About the Department of Surgery
Academic Title: Professor
Samuel D. Gross Professor of Surgery
Chair, Department of Surgery
Director, Pancreas, Biliary and Related Cancer Center
Board Certifications:
Surgery
Jefferson's Department of Surgery is steeped in a tradition of advancing surgical procedures and setting the standard for surgeons around the world. In fact, our surgeons have a long history as pioneers.
Today, our surgeons continue to raise the bar of innovation and excellence in surgery:
- Charles J. Yeo, MD, became chairman in 2005 after 20 years on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Yeo's primary interests and research have been in the field of hepatopancreaticobiliary surgery. He has authored more than 450 peer-reviewed scientific papers, over 100 book chapters and edited 17 books or monographs. Dr. Yeo also popularized the mini-Whipple procedure, a modified pancreas resection that preserves the entire stomach, the pylorus and several centimeters of the upper duodenum, and results in a shorter hospital stay and fewer complications for pancreatic cancer patients. Dr. Yeo has performed 1,050 Whipple procedures (pancreaticoduodenectomy). Only one other surgeon in the United States has reached the 1,000 milestone.
- Jefferson is the first hospital in Pennsylvania to offer an FDA-approved device that helps individuals with certain types of spinal cord injuries breathe on their own again. Michael Weinstein, MD, associate professor in the Department of Surgery at Jefferson, is among the first surgeons in the United States to implant the NeuRx DPS™ in patients with spinal cord injuries who lack voluntary control of their diaphragms.
- Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is the first hospital in Philadelphia, and the Delaware Valley, to offer endoluminal fundoplication (ELF). Nathaniel Evans, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, performs this incisionless surgical treatment option to provide long-term elimination of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
- Jefferson is the first in the city to offer robotic esophageal mobilization surgery, using the da Vinci® Robotic System. This procedure is ideal for esophageal cancer patients who require surgery to remove all or part of their esophagus, and is performed by Drs. Nathaniel Evans, Ernest Rosato and Karen Chojnacki.
- Cataldo Doria, MD, PhD, director of the Division of Transplantation at Jefferson, assisted in the development of a "bloodless" liver resection to safely remove up to 75 percent of the largest organ in the human body. The technique is improving patients' odds and cutting recovery time in half.
- Under the direction of Paul J. DiMuzio, MD, the Jefferson Vascular Center brings together surgery, vascular medicine, wound care and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
- The Department of Surgery is expanding its services at Methodist Hospital under the leadership of a new Chief of Surgery, Leonidas Koniaris, MD, and attending surgeons Robert McCairns and Francesco Palazzo.