Doctor: 'No problems' after Antioch toddler undergoes kidney and liver transplant

"The sun wasn't up at 5 o'clock Wednesday morning, but a new day had already dawned for Matthew Ouimet. Matthew, a 2-year-old Antioch boy who had waited 15 months for a life-sustaining kidney and liver transplant, had his new organs. Dr. John Roberts took the lead on the liver transplant, and Dr. Peter Stock, who handled the kidney procedure in a 12-hour surgery that began around 6 p.m. Tuesday, delivered the good news to parents Kristi and Kelly Ouimet and a half-dozen family members who spent the night at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. "They look pretty good," Stock said of the transplanted organs. "There were no problems. He's very stable."
Excerpts from story at Silicon Valley MercuryNews.com

Chair Portrayed in Synapse Article as Exceptional Mentor

"Dr. (Nancy) Ascher excels in her role as Chair of Surgery, not only for her inexplicable foresight, but because she stays connected to trainees and students. This year, Dr. Ascher received the Francis Moore Excellence in Mentorship in the Field of Transplantation Surgery Award from the American Society of Transplant Surgeons."

"Residents and fellows noted that Dr. Nancy Ascher is an effective mentor because she treats them like colleagues and not just trainees. Residents and fellows felt "immersed and integral in the program which empowered them and helped their growth." Dr. Ascher emphasizes that a meaningful mentor-mentee relationship allows an honest exchange about the student's career path and the mentor's willingness to be that student's advocate."

"Early Riser" - A Day in the Life of Dr. Nancy Ascher

"It was 1975 when Nancy Ascher, MD, PhD, chose surgery, a specialty shoulder-deep in men. Then again, so was medical school - Ascher was one of 20 women in her class of 180. After her residency, she blew past every gender barrier to become the first woman to perform a liver transplant, garnering enough speed to break through the stainless-steel ceiling to serve as UCSF's first female chair of surgery - one of three women holding that title in the country. The pace at which Ascher propels through every day is the velocity required for the steep ascent of a remarkable career."
Excerpt from UCSF Magazine, Spring 2013 

18th Annual Chris Mudge UCSF Pediatric Transplant Picnic

UCSF is pleased to announce its annual Pediatric Transplant Picnic at McNears Beach in San Rafael, CA on Saturday, August 24, 2013, from 10 am - 4 pm, a celebration in honor of children who have been patients in the transplant program and their families. Attendees will be treated to music, dancing, kayaking, face-painting, piñatas, and more. Food and drinks will be provided, but guests are also encouraged to bring potluck dishes corresponding to the first letter of their last name: Veggies (A-G), Snacks (H-P) and fruit (Q-Z). Please, no dogs or alcohol.

RSVP to aurora.bermudez@ucsfmedctr.org or (415) 476-8636 by 8/9

Click here or on image to enlarge

Medical Devices Fall Short for Children

Lung Cancer Systems Genetics Expands Map of Drug Discovery

In the journal Nature Communications, lead author  Il-Jin Kim, Ph.D., (pictured left) Director of Applied Genomics in the UCSF Thoracic Oncology Lab, Thoracic Oncology Program Leader, David M. Jablons, M.D., (pictured right) and others, demonstrate the value of mining vast gene expression networks to expand the pool of therapeutic targets in lung cancer. This could lead to the discovery of  novel druggable targets specific to lung adenocarcinoma, sparing normal lung tissue, and to anti-cancer drugs with minimal side toxicity yet with high tumor killing efficacy. 

Awards Announced for 26th Annual J. Engelbert Dunphy Resident Research Symposium

The annual 26th Annual J. Engelbert Dunphy Resident Research Symposium was held on April 5, 2013. The award for "Best Abstract" went to Robert Bell, MD with runners-up Jessica Beard, MD, MPH and Randi Smith, MD MPH.  Xiaoti Xu, MD received the award  for "Best Quick Shot".  Jack Harbell, MD and Cristina O'Donohue, MD received Honorable Mention certificates for their presentations.

16th Annual Maurice Galante Lecture Featuring Malcolm Gladwell (Watch Online)

The 16th Annual Maurice Galante Lecture took place on Febuary 22, 2013 and featured Malcolm Gladwell. The video of the lecture can be watched online.

Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer with The New Yorker magazine since 1996. His 1999 profile of Ron Popeil won a National Magazine Award, and in 2005 he was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People. He is the author of four books, "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference," (2000), "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" (2005), and "Outliers: The Story of Success" (2008) all of which were number one New York Times bestsellers. His latest book, "What the Dog Saw" (2009) is a compilation of stories published in The New Yorker. 

From 1987 to 1996, he was a reporter with the Washington Post, where he covered business, science, and then served as the newspaper's New York City bureau chief. He graduated from the University of Toronto, Trinity College, with a degree in history. He was born in England, grew up in rural Ontario, and now lives in New York City.

Alden H. Harken, M.D. Receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Society of University Surgeons (SUS)

Alden H. Harken, M.D. was recently honored with the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of University Surgeons (SUS). Dr. Harken is  Chief of the  UCSF-East Bay Surgery Program, and   Chief of Surgery and Chair of the Surgery Department at Alameda Health System's (AHS). Over the course of his career, His contributions to the field of cardiac electrophysiology include influential early work around mapping and surgical ablation for ventricular tachyarrhythmias. Dr. Harken's work in this area helped our understanding of the pathophysiology of ventricular tachycardia and shaped today's methods of ablative treatment of ischemic ventricular tachycardia. According to SUS, "Dr. Harken's energy, insight, enthusiasm and innovative work have created a legacy that will influence the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias for many years to come. He has clearly been a pioneer in the field, and has been a true role model for his colleagues in the SUS and AAS." *

*Excerpts above from news release for Alameda Health System's (AHS)

Maurice Galante, M.D., Legendary Surgeon and Renaissance Man, Dies

Dr. Maurice Galante, whose professional career at UCSF spanned an incredible 44 years (1945-1989), passed away on February 5, 2013. Dr. Galante was born in Rhodes in 1919 and came to the United States alone to receive his undergraduate and medical education. He entered his residency training in general surgery at UCSF in 1945. He subsequently became a member of the Department of Surgery faculty. As a faculty member at UCSF, Dr. Galante was celebrated as a master surgeon and for his varied interests in medical ethics, music and the arts. His reputation with patients was legendary and his grateful patients helped him and the Department of Surgery establish the Galante Lecture Program, The Galante Research Program and the Maurice Galante Distinguished Professorship.

Rogers Urges Caution on New Medical Device to Treat GERD

A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine touts a new medical device for the treatment of  Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) as an alternative to standard therapy, long-term proton-pump inhibitors or Nissen Fundoplication. The new treatment is a surgical procedure in which a small band of magnetic beads is surgically implanted  to augment the lower esophageal sphincter, the valve between the esophagus and stomach. 

But Stanley J. Rogers, M.D., Associate Professor of Surgery at UCSF, Chief of Minimally Invasive Surgery, and Chief of Bariatric Surgery, expressed concern about its use, telling CBS/KCBS News Healthwatch that the device  was essentially untested except for the small study cited above. He cautioned that the beads were a foreign object and where the device was placed could potentially cause serious complications including infection, perforation and abdominal sepsis, leading to ultimate removal. He emphasized that long-term data was needed to demonstrate its safety and effectiveness. 

Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) Serves as Bridge to Heart Transplant While Candidate Loses Required Weight

Suitulaga "Sugi" Hunkin has been overweight most of his life. He attributes that to his love of food and his Samoan ancestry.  Because of his size, he also had trouble breathing and experienced irregular heartbeat - symptoms his doctors diagnosed as heart disease called cardiomyopathy, which usually leads to heart failure...........He needed heart transplantation surgery to replace his failing heart, but before that could happen, he needed to lose at least 100 pounds.  "If a patient is very obese, he bears a lot of risks and complications, inter-operatively as well as post-operatively," said  Georg Wieselthaler. M.D., Professor of Surgery of UC San Francisco's Division of Adult Cardiothoracic Surgery, and director and surgical chief of the UCSF Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support. "And therefore it's absolutely favorable for patients to try and have a body mass index of below 35 before going into a complex operation."

Hunkin chose UCSF to help him with his heart failure. Its pioneering Cardiothoracic Surgery program, now led by Scot H. Merrick, M.D., was established 50 years ago by chair Leon Goldman, MD, and Benson Roe, M.D. The Heart and Lung Transplant Program has historically had high one-year survival outcomes among academic surgery programs nationally. To help Hunkin stay alive, Wieselthaler installed a ventricular assist device (VAD), a mechanical device that helps a failing heart pump blood. The VAD allowed Hunkin stay alive, but it did not help him lose weight.   *Excerpt above adapted from UCSF News

Il-Jin Kim Awarded Grant to Investigate Novel Genetic Profiles in Mesothelioma

The Mesothelioma Applied   Research Foundation (MARF), a leading national funder of research for this disease, has awarded Il-Jin Kim, Ph.D.,  Assistant Professor and  Director of Applied Genomics in the  Thoracic Oncology Laboratory, a grant to study Novel fusion and tumor-specific isoform candidates in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), an aggressive and highly lethal cancer, with the ultimate goal of identifying therapeutic targets. The research focuses on a class of patient who lack the three most common genetic deletions (CDKN2A, NF2, and BAP1). Studying the unique genetic profile of this so-called triple-negative (TN) MPM patient population may reveal unique genetic characteristics and oncogenic fusions contributing to MPM development. The goal would be to target the aberrant cancer-inducting activity in this small group of patients with novel therapies. This is a similar approach to the identification of the EML4-ALK fusion genes in non-small cell lung cancer patients, leading to the novel therapy crizotinib, an example of 21st century precision medicine.

Teen Liver Transplant Recipient to Honor Donor at 2013 Rose Parade

Three years ago, Alfonso Garcia was diagnosed with Wilson's disease and was in desperate need of a liver transplant. George Becker, who signed up to be an organ donor on his driver's license when he was 16, ended up being the right match. Garcia's UCSF medical team - which included transplant surgeon Ryutaro Hirose, MD (pictured first); Philip Rosenthal, MD (pictured second), medical director of the Pediatric Liver Transplant Program; Emily Perito, MD, a clinical fellow in pediatrics and gastroenterology; and nurse practitioner Susan Diaz, MSN - performed a successful transplant.Since receiving the liver transplant, Garcia has made it a mission to spread the word about the value of organ donation by sharing the memory of his hero, George Becker, who died after a bad sinus infection spread to his brain. As part of that mission, Garcia was selected by UCSF and the California Transplant Donor Network to ride on the Donate Life "Journeys of the Heart" float at the 2013 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 1., in honor of Becker. The float will bear a florograph of Becker - a portrait made of flowers.

UCSF Vascular Surgeon advocates discussing medical challenges associated with space tourism

The world may be on the brink of a vast new frontier of tourism - and that could raise a few odd, and at this point unanswerable, questions for doctors. Space tourism is on the cusp of becoming a real possibility for people who don't have the health and fitness of a NASA astronaut, and aerospace medicine experts including Dr. Marlene Grenon, M.D., C.M., of the UCSF Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, believe that now is the time to think about medical guidelines. There's a wealth of information about the effects of space travel on government astronauts - from the symptoms of space sickness to the long-term repercussions of lengthy stays at the International Space Station. But the effects on the average person with imperfect health are unknown. In a paper published in the British Medical Journal, Dr. Grenon and colleagues provide background in the field of space medicine for non-experts and clinicians.