Background

On January 31, 2018, the Academic Growth Drive Team approved the recommendations of the UK BEST project to:

Two residents from the UK Department of Surgery – Plastic Surgery Chief Resident Amaka Agochukwu, MD,  and Anh-Thu Le, MD, fourth year resident in General Surgery – won first and third prize, respectively, in the 2018 Lexington Medical Society’s (LMS) fourth annual essay contest.

The LMS will recognize and present awards to all essay contest winners at a dinner in the Hilary J. Boone Center on May 8.

Dr. John “Jeb” Hallett, Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina, gave a lecture on curiosity as an important trait for surgeons to cultivate. Dr. Hallett was the special guest speaker for the third annual Dr. Gordon Hyde Lectureship in Vascular Surgery on Wednesday, April 11.

The lecture, part of the Division of General Surgery’s weekly grand rounds presentations for faculty and general surgery residents, also welcomed alumni from the UK Vascular Surgery Fellowship and retired UK faculty members, including Dr. Gordon Hyde in his famous bow tie.

The annual Andrew M. Moore Sr., MD Visiting Professor for 2018 was Dr. Wyndell Merritt, a clinical professor in the division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia. Dr. Merritt is also in private practice with an office in Henrico, Virginia.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been a hot topic of late as soldiers return from the battlefield and football players from the gridiron with debilitating injuries.

To date, treatment for TBI has been limited because the underlying mechanisms that cause brain damage are still poorly understood. Recently, however, science has shown increased interest in exploring ways to prompt the brain to heal itself after injury, or perhaps even protect itself as the injury occurs.

The 13th Annual Spring Conference of the University of Kentucky Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) was held April 13 at the Lexington Convention Center. While the CCTS supports research across the spectrum of diseases, this year’s conference focused on using translational science to address the opioid epidemic.

The UK College of Medicine and Department of Surgery announced that Michael E. Sekela, MD, officially took over as Chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery on April 1, 2018. Dr. Sekela succeeds Dr. Sibu Saha, who has held the leadership position since 2013.

On April 1, Dr. Sibu Saha ended his term as Chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Kentucky. Succeeding him as chief, Dr. Michael Sekela inherits a division with fully accredited fellowship and I-6 residency programs, a re-energized heart transplant program, and a clinical faculty composed of experienced and highly skilled cardiac, thoracic, transplant, and congenital heart surgeons.