Cardinal Pervasive at ASC2020

February 10, 2020

Stanford Surgery faculty, trainees, and alumni were conspicuously present all three days of the 2020 Academic Surgical Congress (ASC). More than 20 Cardinal presented research in fields ranging from communication to colorectal cancer.

The conference began Tuesday, February 4 with the presentation of the Society of University Surgeons (SUS) Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Michael Longaker.

“Don’t look at a mentee and see a mirror, or you’ll only look at yourself. Look through a window and ask how you can help them grow,” said Dr. Longaker, who has been a professor in Stanford’s Division of Plastic Surgery since September 2000. The award was presented by SUS Foundation President and Stanford Alumnus Dr. George Yang (‘01).

“Every plastic surgery researcher in the country can be tied to Dr. Longaker’s mentorship though six degrees of separation,” wrote Levi Lab on Twitter. “[He’s] the Kevin Bacon of plastic surgery research! Grateful for his incredible mentorship and impact.”

The day continued with two health services research presentations by Vascular Surgery Resident Dr. Elizabeth George. Dr. George received this year’s AAS Outstanding Research Award for her abstract “Frailty Confers High Mortality Risk in Low-, Moderate- and High-Surgical Risk Specialties."

Over the next two days Stanford Surgery trainees, medical students, and even undergraduates took the podium. General Surgery Residents Drs. Wilson Alobuia, Jeff Choi, Ashley Titan, and Lauren Wood all presented research they conducted during their professional development time while three trainees from the Goodman Surgical Education Center (Anna Carroll, Robert Shi, and Dr. Tiffany Anderson) all presented work on improving surgical education.

Two Stanford Surgery faculty members were also welcomed to the SUS as new members. Both Vascular Surgery’s Dr. Shipra Arya and Pediatric Surgery’s Dr. Bill Chui presented work at the SUS New Member Poster Session Wednesday evening.

Stanford Surgery alumni were also prevalent over the course of the conference. Division of Abdominal Transplantation Alumna Dr. Anji Wall spoke about her ground-breaking work on uterus transplants while Dr. Arghavan Salles (‘15) led a discussion on equality during a #TimesupHealthCare lunch session sponsored by the Association of Women Surgeons. Dr. Kasper Wang (‘02) was voted President-Elect of the Society of University Surgeons and Dr. Sepideh Gholami (‘15) was this year’s Joel J. Roslyn Faculty Research Award Winner.

ASC is one of two annual events that draw a national audience of physicians and physicians-in-training from all surgical specialties. Inaugurated 15 years ago by the Executive Councils of the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS) and SUS, the program bills itself as the “premier gathering place for surgeon-scientists—offering unparalleled opportunities for scientific exchange and networking with peers.” Stanford Surgery has been a platinum institutional member since its founding.

The 2021 Conference will take place February 2-4 in Houston, TX.