Inside Out

Michael Englesbe, M.D. (Residency 2004), remembers it as a “clear eureka moment.”
Christopher Sonnenday, M.D., calls it a “convenient kind of coincidence.”
They’re referring to a grand rounds presentation by Stewart Wang, M.D., Ph.D., Endowed Professor of Burn Surgery and professor of surgery, that both attended about two years ago, in which he presented a novel application for the wealth of information contained in patients’ CT scans.

A busy trauma and burn surgeon known internationally for his many years of work with the auto industry to improve vehicle safety and lessen the severity of crash injuries, Wang described a system for analyzing data from accident victims’ scans to determine why some of them fared so much better than others in comparable scenarios.
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A Letter from the Chair

I hope that you are enjoying a green, warm, and carefree spring. For your reading pleasure, please also enjoy the spring issue of In The Loupes, the Department of Surgery’s regular newsletter. This issue features work which we are doing across all of our missions — educational, research, and clinical. It also includes a career profile of one of my favorite people, Dr. Mark Orringer.
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U-M thoracic surgeon Mark Orringer reflects on his legacy

Even as he nears retirement after 40 years at the University of Michigan, Mark B. Orringer, M.D., remains an educator as well as a surgeon.
During a recent interview in his office, Orringer pulls out a small pad of paper and sketches in black ink the benefits of an operation he is known for popularizing and modernizing in the 1970s, and which he has spent more than three decades refining — transhiatal esophagectomy. The operation removes the esophagus through incisions in the abdomen and neck, without the need to open the chest cavity as is required in the more traditional esophagectomy. He makes the procedure seem as simple as a tug here and a push there. The surgery’s impact, however, has dramatically reduced complications related to esophageal cancer operations, allowing patients a more comfortable and extended life.
“I’m leaving with the sense of a job well done and grateful to an institution which has allowed my academic career to flourish,” says Orringer, the Cameron Haight Collegiate Professor of Thoracic Surgery.

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Department of Surgery helps to inspire the doctors of tomorrow

Detroit’s Cass Technical High School has developed a partnership with the University of Michigan Medical School as part of a larger effort to connect the U-M with high schools in under-served areas and to stimulate minority students’ interest in careers in the medical field — and the Department of Surgery is playing a key role in the initiative.

The partnership to train the doctors of tomorrow will focus on academic preparation, career enrichment, individual mentoring and hands-on training at the Medical School for 20 ninth grade students from Cass Tech.
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New League of Educational Excellence includes six surgery faculty members

Six faculty members from the University of Michigan Health System’s Department of Surgery were among the inaugural inductees to the U-M League of Educational Excellence.

The honor was established this year to celebrate faculty who have a passion for teaching, and who consistently share their extensive knowledge whether in the classroom, laboratory or bedside — a group committed to preparing the next generation of physicians and scientists.
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A Letter from the Chair

It’s a glorious autumn in Ann Arbor. The students have returned to the University. The leaves along the Huron River in front of University Hospital are a riot of colors. The weather is cooling, truly a beautiful time of year. Welcome to the autumn edition of In The Loupes.
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James C. Stanley awarded the Society of Vascular Surgery’s highest honor

Lifetime achievement award follows establishment of professorship

Earlier this year, James C. Stanley (M.D. 1964, Residency 1972) was awarded the Society of Vascular Surgery’s highest honor, its lifetime achievement award. After more than 40 years as a celebrated surgeon, researcher and administrator, Stanley’s curriculum vitae is longer than some novels. But reflecting recently on the many important positions he has held, and on his accomplishments both inside and outside the operating room, Stanley credits his success to more than just dedication and hard work.

“The adage that serendipity is important is an understatement,” he says. “You have to be very receptive to new opportunities, rather than viewing change as an obstacle.”
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Generosity promotes new research, supports residents

The Department of Surgery is celebrating two recent instances of generosity, one that will help to explore a potential driver of ovarian cancer and another that will support surgical residents during their research years.

In September, the department was awarded $124,000 from the Elsa U. Pardee Foundation to fund work by research investigator Tracy Cui, Ph.D., into a tumor-secreted protein that appears to spur ovarian tumor growth, possibly by enhancing the action of cancer stem cells.
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The Fall Guy

Hovering parents get a bad rep, but it’s a dangerous world out there. Falls account for about a third of unintentional injuries to children. They’re the number one reason for kids’ emergency room visits. And while infants often tumble from furniture, many older youngsters fall while climbing playground equipment — leading to roughly 15 deaths each year and 200,000 trips to the ED for broken bones, head injuries and open wounds.

Peter F. Ehrlich, M.D., associate professor of surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School and director of pediatric trauma at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, aims to cut those statistics dramatically. Ongoing research by Ehrlich and a team of colleagues centers on preventing injuries through a deep understanding of the biomechanics of falls. They believe their findings could aid the design of safer playground equipment and the crafting of smarter national safety standards.
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A Letter from the Chair

Welcome to the summer edition of In the Loupes. I hope all of the friends of the Department of Surgery had a fun-filled, relaxing summer. Yes, the days are again getting shorter, but here in Ann Arbor we’re looking forward to the new academic year and the return of dazzling autumn leaves.
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