News & Events

Kai Ihnken, M.D. has been awarded the Inaugural UCSF Thoracic Residency Program Teaching Award for FY2018-2019, in recognition of his outstanding teaching efforts for thoracic surgery residents inside and outside of the OR. Dr. Kai Ihnken is cardiac and heart transplant surgeon who specializes in advanced state-of...

The Department of Surgery is pleased to announce that Adnan Alseidi, MD EdM FACS has been named the inaugural Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Surgery, effective April 1, 2020. As Vice Chair, Dr. Alseidi will work collaboratively with our educators and teachers to strengthen the Department’s...

The Department of Surgery warmly welcomes our new clinical fellows for the 2019-20 academic year, a diverse group of surgeons bringing a rich array of experiences from leading institutions. Abdominal Transplant Surgery Carrie Thiessen, M.D., Ph.D. Clinical Fellow (PGY-6)Abdominal Transplant Surgery Steven Wisel, M...

Cardiac and heart/lung transplant surgeon-scientist Tobias Deuse, M.D. has been awarded a 4-year $400K grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to investigate space-related physiological changes in liver aging and regeneration. The work will be carried out aboard the International Space Station (ISS) using...

Mutations in Mitochondrial DNA Induced by Cell Reprogramming May Trigger Immune Response In 2006, scientists discovered a way to “reprogram” mature cells – adult skin cells, for example – into stem cells that could, in principle, give rise to any tissue or organ in the body. Many assumed it was only a matter of...

Gavitt A. Woodard, M.D., a cardiothoracic surgery fellow at UCSF, has been awarded an Intuitive Surgical Robotics Fellowship from the American Association of Thoracic Surgeons (AATS) Foundation. This opportunity provides advanced robotic training and certification to a select group of fellows each year. Dr...

Technique Prevents Transplant Rejection in the Lab, a Major Advance for Stem Cell Therapies Human heart muscle cells derived from triple-engineered stem cells that are “invisible” to the immune system. The red is troponin, a protein that participates in cardiac muscle contraction. The blue is the cell’s nucleus...

Tobias Deuse, M.D., associate professor of surgery and director of minimally-invasive cardiac surgery at UCSF, has been named The Julien I. E. Hoffman, M.D. Chair in Cardiac Surgery. Dr. Deuse, a cardiac and heart transplant surgeon, is internationally renowned for his pioneering work in the development of...