Bio
My research focuses on the care of the injured patient, surgical infectious disease, and global public health. I want to change how humans interact with the microbial world.
After receiving my BA in Biochemistry from The Colorado College I went to the University of Virginia for medical school. During these years, I fell in love with surgery, but maintained my fascination with microbes. To explore this interest in the microbial world I obtained a Masters of Science in Infectious Disease from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Then I came to Stanford for general surgery residency. During my two professional development years in surgery residency I applied for and was accepted into the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), the premier training program for infectious disease field epidemiology. My domestic investigations concerned pathogens including Lyme disease and tick-borne relapsing fever, in addition to two Tier 1 bioterrorism agents plague and tularemia. Internationally, I was a field agent in Liberia during the 2014 Ebola outbreak and performed several high-visibility, high-risk investigations. These investigations included establishing how the first two Americans, Kent Brantley and Nancy Writebol became infected, and assessing the Ebola burden and Ebola preparedness in southeast Liberia, among others. Following my experience with EIS, I completed my general surgery residency training at Stanford, followed by completion of surgical critical care fellowship training at Stanford.
Ongoing projects currently include:
-Determining who benefits from surgical stabilization of rib fractures and how we can stabilize rib fractures most effectively
-Understanding the limitations of surgical infectious disease surveillance and improving capacity for surgical infection surveillance globally
-Using technology to increase the speed by which we can identify and track surgical pathogens
Follow me on Twitter @explorersurgeon
Clinical Focus
- Trauma
- Surgical Infectious Disease
- Global Surgery
- Disaster Response
- Wilderness Medicine
- General Surgery
- Rib Fractures
- Rib Fracture Non-Union
- Surgical Critical Care
Administrative Appointments
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Director - Center for Chest Wall Reconstruction after Trauma, Stanford Healthcare (2020 - Present)
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Associate Trauma Medical Director, Stanford Healthcare (2020 - Present)
Honors & Awards
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Best Session Presentation - "Gene Directed Surgery for Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer", Pacific Coast Surgical Association (February 2018)
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International Exchange Scholarship - Dublin, Ireland, Resident and Associate Society - American College of Surgeons (November, 2016)
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Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Award, Gold Foundation (April, 2016)
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Excellence in International Program Delivery - Ebola, Liberia, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (March, 2016)
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Honorable Discharge - Lieutenant, U.S. Public Health Service (June, 2015)
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Director's Recognition Award - Lyme Carditis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (May, 2015)
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Excellence in Emergency Response Award - Ebola, Liberia, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (March, 2015)
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Epidemiology and Surveillance Government Service Award - Plague and Tularemia, US and abroad, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (June, 2015)
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Paul C. Schnitker Award Finalist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (August, 2015)
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Travel Scholarship, American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (August, 2015)
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Honor Award, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (April, 2015)
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Mitch Singal Award Finalist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (April, 2015)
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Excellence in Peer Review Award, Wilderness Medical Society (2013)
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R. Scott Jones Award in Surgery, University of Virginia (2010)
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Raven Society, University of Virginia (2010)
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Alpha Omega Alpha, University of Virginia (2009)
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Otis and Margaret T. Barnes Departmental Service Award, The Colorado College (2006)
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Phi Beta Kappa, The Colorado College (2006)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
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Chair - Research Committee, Wilderness Medical Society (2020 - Present)
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Education Committee, Chest Wall Injury Society (2019 - Present)
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Committee Member, Therapeutics and Guidelines Committee - Surgical Infection Society (2019 - Present)
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Reviewer, College of Surgeons of East, Central and South Africa (2019 - Present)
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Member, Chest Wall Injury Society (2019 - Present)
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Committee Member, Surgical Infection Society ad hoc Committee on Global Surgery (2018 - Present)
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Associate Editor, Malawi Medical Journal (2017 - Present)
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Reviewer, Surgical Infections (2015 - Present)
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Reviewer, Wilderness and Environmental Medicine Journal (2017 - Present)
Professional Education
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Board Certification: American Board of Surgery, Critical Care Medicine (2019)
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Fellowship: Stanford University Surgical Critical Care Fellowship (2019) CA
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Board Certification: American Board of Surgery, General Surgery (2018)
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Residency: Stanford University General Surgery Residency (2018) CA
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Medical Education: University of Virginia School of Medicine (2011) VA
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General Surgery Residency, Stanford University (2018)
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EISO, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, Bacterial Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-borne Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Disease (2013)
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MSc, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Infectious Disease (2012)
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MD, The University of Virginia, Medicine (2011)
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BA, The Colorado College, Biochemistry (2006)