Innovation Council Announces 2026 Seed Grant Winners

April 14, 2026

The Department of Surgery's Innovation Council has chosen this year's Innovation Seed Grant winner:

Aussama Nassar, MD, MSc
"RISK IN REAL TIME: A Dual-Facing AI-Powered Predictive Dashboard to Transform Shared Decision-making in Emergency General Surgery” 
General Surgery

"Please join us in congratulating Dr. Nassar on this exciting achievement," wrote Council leadership Drs. Carla Pugh and David Hindin in their announcement to the faculty. "We look forward to following the progress of this work and sharing updates with the department as the project moves forward."

The Department's Research Oversight Committee announced this year's HSR-Clinical and Basic-Translational Research Seed Grant awardees in January.

All Seed Grant Awardees present their work during Department Grand Rounds. Watch previous presentations below:

Media Contact

Rachel Baker
Director of Communications

Bio

As the Director of Communications for Stanford Surgery, Rachel Baker tells the stories of her department's faculty, staff, and trainees. With the help of an amazing team of content creators, she produces and curates original articles, photos, videos, graphics, and podcasts. She works with each division, center, program, and lab within her purview to define their audience and reach their goals while maintaining a consistent brand voice. She also offers both 1:1 and group education on a variety of topics including media training, using social media to advantage, and presentation refinement. Rachel holds a Bachelor's degree in journalism with a focus on photography from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Strategic Communications from the University of Maryland.

About Stanford Surgery

The Stanford University Department of Surgery is dedicated to inventing the future of surgical care through:

• pioneering cutting-edge research, 
• developing the next generation of leaders, and 
• healing through incomparable surgical skills and compassion. 

To learn more, please visit surgery.stanford.edu

The Latest