopy, helping to develop endoscopy curriculum for general surgery residents. She brings with her an expertise in the care of inflammatory bowel disease, multidisciplinary care of rectal cancer, and minimally invasive and endoscopic techniques for colon and rectal surgery. As the daughter of Navy officers, Dr. Cowan has moved around quite a bit, however has never lived in the Pacific Northwest and is excited to explore the area with her two Labradors. In her free, time she also enjoys scuba diving and watching ice hockey.
Sarah Goldsberry-Long, MD, MS
Assistant Professor
Division of Plastic Surgery
Dr. Goldsberry–Long is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon with specialized fellowship training in microsurgery. Her primary areas of interest are oncologic reconstruction of the breast, trunk, and extremities in addition to surgical lymphedema management. Her primary sites of practice are both Montlake and Northwest campuses of University of Washington Medical Center. With the new designation of University of Washington Lymphedema Network of Excellence, she is eager to continue the strong legacy of lymphatic surgery by providing such services to this complex patient population.
Dr. Goldsberry–Long was raised in Southern California. She graduated summa cum laude from Whittier College earning a bachelor’s degree in both biology and comparative cultures with an African interest. Her strong interest in other cultures led her to serve as a medical volunteer in Ghana. She then completed a master’s degree in nutrition at Columbia University. During her time in New York, she performed research assessing various herbal remedies for chemoprevention of breast cancer while also organizing nationally funded clinical trials. She then matriculated to Keck School of Medicine at USC where she was entered into the AOA honors society prior to graduating. She completed plastic surgery residency and later a microsurgery fellowship at the University of Washington.
She is now eager to expand the presence of plastic surgery on the Northwest campus to make such services more accessible in our community. She is excited to continue exploring the Pacific Northwest with her husband, young son, and their English mastiff.
Sarah Greenberg, MD, MS
Assistant Professor
Division of Pediatric General Surgery
Dr. Greenberg is a pediatric general and thoracic surgeon with primary focus on global health and equity. A Pacific Northwest native, she grew up on a small farm in Snohomish, WA. She attended the University of Washington as an undergrad with a major in biology. Medical school was completed in Upstate New York, where she spent time working with newly arriving refugee children. General surgery residency brought her to the Medical College of Wisconsin with the opportunity to work with the pediatric surgeons at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and the longitudinal collaborations they have developed with pediatric surgical care providers in Peru. She took three years away from formal clinical training to complete a global surgery fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital and Master of Public Health degree at Harvard Medical School. This time was split between helping to develop the surgical system for a new hospital in Haiti’s Central Plateau with Partners In Health and working as a Commissioner and author for the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery. She completed her pediatric surgical training at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH), where she is staying on as faculty with a position that will allow her to spend approximately half of her time working on improving equity in pediatric surgical care delivery in the United States and globally. She currently serves as the liaison between the Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery and the Program for Global Surgery and Social Change and is an At Large Director for the Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery.
Colette Inaba, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of General Surgery
After completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Washington, Dr. Inaba spent a year teaching English in Japan. Once back in Seattle, she developed continuing medical education courses at Swedish Medical Center, then returned to the UW for her medical training. She completed her general surgery residency at the University of California Irvine, where she also spent a year as a research fellow in minimally invasive surgery. Dr. Inaba recently graduated from her clinical fellowship at the UW Center for Videoendoscopic Surgery and is thrilled to join the UW Northwest Surgical Services and Hernia Center. Her husband and two children are also delighted to stay in the Pacific Northwest, where they enjoy hiking, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.
Jeffrey Keenan, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Dr. Keenan’s primary area of interest is adult cardiac surgery with a focus in heart failure, including cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. He grew up in Baltimore, MD and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He then spent a year working in an immunology laboratory at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, before matriculating to the University of Maryland for medical school, where he was elected to the AOA honor society. He spent 9 years at Duke University Medical Center training in general and subsequently cardiothoracic surgery. During this time, he also completed a two–year research fellowship supported by a post–doctoral National Research Service Award from the NIH investigating aspects of mitochondrial quality control in the myocardium and conducting health services research in the Department of Surgery. Dr. Keenan is excited to join the faculty at UW and hopes to contribute to its rich tradition in cardiothoracic surgery. After spending his entire life on the East Coast, he also looks forward to exploring Seattle and the Pacific Northwest with his wife Allison and their four kids, including 2–year–old triplets.
Maziar Khorsandi, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Dr. Khorsandi was born and raised in Tehran. He was inspired by his father, an orthopaedic surgeon, and pursued a path in medicine. He completed his schooling in London, England and was admitted to the University of Dundee School of Medicine, Scotland, UK. While in medical school, he dedicated 1 year to full–time research and obtained intercalated Bachelor of Medical Sciences (BMSc) with honours. Upon graduating from Medical school (MBChB, 2010), he completed General Surgery residency in Manchester, England. During his general surgery training he developed an interest in cardiothoracic surgery and completed a part–time research master’s (MSc) in examining the outcomes of thoracic trauma in England following centralisation of major trauma care in that country.
After completion of his general surgical training, he matched into the Scottish training program in cardiothoracic surgery through UK national selection (NTN) and completed a 6–year integrated training. During his specialty training he completed the USMLE exams and undertook a 12–month “Out–of–Program” subspecialty fellowship in cardiopulmonary transplantation and mechanical circulatory support at Duke University Medical Center, NC, USA. He completed his board certification examination in cardiothoracic surgery and was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in Cardiothoracic Surgery (FRCS C/Th), 2019. He then completed his specialty training in 2020. He has clinical and academic interest in general adult cardiac surgery and more specifically advanced heart failure therapies. He is the managing editor of the “Oxford Specialist Handbook in cardiopulmonary transplantation and mechanical circulatory support”, an international collaboration project, which is currently in the editing process. Dr. Khorsandi is excited to return to the USA and work at UW Medicine for the new stage in his career. He is passionate about outdoor activities such as skiing and hiking.
David Mauchley, MD
Associate Professor
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Dr. Mauchley’s primary areas of interest are pediatric cardiac surgery, neonatal heart surgery, mechanical circulatory support in children and cardiac transplantation and his primary site of practice is Seattle Children's Hospital. He grew up in Moscow, ID, and received his bachelor's degree from the University of Idaho, then went to medical school at the University of Washington. Dr. Mauchley completed general surgery and adult cardiothoracic surgery residencies at the University of Colorado–Denver and spent one year completing his training at Children's Hospital–Colorado. During his general surgery training, he spent two years in a basic science fellowship studying the inflammatory mediators of esophageal reflux. After completing his training, he spent three and a half years as an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where the focus of his practice was pediatric and adult congenital cardiac surgery. Dr. Mauchley is excited to return to the northwest to continue his career closer to home. Outside of work he enjoys spending time with his family, biking, hiking, and snowboarding.
Harveshp Mogal, MD, MS
Associate Professor
Division of General Surgery
Dr. Mogal was born and raised in Mumbai, India. He obtained his medical education from D. Y. Patil Medical College, University of Mumbai, after which he completed a surgical residency at Grant Medical College, University of Mumbai. He subsequently moved to the US and completed a general surgical residency at Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, and an ACGME accredited complex general surgical oncology fellowship at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston Salem, NC. Dr. Mogal was then recruited to the Department of Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin where he led the regional cancer therapy program including HIPEC and completed a Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Science. Dr. Mogal joined the University of Washington on November 1st and now serves as the Director of the UW Medicine HIPEC Program and Section Chief for Complex Abdominal Cancer. His clinical and research interests are in regional cancer therapy including HIPEC, sarcoma, general GI oncology including small bowel neuroendocrine tumors, and melanoma.
David Rothstein, MD, MS
Professor
Division of Pediatric General Surgery
Dr. Rothstein joined the Division of Pediatric Surgery, with interests in neonatal minimally invasive surgery, the multidisciplinary care of patients with thyroid nodules and differentiated thyroid cancers, as well as general pediatric oncology.
After finishing university, medical school and residency training in New England, Dr. Rothstein completed a surgical critical care fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital and a pediatric surgery fellowship at Long Island Jewish Hospital. He held positions at Northwestern University and SUNY-Buffalo before joining the University of Washington in November.
His research interests lie in clinical outcomes, cost effectiveness and transition of care between pediatric and adult surgery.
He spent a decade working for the international humanitarian relief agency, Médecins Sans Frontières, on annual month-long missions to sub-Saharan Africa. Subsequently he began working with local assets in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to improve pediatric surgical infrastructure and care delivery; this project is ongoing.
In spare time, Dr. Rothstein enjoys exploring the great Pacific Northwest outdoors with his family – Dr. Sara Berkelhamer (a neonatologist who completed her pediatric residency at Seattle Children’s Hospital) and 2 and 7 year-old daughters, Sam and Alex (and their three-legged, osteosarcoma surviving black Labrador, Maddie).
Matthew Smith, MD, PhD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Division of Vascular Surgery
After completing his undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. Matthew Smith attended the University of Utah School of Medicine to complete an MD/PhD with a focus on molecular biology and platelet biodynamics. He completed his general surgery residency at New York Presbyterian–Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City followed by a Vascular Surgery fellowship at New York Presbyterian–Cornell/Columbia. Dr. Smith has a special interest in carotid disease as well as peripheral vascular disease and limb salvage, and is trained in both open and complex endovascular techniques to treat a variety of vascular pathologies including carotid disease, peripheral vascular disease and aortic aneurysm. Dr. Smith is also very interested in education, specifically augmenting surgical training with audio and video study aids. When not in the hospital, he can be found spending time with his family or venturing into the mountains to rock climb, mountain bike and back country ski.
Mark Sturdevant, MD
Associate Professor
Division of Transplant Surgery
Dr. Sturdevant ’s interest lies in adult and pediatric liver transplantation with a particular focus in living donor and split liver transplantation in addition to complex hepatobiliary surgery, including the use of minimally–invasive techniques. He has experience in the resection of abdominal tumors involving the hepatic hilum and inferior vena cava, liver resections requiring vascular reconstructions, and bile duct resections and reconstructions. In addition, Dr. Sturdevant performs both kidney and pancreas transplants, live donor nephrectomy, and general surgical procedures particular to those with end–stage liver (including portal decompression procedures) and kidney disease.
His primary sites of practice will be University of Washington Medical Center – Montlake Campus, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. Born and raised in Sioux City, Iowa, Dr. Sturdevant stayed close to home to complete his bachelor ’s degree in biology, his medical degree, and a one–year student fellowship in surgical pathology at the University of Iowa. His general surgery training was completed at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte and his transplant training started with an abdominal transplant fellowship at the University of Minnesota. He has since held faculty positions in the Divisions of Transplant at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, the University of Pittsburgh, and most recently he spent four years as a Consultant Surgeon in adult and pediatric liver transplantation and hepato– pancreato –biliary surgery at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He is excited to add in any way to the breadth of the transplant and hepatobiliary care currently offered at UW.
After moving to Seattle from the Arabian Peninsula, he is very much looking forward to taking in the colors and coolness of the Pacific Northwest.
Duane Wang, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Plastic Surgery
Dr. Wang’s primary areas of interest are breast reconstruction, lymphedema surgery and targeted muscle reinnervation. His primary sites of practice will be University of Washington Montlake and Northwest campuses. He was born in Wisconsin but mostly grew up in Melbourne Australia and Hong Kong. His bachelor’s degree was from Duke University and he attended medical school at Ohio State University. Dr. Wang completed an integrated plastic surgery residency at the University of Kentucky and then went back to Ohio State for a one–year fellowship in microsurgery. He is excited to move to the Northwest with his new wife. Outside of work he enjoys cycling, hiking and rock climbing.
Sara Zettervall, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Division of Vascular Surgery
Dr. Zettervall is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Vascular Surgery. Born and raised in New England, she earned a dual MD and MPH at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Following medical school, she remained in Washington, DC to obtain her General Surgery training. During her residency, Dr. Zettervall was awarded a National Institute of Health 2–year post–doctoral fellowship with the Harvard–Longwood T32 in vascular surgery. As part of the T32 program, she performed basic science research on arterial calcification in peripheral arterial disease. During this time she also completed extensive work in health services research, with a focus on population outcomes and quality improvement for patients with aortic aneurysms. After residency, she returned to Boston to complete her Vascular Surgery Fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Zettervall enjoys all areas of vascular surgery, but has particular interest in aortic aneurysms, mesenteric disease, and carotid stenosis. Her research focuses on the evolving treatment of complex aortic disease.
Dr. Zettervall is excited to join the division of vascular surgery and explore the Pacific Northwest. Outside of the hospital, she enjoys skiing, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.