Medical College of Wisconsin Department of Surgery 2023-2024 Research Residents

Emmanuel Abebrese, MD

I will be working on multiple projects within the Division of Pediatric Surgery focused on investigating disparities in healthcare outcomes within urban populations, with the goal of developing, testing, and implementing interventions to address these. My primary mentor will be Dr. Van Arendonk with support from Dr. Staci Young.

Elise Biesboer, MD

I am working with multiple mentors in the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery during my research time. I am currently working on a project to optimize prophylactic anticoagulation protocols for Acute Care Surgery patients. I am also involved in projects working with our Trauma Quality of Life Outpatient Clinic and Post Discharge Care Team to assess quality of life outcomes and to improve the discharge process for survivors of firearm injuries.

Jaclyn Gellings, MD

As a global surgery research fellow, my research will focus on implementation of safe surgical care both domestically and abroad. I will be working with Dr. Marc de Moya examining a culture of surgical safety with incorporation of a surgical timeout and multidisciplinary safety modules in Havana, Cuba. Additionally, I will be determining prevalence of vascular disease in various regions of Nepal in conjunction with Dhulikhel University Hospital in order to increase education and training pertaining to care of vascular disease.

Taylor Jaraczewski, MD

As the inaugural global surgery research fellow, my projects will focus on improving surgical care in under-resourced areas both domestic and abroad. My research will focus on utilizing machine learning techniques, implementation science, and mixed methods to understand barriers to surgical care in resource poor areas. Further, I will focus my efforts on the development of interventions to improve surgical outcomes in these areas.

Jennifer Schuh, MD

My two dedicated research years will be spent with the Division of Pediatric Surgery under the primary mentorship of Dr. Jose Salazar. We will be working on a sheep model of placental cannulation for an extracorporeal circuit with membrane oxygenator to model previable neonates. I will also be working on clinical projects focusing on social disparities, trauma, and access to care.

Sarah Park, MD

My time will be spent at the University of Colorado as the inaugural ECMO fellow with Dr. Jordan Hoffman and Dr. Michael Cain as my primary mentors. My research will focus on end-stage cardiopulmonary disease, thoracic transplantation, and mechanical circulatory support.

Adhitya Ramamurthi, MD

I will mainly be working with my mentor Dr. Kothari from the Surgical Oncology division to expand the use of AI and machine learning to our operating rooms. I will be focusing on optimizing our prediction of case lengths utilizing a variety of ML techniques including natural language processing to better utilize operating room resources. I will also be working with the Cardiothoracic Surgery division, specifically clinical outcomes research pertaining to our mechanical circulatory support program. Additionally, I will be working with Dr. Spearman in the Pediatric Cardiology department to study the development of pulmonary AVMs after the Glenn procedure. Specifically, we are trying to create a rat model of the Glenn procedure to further study the role of hepatic circulation in the prevention of these pulmonary malformations.

Benjamin Seadler, MD

My research is within the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. We are investigating various aspects of Cardiac surgery including a Veterans Affairs database study of postoperative atrial fibrillation management and follow-up, minimally invasive hybrid ablation for atrial fibrillation, and development of a novel implant to assist with mitral valve repair. MCW has a busy extracorporeal life support program and we are investigating the effect of percutaneous RVADS on kidney injury and outcomes of a collaborative relationship between the Zablocki VA Medical Center and the ECLS Center at Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin. Within Thoracic surgery, we are performing an analysis of robotic-assisted surgery for lung cancer with the Veterans Affairs database and researching cost/outcomes relationships between different types of minimally invasive surgery for lung cancer.

Monica Seadler, MD

I will be doing research with the Division of Trauma and Acute Surgery in partnership with the Versiti Blood Research Institute. My primary mentors include Dr. Christian Kastrup and Dr. Marc de Moya. The focus of my research will be the use of RNA therapies in animal models of traumatic hemorrhage and thrombosis.

Sarah Suh, MD

I am working with Dr. Kindel in the Division of Minimally Invasive and Gastrointestinal Surgery. Our project is focused on understanding the mechanisms for improvement in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction after sleeve gastrectomy in humans and rodent models. We hope that our research leads to novel antioxidant therapies which replicate gastro-intestinal mediated mechanisms of cardiac recovery after bariatric surgery.

Halen Turner, MD

I will be conducting research with the Versiti Blood Research Institute and the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. My main project at Versiti will involve researching hemostatic gauze and counterflow technology with my mentors Dr. Christian Kastrup and Dr. Mitchell Dyer. I will also be working on a project with Dr. Jacob Peschman through the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery and the Kern Institute involving a new feedback mechanism for faculty.

Danielle Wilson, MD

I will be conducting research at the VA under the mentorship of Dr. Ridolfi. One of the main projects will be investigating outcomes of patients with diverticulitis who require drain placement. I will also be working with the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery on various other projects.