Gapontsev Family Endowed Chair in Surgical Oncology
Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA

In 2006, I completed by Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons examinations, which allowed me to apply for a funded scholarship at the Price Institute of Surgical Research. Following completion of a series of interviews, including in-person visit, I accepted the position that Dr. Hiram Polk and Dr. Susan Galandiuk offered me. I had completed four years of Basic Surgical Training at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Scotland.

During my time in the laboratory, I learned of the historic significance of the Institute, including extraordinarily successful predecessors over last three decades. The laboratory was rich in resources with a robust infrastructure that encompassed several permanent members in addition to numerous transitioning fellows, medical students, and undergraduate students. The environment was vibrant with a wealth of knowledge, intellectual curiosity, and an energetic exchange of ideas. It was a well-established laboratory with an outstanding track record and functioned as a well-oiled machine. My basic scientific and translational work was focused on how innate immune mechanisms, such as HLA-DR, cytokine responses, phagocytosis, and reactive oxygen species production were influenced by environmental factors, such as temperature, oxygen, and glucose to elucidate perioperative mechanisms associated with the development of infection, inflammation, and sepsis. I earned a master’s degree and successfully defended my PhD in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics under the tutelage of Dr. Irving Joshua, who is a highly respected scientist, inquisitive physiologist, and Chair of the Physiology Department. In addition, I conducted health services and outcomes clinical research with members of the Department of Surgery, which resulted in numerous (> 25) peer-reviewed publications in high impact-factor journals as well as oral scientific presentations at local, regional, and national meetings. The capacity to write, think, and excel in that environment was second-to-none, and resulted in an astounding level of productivity.

With Dr. Polk and Dr. Galandiuk’s strong support, I opted to continue my training in the United States, and matched at my top choice general surgery residency training program at Stanford, CA. I subsequently pursued specialized fellowship training in surgical oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, NY. Today, I am a high volume pancreatic and liver surgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, MA. I currently hold the Gapontsev Family Endowed Chair in Surgical Oncology, am the Deputy Clinical Director of the MGH Cancer Center for Surgery and Section Chief for Hepatobiliary Surgery, direct the advanced medical student surgical clerkship at Harvard Medical School, and lead of several clinical liver and pancreas programs including robotic surgery and hepatic artery infusion pump surgery at the MGH.

It is my strong belief that my career path was dramatically influenced, reshaped, improved, and trajectory steepened by the time I spent at the Price Institute of Surgical Research in Louisville. My time in the laboratory transformed my career and opened many doors for me today as a surgeon in the United States. I consider my time at the Price Institute of Surgical Research to be the “inflection point” that launched my surgical and academic career. I was able to build on a legacy of historic achievements and accomplishments to follow numerous giants in the field of surgery today, with whom I am tremendously proud to share common origins at the Price.

In summarizing some of the experiences I gained from the Price Institute and its trailblazing leaders, I would include mentorship and support from prominent figures in surgery, integration into an elite network of surgeons, publications including clinical and basic science articles in reputable journals, presentations at large surgical forums, post-graduate degrees including MS and PhD, acquisition of basic science skills, critical thinking, grasp of the literature, data and statical analysis, an incredible understanding of physiology owing to the comprehensive PhD curriculum, and finally the development and refining of my personal surgical character and work ethic.

I am tremendously grateful for my years at the Price Institute of Surgical Research, which I reflect upon fondly and with deep gratitude and humility. I offer this position and fellowship my strongest possible endorsement.