Stanford Surgery News

Stanford Medicine has completed its first robotic kidney transplant, marking a milestone for both the institution and the region. The procedure, performed by Dr. Thomas Pham and Dr. Stephan Busque, represents the first time this approach has been used for kidney transplantation in Northern California.

On December 2, 2025, the Division of Abdominal Transplantation hosted the 20th Annual Oscar Salvatierra Jr. Lectureship at Stanford Medicine. This year’s lecture was delivered by Dr. Stefan Tullius, MD, PhD, who presented “The ‘Graying’ Transplantation Challenge: Older Organs and Older Patients Need Our Attention.” The event took place during Surgery Grand Rounds.

Dr. Travis Miller, MD has been selected as the FY26 Quarter 1 Physician of the Quarter at Stanford Health Care – Tri-Valley. The award recognizes hospital providers who demonstrate high-quality patient care, strong collaboration, and contributions aligned with SHC-Tri-Valley’s pillars, goals, and values.

Greg Tiao, MD will join the Stanford Surgery team as a Professor in in the UML effective January 1, 2026. Tiao will be dual-appointed in the Divisions of Abdominal Transplantation and Pediatric Surgery.

Administrative Division Manager for General Surgery Ivette Arenas and Department Human Resources Administrator Anna Noriega are the inaugural recipients of the Stanford Surgery Staff Awards.

A Stanford Surgery delegation traveled to Montréal last week to advance a growing collaboration with the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) and the Université de Montréal’s surgical and medical research programs. The visit focused on expanding joint clinical innovation, research exchange, and future opportunities for trainee engagement between the two institutions.

Dr. Stephan Busque shares insights from his 20-year journey in transplant tolerance, revealing groundbreaking research that will improve patient care, including the recent allogenic islet cell + bone marrow transplant for a Type 1 diabetes patient.

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) Scholarships Committee selected Dr. Cintia Kimura as a recipient of the 2026-2028 ACS Resident Research Scholarship.

Dr. Amanda Kirane has been promoted to Associate Professor in the Division of General Surgery, effective January 1, 2026.

Transplant Surgeon Dr. Tom Pham just returned from his most recent trip to Lusaka, Zambia, where he is working to create a kidney transplant program. This time, he was accompanied by fellow Stanford faculty members: Drs. Ken Tran from the Division of Vascular Surgery and Maha Mohamed from the Division of Nephrology in the Department of Medicine.