Surgery Resident Research Opportunities
UT Southwestern Medical Center is the ideal place for residents who are interested in research. According to the recently released Nature Index 2018 Annual Tables, UT Southwestern Medical Center is the top institution within the ‘healthcare’ category internationally for publishing high-quality scientific research.
While the General Surgery clinical curriculum is traditionally structured over five years, residents at University of Texas Southwestern are given the option of pursing a research fellowship during their training. Typically taken after their third clinical year, residents may elect to pursue a one-, two-, or potentially even three-year research sabbatical to discover the inner workings of surgical academia, enhance their resumes, and further explore their interests.
Residents in the past have opted to work in various environments, including but not limited to basic/translational science labs, clinical research, global health, and have pursued advanced degrees. As research must fit the desires of the mentee, the Department of Surgery supports a broad range of research foci, assuming key objectives and appropriate mentorship can be obtained.
Historically, four to five residents per year opt in for additional research years; however, the Department of Surgery has no specific mandated minimum or maximum amount of research spots. While encouraged to apply for independent funding through the grant process, residents are additionally supported by the department and principal investigator when required.
While research years are encouraged, no resident is ever mandated to spend additional years in the lab.
View current research residents.
View work from current and past research residents.
Research Projects by Division
General and Acute Care Surgery
Principal Investigator: Michael Cripps, M.D.
- Coagulation and venous thromboembolism prevention
- Traumatic brain injury (Kareem AbdelFattah, M.D. and Michael Cripps, M.D.)
- Viscoelastic testing
- Viscoelastic Guided Goal Directed Resuscitation of Severely Injured Patients (ROTATE IT TRIAL)
- Emergency general surgery
- Severity grading in common emergency general surgery disease
Principal Investigator: Ryan Huebinger, Ph.D.
- Burns
- Intestinal microbiome diversity and effects on sepsis after burns
- Biomarkers after burns
Principal Investigator: Joseph Minei, M.D., MBA
- Sigh ventilation in trauma
- Emergency general surgery
- Phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, study of AB103 as compared to placebo in patients with necrotizing soft tissue infections (NSTI)
Principal Investigator: Sarah Oltmann, M.D.
- MAX Program
- Pre- and post-operative rehabilitation
GI/Endocrine Surgery
Principal Investigator: Sarah Oltmann, M.D.
- Graves' disease outcomes
Principal Investigator: Daniel Scott, M.D.
- UT Southwestern Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery
Pediatric Surgery
Principal Investigator: Adam Alder, M.D.
- Trauma (Adam Alder, M.D., Stephen Megison, M.D., Joseph Murphy, M.D., Samir Pandya, M.D., Faisal Qureshi, M.D., and David Schindel, M.D.)
- Microbiome of appendicitis
- Pectus excavatum and chest wall abnormalities (Adam Alder, M.D., and Samir Pandya, M.D.)
Principal Investigator: David Schindel, M.D.
- Minimally invasive pediatric surgery
- DHREAMS: Diaphragmatic Hernia Research & Exploration; Advancing Molecular Science
Principal Investigator: Faisal Qureshi, M.D.
- Adolescent bariatric surgery
Surgical Oncology
Principal Investigator: Mathew Augustine, M.D., Ph.D.
- Small intestinal neuroendocrine tumor
Principal Investigator: Michael Dellinger, Ph.D.
- Signaling pathways in lymphatic anomalies
Principal Investigator: Marilyn Leitch, M.D.
- ALTERNATE trial: assessing a biomarker driven strategy for the treatment of post-menopausal women with ER+/Her2- invasive breast cancer
- Comparison of Operative to Monitoring and Endocrine Therapy (COMET) Trial For Low Risk DCIS (COMET)
Principal Investigator: Patricio Polanco, M.D.
- Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy
Principal Investigator: Matthew Porembka, M.D.
- Genetic profiling of gastric cancer
Principal Investigator: Adam Yopp, M.D.
- Prospective, Multicenter, Multidisciplinary, Controlled Clinical Investigation Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of PerClot® Polysaccharide Hemostatic System
- Socioeconomic disparities in hepatocellular carcinoma
Surgical Transplantation
Principal Investigator: Dev Desai, M.D., Ph.D.
- Post-transplant lymphoproliferative syndrome in pediatric patients
Vascular Surgery
Principal Investigator: Melissa Kirkwood, M.D.
- Radiation
Principal Investigator: J. Gregory Modrall, M.D.
- Renal artery stenting
Principal Investigator: Carlos Timaran, M.D.
- Endovascular surgery (Carlos Timaran, M.D., and Bala Ramanan, M.D.)
- Clinical Study to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of the Zenith® Branch Endovascular Graft-Iliac Bifurcation (PRSERVE)
- A Prospective, Multicenter, Non-Blinded, Non-Randomized Study of the Relay PRO Thoracic Stent-Graft in Subjects with Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms (TAAs) and Penetrating Atherosclerotic Ulcers (PAUs)
Global Surgery
Principal Investigator: Diana Diesen, M.D.
- Impact of global surgery partnerships
Principal Investigator: Sergio Huerta, M.D.
- Outcomes in groin hernia repair
Education Office
Principal Investigator: Kareem AbdelFattah, M.D.
- Wellness in a general surgery program
Principal Investigator: Deborah Farr, M.D.
- Peer-assisted learning
Principal Investigator: Sara Hennessy, M.D.
- Evaluation of current flexible endoscopy training