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Dear Colleagues and Friends of the Department,

With summer halfway over, I can confidently say that this sunny season is one of our most exciting yet. To start, Palomar Health, which encompasses two hospitals in Poway and Escondido in addition to other facilities,  and UC San Diego Health agreed to form a Joint Powers Authority under the name "Palomar UC San Diego Health." The agreement will greatly expand access to quality healthcare for patients throughout the northern and eastern borders of our region. The department will be involved in the development of cardiovascular and cancer services, as well as other specialty services, over time.

This month’s newsletter also highlights a number of exciting and very different examples of impactful research in the department. Collectively, they demonstrate how surgical diseases need multi-pronged research strategies that include biologic discovery, device and technology development, quality and practice of care assessment, and public/global health methodology to ensure exceptional care.

In the device and technology arena, Ryan Broderick, MD, Garth Jacobsen, MD, Shanglei Liu, MD, MAS, and Nikita Thareja, MD, with collaborators from the Jacobs School of Engineering, published a groundbreaking article in Nature on the potential utility and implementation of humanoid surgery robots in the operating room. In the study, they present a proof-of-principle example using this technology to perform a cholecystectomy in a live animal model. This report generated substantial media coverage and was featured by the American College of Surgeons.   

Equally exciting is the recent NIH grant award to Yuan Chen, PhD, who will conduct large-scale chemical screenings to discover molecules that block an enzyme called UBR2 that is critical to the modification and functioning of proteins that are key to a number of surgical diseases. Chen has a track record of discovering and developing novel reagents that affect protein modification, including one that is currently in clinical trials.   Receiving an R01 grant is no easy feat in the current highly competitive and uncertain federal funding environment.

Winta Mehtsun, MD, MPH, and Nicholas Neel, MD, also published this past month in JAMA Surgery on the value of indocyanine green fluorescence-guided surgery in minimizing bile duct injuries during cholecystectomy. Using the EPIC Cosmos database, their analysis involved more than one million patients undergoing cholecystectomy. Their work highlights the importance of using large clinical datasets to improve patient care. 

Our Q&A  is a conversation with Stephen Bickler, MD, on his career in global surgery and epidemiology research. Bickler is an internally recognized leader who has been committed to developing surgical workforce and capabilities in underserved areas of the world. While the advances in surgical care over the past century are remarkable, they mean little if resources remain inaccessible. In this context, the work of Bickler and like-minded individuals is essential.

I hope that you will be as inspired as I am in reading through these features and many other items in this month’s newsletter.  As always, I thank you for your support and interest in the affairs of our department.

Bryan Clary, MD, MBA

Marshall J. Orloff Family Endowed Chair

Professor and Chair, Department of Surgery

UC San Diego Health Sciences

Surgeon-in-Chief, UC San Diego Health

For the first time, two teleoperated humanoid robots were used to complete two surgeries during a pre-clinical trial led in part by Ryan Broderick, MD, Garth Jacobsen, MD, Shanglei Liu, MD, MAS, and Nikita Thareja, MD. The proof-of-concept experiment is a first step toward introducing humanoid robots in the operating room.

To gear up for its upcoming symposium this October, the UC San Diego REIMAGINE Center hosted several exciting events, including a Design-a-Thon and the Compassion in Medicine Symposium. 

In his fourth year of medical school, Stephen Bickler, MD, professor of surgery at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, spent three months practicing medicine abroad. This experience inspired his 30-year-long passion for surgical epidemiology.  

Bile duct injury is a rare but serious complication of gallbladder removal surgery. Drawing on a national cohort of more than 1.2 million operations, Winta Mehtsun, MD, MPH, Nicholas Neel, MD, and team studied ICG fluorescence imaging, a simple, low-cost tool used during surgery to improve patient safety. They found that ICG use was associated with significantly fewer bile duct injuries and follow-up procedures. The findings were published in JAMA Surgery.

Jason Sicklick, MD, professor and executive vice chair of research in the Department of Surgery, was featured for his treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) patient Maia Salti. 

Diane Simeone, MD, professor in the Department of Surgery and director of Moores Cancer Center, spoke to the San Diego Union-Tribune on the impact of a new drug that effectively blocks the spread of pancreatic cancer.

She will conduct large-scale chemical screenings to discover molecules that block an enzyme called UBR2, a ubiquitin E3 ligase. UBR2 is abnormally increased in muscles by factors secreted by cancer cells. The increased UBR2 speeds up the breakdown of muscle proteins, causing cachexia, which is involuntary, progressive loss of muscle mass in cancer. There is currently no effective treatment for cachexia.

Mahmoud Malas, MD, MHS, spoke to Vascular Specialist about how specialized catheters known as drug-coated balloons can treat narrowed arteries and reduce major adverse limb events.

The Division of Acute Care Surgery published a study about the rising injury severity among e-bike riders, particularly children. General Surgery Resident John Austin, MD, and Romeo Ignacio, MD, spoke on urgent needs for safety education, infrastructure improvements and policy changes.

The Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery gave 29 presentations at the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Vascular Annual Meeting in Boston, MA. The wide variety of topics discussed demonstrated the comprehensive nature and national impact of the division's research portfolio.

The Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) Accelerating Clinical Trials Steering Committee aims to speed the activation of cancer clinical trials. In this role, Simeone will ensure inclusivity of ideas, leverage networks and resources, and foster collaboration across the committee. 

Christopher Reid, MD, received the bronze 2026 Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Best Breast Paper Award for his manuscript on the quantitative evaluation of the effects of radiation therapy on the postsurgical breast. The research was a multidisciplinary effort, including Sarah Blair, MD, from the Division of Breast Surgery, and others. Read the manuscript

Georgia Tomaras, PhD, director of Duke University's Center for Human Systems Immunology, Immunological Sciences and Center for AIDS Research, visited the Department of Surgery. Her Grand Rounds presentation focused on teamwork in surgical sciences. 

This month, the Center for the Future of Surgery held a UC San Diego School of Medicine lab, a Surgical 401 laparoscopic surgery lab and several general surgery labs.

Christie Prendergast, DO, completed her general surgery residency at UC San Diego in 2014. She went on to complete a plastic surgery residency and fellowship at UC Irvine and has since founded her own plastic surgery private practice. She is also the CEO of the Quality of Life Project, which aims to advance patient care through research, and Curated Beauty Rx, a full-service medical spa specializing in regenerative aesthetics.

“My time at UC San Diego was one of the most formative experiences of my career. The department provided outstanding surgical training, exceptional mentorship, and exposure to a remarkable diversity of cases that continue to shape my work, allowing me to integrate insights from different disciplines and develop highly personalized treatment strategies for my patients.

Some of my clearest memories are not tied to a specific operation, but rather to navigating the inevitable challenges of residency alongside teammates who became lifelong friends. There was a shared sense of purpose, resilience, and support that made even the most difficult moments manageable. The attendings fostered an environment that challenged us to grow while providing guidance when we needed it most.

My favorite part of training was undoubtedly being in the operating room, particularly during transplant cases with Dr. Andrew Lowy. Those experiences reinforced my love of surgery and remain some of the most memorable moments of my training. While surgery has evolved significantly throughout my career, the principles, relationships, and sense of community I gained at UC San Diego remain at the core of how I practice medicine today.”

Is there a person or program that positively impacted your experience at UC San Diego? Please consider making a gift in their honor and directly supporting your training program. To learn more, please contact Maura Siino, philanthropic officer, at msiino@ucsd.edu or visit our website.

In honor of World Plastic Surgery Day, Plastic Surgery Resident Vivian Hu, MD, spoke about why she chose to pursue plastic surgery, her favorite parts of the field and advice for future plastic surgeons. Watch the video

Hannah Hollandsworth, MD, introduced third-year medical students to laparoscopic techniques at the Center for the Future of Surgery as part of their surgery clerkship rotations. Watch the video

REIMAGINE Symposium

Join transplantation leaders from around the country for a dynamic three-day symposium exploring the future of organ donation and transplantation. 

Date: October 11-13, 2026
Location: Estancia La Jolla Resort and Spa