Endocrine Grand Rounds – Dr. Parangi

We recently had the honor of hosting Dr. Sareh Parangi at the Endocrinology Grand Rounds. Dr. Parangi is a Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and an esteemed endocrine surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital. She also serves as the Chief of Surgery at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

A distinguished leader in thyroid cancer research, Dr. Parangi shared insights from her remarkable career, highlighting her groundbreaking work and personal journey in the field of endocrine surgery. Her visit was both inspiring and educational, leaving a lasting impact on the team at UAB.

In her lecture titled “Hope and Resilience,” Dr. Sareh Parangi delivered an inspiring account of her professional journey, reflecting on the challenges she encountered as an aspiring surgeon. She reflected on her career journey, offering valuable lessons on overcoming barriers within the surgical field.

Dr. Parangi further elaborated on the pioneering work conducted by her team in the management of anaplastic thyroid cancer, a historically aggressive disease with limited research focus and poor clinical outcomes. Through their sustained dedication and innovative research efforts, her team has significantly advanced treatment modalities, providing new therapeutic options and renewed hope for patients affected by this formidable condition.

10th AKU Annual Surgical Conference

Faculty from the UAB Department of Surgery were invited to the 10th AKU Annual Surgical Conference (10AASC), held at Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan. This year’s conference, themed “Beyond the Scalpel: Quality Care and Patient Safety,” brought together leading surgeons and healthcare professionals from around the world to discuss innovations in surgical quality, patient safety, and healthcare sustainability.

The UAB delegation included Dr. Herbert Chen, Dr. Andrea Gillis, Dr. Jessica Fazendin, Dr. Anabelle Fonseca, Dr. Saulat Sheikh, Dr. Sophie Dream and Dr. Zain Hashmi, who played an active role in the conference through keynote addresses, panel discussions, and expert presentations.

Dr. Herbert Chen delivered the keynote address “Keeping an Eye on Climate – Making Hospitals and OR’s Carbon Neutral – pipe dream or reality.”

Dr. Jessica Fazendin participated in the session “Collaborating to Innovate in Health Care Quality,” where she both delivered a presentation and contributed as a panelist. Her talk, titled “Successful Surgery Quality and Safety Collaborations – Translating Success from HIC to LMIC” explored strategies for adapting effective surgical safety and quality initiatives from high-income countries to low- and middle-income settings.

Dr. Saulat Sheikh was engaged in the session “Implementing Quality; Leadership Perspective,” where she delivered a compelling presentation titled “The Role of Institutional Leadership in Safety and Quality Overall and Surgery in Specific: What Can or Should the Government Do?”

Dr. Andrea Gillis and Dr. Sophie Dream contributed to the session “Roles of Accredited Bodies,” where they delivered insightful presentations on the intersection of accreditation, regulation, and surgical quality.
Dr. Andrea Gillis presented “Incorporating Safety and Quality in Surgical Training – Making Sure It’s More Than Just Checking a Box” emphasizing the need for meaningful integration of patient safety and quality measures into surgical education.
Dr. Sophie Dream followed with her talk, “The Alphabet Soup of Accreditation and Regulatory Bodies in Surgical Quality and Safety – Help or Hindrance?”

Dr. Anabelle Fonseca delivered a presentation titled ‘Measuring what matters: What are the “right” outcomes measures and how to choose them in Surgical Quality’ during the “Measuring Outcomes Session.”

Dr. Herbert Chen is pictured above with Dean Adil Haider and Chief of Surgery Dr. Saleem Islam, reflecting on the conference’s success. Overall, it was a highly productive and enriching experience.

Association of Academic Surgeons – Aga Khan University

Faculty from UAB’s Department of Surgery participated in and presented at the 2nd edition of the Association of Academic Surgeons Career Development Workshop held at Aga Khan University, Pakistan. The workshop was tailored for academic surgeons seeking to advance their careers, providing a comprehensive roadmap for professional growth. Sessions covered key topics such as initiating and progressing in academic surgical careers, along with insightful discussions on developing and managing academic surgical projects.

Fazendin - AKU 1
Fazendin AKU 2

Dr. Jessica Fazendin presented on “How to deliver and effective presentation” and also “What does a career in Surgical Education look like?”

Dream AKU 1

Dr. Sophie Dream spoke about “How to write an abstract for an international meeting and high-impact paper writing” as well as “How to create and promote new clinical programs.”

Fonseca AKU

Dr. Anabelle Fonseca described “Designing your study from hypothesis to methods.”
Dr. Herbert Chen also delivered talks on “Effective time management and work-life integration” and “Achieving local and national visibility.”
Dr. Zain Hashmi spoke about “Developing networking for collaborative research” and Dr. Andrea Gillis shared her expertise on “Grant writing pearls and pitfalls.”

The team also participated in panel discussions with Q&A sessions from the attendees. They ended the day with a tour of AKU’s campus and facility.

UAB Endocrine Surgical Conference at AKU

The University of Alabama, Birmingham endocrine surgeons hosted a joint endocrine surgical conference for local surgeons and trainees at The Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan.

The conference included a workshop for local surgeons, endocrinologists, and trainees focused on thyroid and parathyroid disorders. Faculty from UAB delivered lectures designed to be relevant and beneficial for the regional healthcare professionals. The sessions provided practical insights into the advancements in diagnosis and treatment, fostering a productive exchange of knowledge.

Dr. Sophie Dream (Medical College of Wisconsin) presented “Ablative technologies for thyroid disease.”

Dr. Jessica M Fazendin presented “Controlled versus uncontrolled Graves’ disease and surgical planning.”

Dr Herbert Chen gave a talk on “Hyperparathyroidism: the forgotten disease.”
Dr. Andrea Gillis discussed the “Management of thyroid nodules.”

The trip also included a seminar with the local student body, where faculty from UAB discussed careers in surgery and shared their professional experiences.

Dr. Bouvet Discusses Fluorescence Imaging at UAB

Dr. Michael Bouvet, a renowned expert in endocrine surgery, visited UAB to present at the UAB Grand Rounds. His lecture, titled “Impact of Intraoperative Fluorescence Imaging in Endocrine Surgery,” shed light on the transformative potential of fluorescence-guided techniques in surgical outcomes.

Dr. Bouvet serves as a professor of surgery and the director of endocrine surgery at the University of California, San Diego. He is an internationally recognized expert surgeon-scientist and collaborates extensively with the UAB research team.

We are honored to have hosted Dr. Bouvet and look forward to furthering this impactful partnership.

NANETS Presentations

The North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (NANETS) works to improve outcomes for patients with neuroendocrine tumors through multidisciplinary medical education, NET related medical research, publication of guidelines and the exchange of knowledge and innovation. UAB researchers presented at the NANETS annual symposium 2024 held in Chicago, IL.

Dr. Veronica Bijou presented her poster on “Interaction Between Race and Insurance for Gastropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Outcomes.”

Veronica Nkie is currently a research volunteer at the UAB Breast and Endocrine Research Laboratory. She is a Transitional Year Intern at Madigan Army Medical Center hoping to go into General Surgery.

Dr. Kerrick Akinola, a post-doctoral research fellow in the department on endocrine surgery, presented some of his most recent pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor. His poster presentation, titled “Transcriptome Alteration in Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors Among Those Living with Adverse Social Determinants of Health (SDOH),” explored potential connections between adverse SDOH and tumor biology.

Student presentations at the UAB Summer Symposium!

Jaida Bazemore, a summer RAMP-UP program participant from Tuskegee College, presented her study “Racial Disparities in Barriers to Healthcare by Older Patients with Pancreatic Neoplasms” at the UAB summer symposium 2024 under the mentorship or Dr. Andrea Gillis.

Research in Aging through Mentorship and Practice – Undergraduate Program (RAMP-UP) is a comprehensive program providing mentored research experiences and education in aging and health disparities for students from disadvantaged backgrounds in MSTEM fields. It combines hands-on research, additional training, and structured career guidance to prepare participants for graduate studies and careers in the research workforce.

Find out more about RAMP-UP here.

Oakwood University student, Peris Murangiri, presented her study “Investigation of the use of Amphetamines Among Colorectal Cancer Patients in the Deep South of the US” at the UAB Summer Symposium 2024.

Dr. Frye presenting at IAES

Endocrine surgery fellow Dr. Corbin Frye presented his paper “A Natural Language Processing-Informed Adrenal Gland Incidentaloma Clinic Improves Guideline-Based Care” at the 2024 International Association of Endocrine Surgeons Conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Dr. Gillis at the ESSP Symposium

Dr. Andrea Gillis attended and presented her work at NCI Early-Stage Surgeon Scientist Program Fall Symposium.

The NCI Early-Stage Surgeon Scientist Program (ESSP) is a unique initiative to train and support early-career surgeon scientists in cancer research. This program provides three years of funding, fostering collaboration among cohorts across the U.S. to advance cancer-related basic and translational research.

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