Spotlight on Past Trainees

Giana H. Davidson, MD, MPH, FACS

Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Health Systems and Population Health
Assistant Dean for Professional Development, Office of Faculty Affairs, UW Medicine
Chief, Section of Emergency General Surgery

“During my clinical training in General Surgery, I completed a two-year research fellowship to gain expertise in outcomes and health services research. This program was in the Pediatric Injury Research T32 program under the mentorship of Dr. Frederick Rivara and Drs. Saman Arbabi and Eileen Bulger at the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center . During these two years, I completed my Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and gained invaluable experience in grant writing and outcomes research, allowing me to publish and present our work at various surgical and public health conferences. This was the foundation for my current research focused on pragmatic clinical trials to better understand how we can improve patient-centered health outcomes, especially for those who are at higher risk for poor outcomes in our healthcare system. In addition to my academic projects during my research training, my husband and I expanded our family (of two dogs) to include two children and five chickens! My research fellowship years were a wonderfully busy time in my life. The mentoring, training in epidemiology and statistics, and departmental support were instrumental in launching my career in academic surgery and as faculty in obtaining independent funding as a surgeon-scientist. One of the best parts of my job is the opportunity to mentor our current surgical research fellows and to be able to support them in finding their passion in clinical research.”

Fellowship Accomplishments

Significant Publications

Davidson GH, Hamlat CA, Rivara FP, Koepsell TD, Jurkovich GJ, Arbabi, S. Long–term Survival of Adult Trauma Patients. JAMA. 2011;305(10):1001–1007.
Davidson GH, Rivara FP, Arbabi S. Trauma and Long–term Mortality–Reply. JAMA. 2011;305(23):2413–2414.
Davidson GH, Maier RV, Arbabi S, Goldin AB, Rivara FP. Impact of Operative Delay on Pediatric Trauma Outcomes. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2012 Jul;73(1):162–7.
Davidson GH, Rivara FP, Mack CD, Kaufman R, Jurkovich GJ, Bulger ME. Validation of Pre–Hospital Trauma Triage Criteria for Motor Vehicle Collisions. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2014 March; 76(3):755–761.

Awards and Honors

1st place—Region 10 American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma Resident Paper Competition.
1st place—American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. Washington Committee on Trauma clinical paper presentation Tacoma, WA. November 2010.

Presentations

UW Department of Epidemiology 29th Annual Society for Epidemiologic Research Meeting. Injury as a Risk Factor for Fatal Unintentional Overdose following Hospitalization: A Population Based Analysis. Seattle, WA. June 2010.
Washington State Joint Conference on Health. Injury as a Risk Factor for Fatal Unintentional Overdose After Hospitalization. Yakima, WA. October 2010.
Washington State Joint Conference on Health. Public Opinion About Gun Regulation in Washington State. Yakima, WA. October 2010.
Regional American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma Resident Paper Competition. Long Term Survival of Adult Trauma Patients. Tacoma, WA. November 2010.
Washington State Department of Health Emergency Medical Services and Trauma Steering Committee. Outcome of WA State Adult Trauma Patients. January 2011.
UW Department of Surgery Schilling Research Symposium. Long Term Survival of Adult Trauma Patients. Seattle, WA. February 2011.
American College of Surgeons, Washington–Oregon Chapter. Long Term Survival of Adult Trauma Patients. Lake Chelan, WA. June 2011.

Farhood Farjah, MD, MPH, FACS

Farhood Farjah, MD, MPH, FACS

Farhood Farjah, MD, MPH, FACS

Endowed Chair in Lung Cancer Research
Associate Professor, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Associate Medical Director, Surgical Outcomes Research Center

“I interrupted my clinical training in General Surgery to pursue a post-doctoral fellowship in outcomes and health services research under the mentorship of Drs. David Flum and Douglas Wood through the Surgical Outcomes Research Center (SORCE). During that time, I obtained a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and completed post-doctoral level coursework in biostatistics and health services research. In addition, I gained practical experience studying the delivery of care and outcomes of patients with lung cancer using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End–Results (SEER)-Medicare database. Moreover, I cultivated a diverse network of mentors and collaborators throughout the department and institution. This unparalleled experience was critical in providing me the training, experience, and networks to legitimately pursue a career in academic surgery. The research products listed below vastly underestimate what I gained from the research fellowship.”

Fellowship Accomplishments

Significant Publications

Farjah F, Symons RG, Krishnadasan B, Wood DE, Flum DR. Management of pleural space infections: a population-based analysis. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2007 Feb;133(2):346-351.
Farjah F, Wood DE, Yanez D 3rd, Symons RG, Krishnadasan B, Flum DR. Temporal trends in the management of potentially resectable lung cancer. Ann Thorac Surg. Jun 2008;85(6):1850–1855; discussion 1856.
Wood DE, Farjah F. Global differences in the training, practice, and interrelationship of cardiac and thoracic surgeons. Ann Thorac Surg. 2009 Aug;88(2):515-521; discussion 521-512.
Lao OB, Farjah F, Flum DR, Yeung RS. Adverse events after radiofrequency ablation of unresectable liver tumors: a single-center experience. Am J Surg. 2009 Jul;198(1):76-82.
Farjah F, Wood DE, Yanez ND 3rd, Vaughan TL, Symons RG, Krishnadasan B, Flum DR. Racial disparities among patients with lung cancer who were recommended operative therapy. Arch Surg. Jan 2009;144(1):14–18.
Farjah F, Flum DR, Ramsey SD, Heagerty PJ, Symons RG, Wood DE. Multi–modality mediastinal staging for lung cancer among Medicare beneficiaries. J Thorac Oncol. Mar 2009;4(3):355–363.
Farjah F, Flum DR, Varghese TK Jr, Symons RG, Wood DE. Surgeon specialty and long–term survival after pulmonary resection for lung cancer. Ann Thorac Surg. Apr 2009;87(4):995–1004; discussion 1005–1006.
Farjah F, Wood DE, Mulligan MS, Krishnadasan B, Heagerty PJ, Symons RG, Flum DR. Safety and efficacy of video–assisted versus conventional lung resection for lung cancer. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. Jun 2009;137(6):1415–1421.
Farjah F, Wood DE, Varghese TK Jr, Massarweh NN, Symons RG, Flum DR. Health care utilization among surgically treated Medicare beneficiaries with lung cancer. Ann Thorac Surg. Dec 2009;88(6):1749–1756.
Wood DE, Farjah F. Training, certification and practice of cardiac and thoracic surgeons in Europe: a comparison of the members of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2010 Mar;37(3):511-515.

Awards and Honors

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award, (NIH/NCI), 2007
Looking to the Future Scholarship, Society of Thoracic Surgeons, 2008
3rd Prize—14th Resident Research Symposium, University of Washington, Department of Surgery, 2008
Society of Thoracic Surgeons J. Maxwell Chamberlain Memorial Paper, 2009

Presentations

Farjah F, Wood DE, Varghese TK, Massarweh NN, Symons RG, Flum DR. Adverse events following pulmonary resection for lung cancer. American College of Surgeons 94th Annual Clinical Congress, October 2008, San Francisco, CA. Oral presentation.
Farjah F, Wood DE, Varghese TK, Massarweh NN, Symons RG, Flum DR. Non-fatal adverse events following pulmonary resection: a performance-based quality metric for hospital level care. Combined Washington and Oregon Chapters American College of Surgeons Meeting, June 2008, Stevenson, WA. Oral presentation.
Farjah F, Wood DE, Yanez D 3rd, Symons RG, Krishnadasan B, Flum DR. Temporal trends in the management of potentially resectable lung cancer. Society of Thoracic Surgeons 44th Annual Meeting. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. January 2008.
Farjah F, Flum DR, Varghese TK Jr, Symons RG, Wood DE. J. Maxwell Chamberlain Memorial Paper for General Thoracic: Surgeon specialty and long–term survival following pulmonary resection for lung cancer. Society of Thoracic Surgeons 45th Annual Meeting. San Francisco, California. January 2009.