News

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.

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 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.

Congratulations to Jennifer K Plichta, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Surgery, and Laura H Rosenberger, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, on approval of their 2020 Cancer Research Pilot Projects from the Duke Cancer Institute and the Gray Foundation.

Congratulations to John Migaly, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, on being elected into the Southern Surgical Association. The association was founded in 1887, and has dedicated itself to disseminating research and improving surgical techniques, outcomes, and applicable knowledge.

Dr. Migaly's membership application was supported by current association members from the Duke Department of Surgery:

Georgia Beasley, MD, MHS, Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Surgical Oncology, has received a 2019 award from the Duke Cancer Institute (DCI) for her pilot research project, “Oncolytic Poliovirus in Melanoma.”

Using an oncolytic poliovirus has already been tested at Duke as a treatment for recurrent glioblastoma, and in Dr. Beasley’s current research, the therapy will be used for treatment refractory melanoma, or melanoma that has not responded to other treatments.