News

Alexander C. Allori, MD; Joseph S. Fernandez-Moure, MD; Andrew C. Peterson, MD, MPH; Laura H. Rosenberger, MD; Jonathan C. Routh, MD, MPH​

This piece is part of a series featuring Black voices from the surgical and emergency medicine communities at Duke.

Lola Fayanju, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, has been selected to serve on the Editorial Board for the Breast Oncology Section of the Annals of Surgical Oncology (ASO). A leading journal in Oncology and Surgery, ASO is a monthly publication that features original articles on the latest advances in oncology for surgeons from all specialties. During her 3-year appointment, Dr. Fayanju will review and provide her editorial opinion on manuscripts in breast oncology.

Congratulations to Dr. Michael Lidsky, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, for being selected to receive the Duke Strong Start Physician-Scientist Award.

The Strong Start Physician-Scientist Award was created in 2016 as an awards program by the Duke University School of Medicine. This award supports outstanding lab-based clinician-scientists as they further develop their independent research program. Dr. Lidsky will get an annual award of $70,000 for three years to support his research program.

U.S. News & World Report has ranked Duke Children’s Hospital among the top 50 children’s medical centers nationally and the only hospital in North Carolina with nine of 10 specialties ranked in the magazine’s analysis.

When Shelley Hwang, MD, MPH, is in the operating room performing surgery on a patient with breast cancer, she focuses all of her considerable experience, skill, and knowledge on the task at hand: giving this individual patient the best possible outcome. At the same time, she recognizes that every operation is an opportunity to learn just a little bit more about the disease she battles every day. Every patient and every procedure add to the store of knowledge that guides research and ultimately informs the advances that improve care.

How can a surgical program define and measure growth? The number of incoming patients? Surgical outcomes? Or is it the perioperative experience of the patient? For the section of hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) surgery in the Division of Surgical Oncology, program growth is considered secondary to their main goal: improving overall patient care.

Under the leadership of Dr. Henry Rice, Duke Surgery will participate in two global health studies to improve surgical outcomes in patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) on the Breast Surgical Oncology Team have received a Presidential Award from Duke University President Vincent E. Price, one of the highest honors awarded to faculty and staff at Duke. The Breast Surgery APPs were recognized for providing compassionate care to patients undergoing treatment for breast cancer while working to improve the quality of care.

The Duke Department of Surgery now ranks third among surgery departments nationwide in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding received in 2019 according to the newly released Blue Ridge rankings. Duke Surgery has continued to rank in the top five nationally over the past 30 years, demonstrating the department’s long-standing commitment to investigate the impact of disease on patient health. With a diverse portfolio, including 78.7% of funding from the NIH, Duke Surgery faculty and staff perform a wide variety of research to improve the human condition.