Skip to main content
Department of Surgery Department of Surgery

News and Events Archive

2025

December 18 The Path to Research with Sean Perez

December 10 Curebound Awards $8.5 Million for 23 Cancer Research Studies, Including $1 Million Cure Prize

November 26 Data-Driven Surgical Supply Lists Can Reduce Hospital Cost and Waste

November 25 Leading the Way: Meet the Department of Surgery’s New Chiefs

October 30 Bold Ideas for Reimagining Organ Donation and Transplantation

October 28 A Physician’s Quest to Preserve the Joy in Medicine

October 15 UC San Diego Health Center for Transplantation and The Alliance are Partners in Exploring Bold Ideas in Organ Donation and Transplantation

October 1 UC San Diego Health Celebrates Top Docs Recognized in the Region

September 21 Lifesaving Surgery Leads to Generous Kidney Donation

September 17 UC San Diego Health Honored as Top Performer in Quality Care

August 26 $1.7B in Funding Fuels Research that Sparks Breakthroughs

August 21 E-bike safety at top of mind as school starts back

August 14 UC San Diego Awarded $80M to Expand Clinical Trials and Train Tomorrow's Researcher Leaders

July 28 McGrath Outpatient Pavilion Opens at UC San Diego Health

May 27 Science Prevails: The 13th Annual Department of Surgery Research Symposium

May 17 Victor Pretorius Highlighted in MSN Article on Rare Disorder Diagnosis

April 2 Life-Saving Connection: Volunteers Unite Through Kidney Donation

March 27 Breast-Conserving Therapy Linked to Breast Shrinkage, Reports Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

March UC San Diego Health Honored as 2025 Wellbeing First Champion 

March 27 UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center Receives $1M Donation from Pfizer for Early Cancer Detection

March 18 A Strike Against Pancreatic Cancer: How a former MLB pitcher overcame the odds

March 10 UC San Diego Ranked Among World’s Top 10 Universities Powering Global Innovation

February 26 Heart to (Open) Heart: What the Department of Surgery Thinks About Love

February 9 From Basketball Champion to Surgeon and Leader

January 2 Enzyme Promoting Tumor Growth and Spread in Pancreatic Cancer Identified

January 2 Bionic Hand Sparks Resilience in Patient After Electrocution Accident

2024

December 18 Improvement Initiative Increased Well-Being and Reduced Inefficiencies for Surgical Residents

December 3 First Patients in U.S. Treated with Distalmotion’s Dexter Surgical Robot in the Outpatient Setting

November 26 Patient Shares Gratitude for Life-Saving Lung Cancer Treatment

November 14 The Science of Cancer Genomics and Precision Medicine

October 26 Study: Breast Cancer Drug Shows Potential for Rare Appendix Cancer

October 15 Compassionatomy: Redefining Anatomy Through Empathy and Compassion

October 8 Rady Children’s Named Among Nation’s Ten Best Children’s Hospitals in U.S. News & World Report’s Annual Survey

September 26 UC San Diego Health Achieves Milestones for Lifesaving Heart and Lung Treatments

September 25 Breaking Barriers, Shattering Glass: Women in Medicine Month

September 18 UC San Diego Health Maintains Top Quality Care Status by Vizient

September 16 Clinical Trial Evaluates Spatial Computing App on Apple Vision Pro in Operating Room

August 30 At the Ready: A Day in the Life of a Trauma Surgeon

July 15 UC San Diego Health No.1 in San Diego, Top 20 in the Nation

January 8 World-Renowned Surgeon Named New Director of Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health

2023

2022

2021

 November 23 UC San Diego Health Top Ranked in Nation by Vizient

November 23 Regents Approve Phase 1 of Hillcrest Medical Center Redevelopment

August 5 Organ Transplant Recipients Significantly Protected by COVID-19 Vaccination

September 30 Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center Marks Tenth Anniversary

August 24 Second Breath: Region's First Double Lung Transplant for COVID-19 Patient

September 30 UC San Diego Health Regional Burn Center Received Re-verification from the American Burn Association (ABA)

September 30 Two New Papers Published in New England Journal of Medicine

September 30 Rethinking Induction Chemotherapy for Oropharyngeal Cancer

August 24 Two Studies Seek to Go Beyond the GIST of Intestinal Tract Cancer

August 20 Researchers Develop First Steerable Catheter for Brain Surgery

July 14 GIST Location Predicts Tumor Mutation Profile and Drug Sensitivity

July 15 Regional Burn Center Receives ABA Reverification

July 15 Department of Surgery Research Symposium: Ground Truth from Bench to Bedside

April 30 Colorectal Surgery Receives Accreditation from NAPRC

April 27 “The Hand of God in the Glove”: Teresa McKeown’s Success with the I-Predict Clinical Trial

March 25 Researchers Design a Rapid, at-Home COVID-19 Saliva Test

February 23 Vascular and Endovascular Surgical Laboratories Receive IACVL Accreditation

February 23 NORD Announces This Year’s Heroes of Rare Disease: The 2021 Rare Impact Award Honorees

February 18 Chatter Between Cell Populations Drives Progression of Gastrointestinal Tumors

2020

November 30 Couple Has Open Heart Surgery, Performed by Victor Pretorius, Months Apart

November 23 Study: COVID-19 Infection Combined with Blood Clots Worsen Patient Outcomes

September 28 Genetic Testing Cost Effective for Newly Diagnosed GIST

September 15 UC San Diego Health Revives Non-Beating Donor Heart for Successful Transplantation

September 3 Surgical Team Performs San Diego's First HIV Donor to HIV Recipient Liver Transplant

August 20 A Kidney Named Lefty

August 27 Out of Thin Air

July 23 Expanding Treatment Options for Severe Brain Trauma

July 27 UC San Diego Health Ranked #1 by U.S. News & World Report

June – July Treating COVID-19 South of the Border

June 8 In Memoriam: Arnost Fronek

June 1 Jason Sicklick Appointed Executive Vice Chair for Research

April 30 UC San Diego Health Nationally Recognized with ‘A’ Grades for Safety

May 26 Mobile Life Support Delivered to Area Hospitals During COVID-19 Pandemic

May 21 Telehealth Visits Allow Patients to Connect to Care During COVID-19

April 6 Tested and Testing: UC San Diego Health Expands COVID-19 Diagnostics

January 29 New Injection Technique May Boost Spinal Cord Injury Repair Efforts

January 23 Liver Fibrosis 'Off Switch' Discovered in Mice

January 13 How Marijuana Accelerates Growth of HPV-related Head and Neck Cancer Identified

2019

December 5 Guiding Lights: UC San Diego Launches Center for Fluorescence-Guided Surgery

November 30 Orloffs Remembered at Dinner and Lecture on “Surgical Leadership: Lessons Learned”

November 30 Field Excursion to Mozambique: ‘The Best Version of Healthcare is Somewhere in Between’

October 30 UC San Diego Department of Surgery Well Represented at American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress

October 30 Kristin Mekeel Appointed Division Chief of Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery

October 30 Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Dominates Western Vascular Society Annual Meeting

October 30 UC San Diego Health Successfully Completes Joint Commission Survey

September 23 Leading the Way in Salivary Surgery

September 23 Predicting Overall Survival in Patients with Metastatic Rectal Cancer: A Machine-Learning Approach

September 23 UC San Diego Faculty Named Top Docs in San Diego Magazine Survey

July 28 UC San Diego Heart Transplant Program Boasts Nation’s Best Survival Rates

July 28 Honor Walks for Our Organ Donors

July 28 Sharona Ben-Haim Performs First-In-Kind Procedure to Treat Refractory Epilepsy

July 28 Kristin Mekeel Takes On Role as Medical Director of Surgical Quality

June 27 General Surgery Residents Take a Fond Look Back Before Graduation

June 27 Undergraduates Delve into Library Collections to Develop Award-Winning Research

May 30 2019 Research Symposium in Surgical Sciences: “Sparking Partnerships, Potentials and Inspiration”

May 30 Joseph Tector Presents Marshall J. Orloff Lecture – “Xenotransplantation: Moving Toward Clinical Implementation”

March 1 FDA approves tumor localization device based on UC San Diego microparticle technology

February 26 Joseph Califano Named Physician-In-Chief, Moores Cancer Center

February 19 SPECIAL REPORT: Engineering the Future of Surgery

February 18 Expanding Surgical Services at Hillcrest Medical Center

February 5 Changing Lives Through Living Donor Kidney Transplant

January 16 Jason Sicklick Reports from Canada and Europe

2018

November 20 Grant for Pancreatic Cancer Research and Opening of Prevention Clinic

November 16 UC San Diego Health Heart Transplant Program Grows with Community

November 7 In Memoriam: Marshall Orloff

October 10 UC San Diego Hosts SAGES Flexible Endoscopy Course

October 5 Leveraging NSQIP for Better Surgical Outcomes: The IBD Collaborative

September 12 Minimally Invasive Lung Cancer Surgery Performed by Thoracic Surgeons as Effective as Thoracotomy

September 1 Finding New Cures for Cancer

August 12 Photo Essay: ACAPS West Coast Plastic Surgery Boot Camp

July 1 New Faculty Hires and Promotions

May 16 Point of Care Test to Detect Risk of Oropharyngeal Cancer

May 5 Highlights from the Trauma Workshop: Firearm Injury, REBOA, and More

May 1 Symposium in Surgical Sciences

April 16 Innovations in Endovascular Aneurysm Repair

April 15 Center for the Future of Surgery is Expanding

April 10 Surgery Clinics Recognized for Exceptional Care

March 14 On the Move: HIPEC for Ovarian Cancer

March 5 Opening of Outpatient Pavilion Enhances Surgical Programs

March 5 New Lecture Series Signals Growing Focus on Alumni

February 15 Pancreatic Cancer Consortium Meets at UC San Diego

January 24 Jason Sicklick Receives James IV Traveling Fellowship

January 26 In Memoriam: Michael Peter Kaye

January 22 Bringing Better Health Care to El Centro

January 19 Training Bystanders to Stop the Bleeding

2017

December 12 Being a Surgeon: It’s (Still) Not the Same for Men and Women

November 16 Team HIPEC: Expanding Use of Heated Intraperitoneal Chemoperfusion

November 17 Rare Chest Mass Managed by Oncoplastic Approach to Treatment and Reconstruction

November 15 Society of Clinical Surgery Meets at UC San Diego

November 12 Three Cheers for Nurse Practitioners

October 26 UC San Diego Health Researchers Help Launch Second Pancreas Cancer “Dream Team” 

October 23 UC San Diego Surgeons Present at ACS Clinical Congress, Host International Scholars

October 15 Ostomy Complications: Parastomal Pyoderma Gangrenosum

September 29 Center for the Future of Surgery Hosts Advancements in MIS: A Comprehensive Hands-On Symposium

September 13 Inhibition of NOTCH3 Cleavage Reverses Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Animal Models, UC San Diego Researchers Find

August 30 David Hoyt Returns to San Diego for ACS Clinical Congress

August 18 GIST Tumors Linked to NF1 Mutations, Genetic Testing Needed 

August 14 Profile: Surgical Oncology Team

August 11 Rick Friedman and Marc Schwartz to Lead UC San Diego Acoustic Neuroma Center

August 10 Living Donor Liver Transplantation

August 7 Fighting Pancreatic Cancer: Work Done, Work Begun

July 14 UC San Diego's Lung Cancer Program Takes Off

July 1 New Faculty Hires and Promotions

July 1 Welcoming Our New Residents and Fellows

June 21 Richard Kagan Reviews 45 Years of Pediatric Burn Care

June 16 Dalai Lama Tours Center for the Future of Surgery

June 14 John Lane Assumes Presidency of Vascular Surgery Society, Launches Clinical Challenges Series

June 14 Surgery Chair Launches Department E-Newsletter

June 1 Celebrating Our 2017 Graduating Residents and Fellows

May 27 UC San Diego Hosts Robotics Collaborative Annual Meeting

May 5 Are Surgeons Turning Their Backs on Research?

May 1 John Pang Manuscript on Chronic Opioid Use in Oral Cancer Surgical Patients named 2017 Best Resident Clinical Paper by American Head & Neck Society

April 24 Opening of Voice and Swallowing Center

April 21 Clinical Trial to Improve Early Identification of Mouth and Throat Cancer Kicks Off

March 28 Prestigious Pioneer Award to Stuart Jamieson

March 20 Jeanne Lee appointed Director, UC San Diego Regional Burn Center