General Surgery Residency Program Scholarly Activity at UPMC in South Central Pa.

At UPMC Pinnacle, scholarly activity is an essential ingredient of our General Surgery Residency Program.

That’s why we strongly encourage faculty and residents to participate in clinical or laboratory research and present at local and national conferences.

UPMC Pinnacle will support your academic efforts by providing financial and institutional resources, including:

• A full-time department dedicated to the creation of graphics, slides, and scientific presentation displays
• Full-time medical librarians
• 24/7 library access
• Personnel in the Medical Education Department who can assist in project design, literature review, paper formulation and critical analysis of work in progress
• Statistician

On this page:

• Our Current Residents.
• Our Past Residents.

Current Residents

UPMC Pinnacle's current general surgery residents have made many outstanding scholarly contributions in the field of general surgery, including:

Patrick Hancock, MD

• Topic Presentation-Peripheral Vascular Intervention Using Optical Coherence Tomography
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education day 2017
• Research Presentation - Opioid Prescribing Patterns between Robotic and Open Inguinal Hernias
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2019
• Topic Presentation- A novel microsurgical approach to induce rapid angiogenesis
• UPMC Medical Education Day 2020

Renee Aboushi, MD

• Topic Presentation- Reoperation and Postoperative Outcomes for Single State Versus Two-Stage Breast Reconstruction Following Mastectomy: A Meta Analysis
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2011
• Topic Presentation- A fall from 2011: Can we predict which patient will require completion Axillary Dissection
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2020

John Trangucci, MD

• Poster Presentation- Open Versus Robotic Assisted Gastroplasty: Is there a difference?
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2018
• Case Presentation - A Unique Presentation of BaroTrauma After Colonoscopy
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2019

Sheina Bawa, MD

• Case Presentation - Dysphasia of Aberrant Right SubClavian Artery Treatment by Endoscopic Dilation: An Alternative to Surgical Treatment in Select Cases
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2019
• Poster Presentation- Massive Spontaneous Pneumopericardium with no obvious etiology
• UPMC Medical Education Day 2020

Yi Wang, MD

• Case Presentation - Palatal Brown Tumor Associated with Secondary Hyperparathyroidism in an End Stage Renal Disease Patient
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2019
• Poster presentation- Sternoclavicular joint infection: Case series and literature review
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2020

Vanessa Hortian, DO

• Poster Presentation- PSA formation in patients receiving Belatacept Immunotherapy vs standard immunotherapy at UPMC Pinnacle
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2020

Kevin Taylor Spence, MD

• Topic Presentation- Is routine excision of Intraductal papilloma always necessary?
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2020

Colby Elder, MD

• Topic Presentation- Does preoperative imaging increase the rate of adenoma excision in parathyroid exploration
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2020

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Past Residents

Dheera Reddy, MD

• Poster Presentation: Protocol of Urinary Calculi Diagnosis: Decreasing Radiation Exposure and Increasing Patient Safety
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2015
• Topic Presentation: Identify Inappropriate CT Usage and Decrease Subsequent Radiation Exposure to Improve Patient Safety
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2015
• Poster Presentation- Efficacy of Belataccpt in Decreasing Donor Specific Antibodies in Renal Transplant Recipients
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2017
• Research Presentation - Identification of Optimal Immunosuppresive Dosing for Transplant Patients
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2019

Leahna Cooney, MD

• Topic Presentation: Using Brachial BP Cuff and Passive Leg Raising for Assessment of Fluid Responsiveness in Hypotensive, Hospitalized Patients
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2015
• Topic Presentation- Incidence and Management of Bile Leaks after Cholecystatomy
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2016

Daniel Lim DO

• Topic Presentation- Rupture of Mycotic Psuedoaneurysm Following Common Femoral Artery Stent Placement: A Case Report
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2016
• Topic Presentation-Meckels' Diverticulum: A 5 Year Retrospective Analysis
• UPMC Medical Education Day 2017

Lindsey Haga, MD

• Topic Presentation: Surgery in the Elderly: Should a Growing Older Population Equate to a Growing Number of Elective and Emergent Surgeries or Should There be a Cap? What More Can or Should We Do When it Comes to End of Life Care?
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2015
• Poster Presentation: Case Series: Surgical Management of Celiac Artery Compression Syndrome
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2015
• Topic Presentation: The Age of CT Diagnosis: The Effect of Technology on Clinician Confidence in management and Diagnosis
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2014
• Poster Presentation: Assess the Appropriate Use of CT Scan on Abdomen and Pelvis
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2014

Allison Tompeck, MD

• Poster Presentation: Percutaneous Transluminal Intervention for Femoropopliteal Occlusive Disease
• UPMC Pinnacle Hospital Medical Education Day 2011
• Drexel Medical Student Lecture: Wound Care

Johanna Serrano, MD

• Topic Presentation: Robotic vs. Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Analysis: A Retrospective Cohort Study
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2015
• Drexel Medical Student Lecture: Nutrition, Surgical Infection and Antibiotics

Jonathan Cook, MD

• Topic Presentation: The Colorectal Fast-Track Pathway in the Community Setting
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2015
• Poster Presentation: Airing the Dirty Laundry: Do Meaningful Trends Exist on Retrospective Analysis of M&M Data?
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2014
• Poster Presentation: Negative Pressure Wound Therapy vs. Negative Wound Therapy with Instillation
• Wound Care Conference 2014
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2014

T. Joseph Watson, MD

• Poster Presentation: Acute Celiac Trunk Thrombosis Treated with Open Thrombectomy
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2015
• Poster Presentation: Airing the Dirty Laundry: Do Meaningful Trends Exist on Retrospective Analysis of M&M Data?
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2014

Sanja Sljivic, DO

• Poster Presentation: Intussusception Caused by Pedunculated Cecal Lipoma in an Adult
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2015
• Poster Presentation: Forearm Compartment Syndrome of the Newborn
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2014

W. Kurtis Childers, DO

• Topic Presentation: Beta Blockers Reduce Breast Cancer Recurrence and Breast Cancer Deaths: Results of a Meta-Analysis
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2015
• Poster Presentation: The Diagnostic Yield of Electromagnetic Navigational Bronchoscopy: Are We Getting Everything?
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2015
• Topic Presentation-Recurrent Regurgitation in Degenerative Mitral Valve Insufficiency in Complete Versus Partial Ring Annuloplasty.
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2016
• Topic Presentation- Outcomes Following Percutaneous Treatment of Aortic Stenosis and Mitral Regurgitation
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2017
• Poster Presentation- Implementation of an Intern Curriculum and Impact of ABSITE Score
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2018

Farda Qayyum, MD

• Topic Presentation: Robotic vs. Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Analysis: A Retrospective Cohort Study
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2015
• Poster Presentation- A Case of Endobronchial Actinomycosis in Kidney Transplant Patient
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2017

Nathaniel Melton, MD

• Topic Presentation- Recurrent Mitra I Regurgitation After Mitra I Valve Repair With Insufficiency in Complete Versus Partial Ring Annuloplasty
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2016

Daniel Goldman, MD

• Poster Presentation- Colon and Rectal Procedures in the Aging Population: A Central Pennsylvania Experience
• Research Presentation - A Single Surgeon's Experience with Robotic Colorectal Surgery
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2019

Douglas Anderson, MD

• Topic Presentation- Impact of Clinical Documentation of Comorbid Conditions on Hospital Reimbursement and Reported Quality Metrics
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2017
• Topic Presentation- Presurgical Optimization for High Risk Patients: The Impact on Clinical Outcomes & Cost of Care
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2018
• Research Presentation - Rib Plating: Incidence of Associated Injuries and When to use VATS
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2019

Jeremy Kaufmann, MD

• Poster Presentation: Initiative and Trends in Global Health Participation among UPMC Pinnacle Employees and Staff
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2015

Homa Sadeghian, MD

• Case Presentation - A Unique Presentation of Barotrauma After Colonoscopy
• UPMC Pinnacle Medical Education Day 2019