Department of Surgery

During the 23rd annual Levi Watkins Jr., MD Lecture, individuals were honored for noteworthy contributions that reflect Watkins’ mission of improving health care for all people. From left are Consuelo Wilkins, MD, MSCI, Senior Vice President and Senior Associate Dean for Health Equity and Inclusive Excellence, Ariana Matos, Andrew Kittleson, speaker Constance Mobley, MD, PhD, Ebele Umeukeje, MD, MPH, Tia’Asia James, MD, and Kimberly Vinson, MD, associate dean for Diversity Affairs at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Wilkins and Vinson presented the awards. (photo by Erin O. Smith)
November 25, 2024

Lecture, awards honor legacy of Levi Watkins Jr., MD

Constance Mobley, PhD’98, MD’03, shared her journey to becoming a transplant surgeon, the research and clinical innovations she has contributed to during her career, and the wisdom she has gained through the years.

By Jill Clendening
November 21, 2024

Ken Lau and Eunyoung Choi named 2024 Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund awardees

By Marissa Shapiro
November 5, 2024

VUMC has long record of supporting military on Veterans Day — and every day

“Vanderbilt is an extremely welcoming environment for military personnel, and you see that all over campus.”

By Jill Clendening
J. Kelly Wright Jr., MD, speaks during his recent retirement reception. (photo by Erin O. Smith)
September 23, 2024

Pioneering transplant surgeon J. Kelly Wright Jr. retires

Wright and C. Wright Pinson, MBA, MD, performed Vanderbilt’s first liver transplant in 1991. This year, VUMC celebrated its 3,000th liver transplant.

By Matt Batcheldor
Wali Johnson, MD, left, and Rachel Forbes, MD, MBA, were among the surgeons who performed an unusually high number of kidney transplantations in 48 hours. (photo by Erin O. Smith and Diana Duren)
September 16, 2024

Dedication, teamwork key to performing 10 kidney transplants in two days

Why were there so many kidney transplants in a weekend?
Rachel Forbes, MD, MBA, said it was purely happenstance. All the transplants were the result of matching kidneys from deceased donors being discovered at once for 10 patients.

By Matt Batcheldor
Jimena Lopez, 13, received VUMC’s 3,000th liver transplant. (photo by Donn Jones)
September 5, 2024

VUMC reaches new liver transplant milestone 

While the surgery was a milestone for the hospital, for the pediatric patient and her family, it represented an answer to many prayers. 

By Jessica Pasley
August 22, 2024

Yelena Bodien joins VUMC to advance efforts in research, treatment of brain disorders

Bodien, who will co-direct the Neuroimaging Core of the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship Center, has applied behavioral measures and advanced neuroimaging to improve the diagnosis and prognosis of severe brain injury.
By Jill Clendening
July 23, 2024

Vanderbilt Transplant Center finishes fiscal year with record 809 solid organ transplants

Vanderbilt’s adult heart, lung, liver and kidney transplant programs individually had record fiscal years, with 150 heart transplants, 90 lung transplants, 180 liver transplants and 333 kidney transplants. In addition, adult transplant teams performed three heart/lung transplants and four kidney/pancreas transplants.
By Matt Batcheldor
July 9, 2024

Grant supports development of skill assessment tool for robot-assisted surgery

Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Irving Zamora, MD, MPH, assistant professor of Pediatric Surgery, and Aimal Khan, MD, assistant professor of Surgery, have received a grant to support the development and validation of an objective robotic skills assessment tool for surgical trainees.
By Jill Clendening
June 4, 2024

Grant funds research for therapies to prevent stomach cancer

The funds will help launch a clinical trial in the U.S. with one of the therapies and compare it with another therapy from an ongoing clinical trial in Japan.
By Tom Wilemon
May 29, 2024

Robotic pancreatectomy speeds recovery time for retired educator 

He knew he needed complicated surgery, so researching his options, he learned about the Vanderbilt surgical team led by Kamran Idrees, MD, MSCI, MMHC, Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research.
By Tom Wilemon
May 13, 2024

Training grant builds research ethics capacity for genetic and genomic research in Nigeria

The long-standing partnership between Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) and collaborators Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) and Bayero University (BUK) is poised to address the growing demand for research in precision medicine in Africa.
By Kristin Centers
May 8, 2024

Top military medical leader supports additional expansion of partnerships with Medical Center 

VUMC is an official site of programs that deliver medical training opportunities to military medical personnel serving on Army Trauma Teams and that bring combat medics, licensed practical nurses and operating room technologists to VUMC for rotations to complete much of their annual medical skills competency requirements.
By Jill Clendening