Stony Brook's Department of Surgery and Renaissance School of Medicine hosted another successful Annual Research Day on May 7th, at Stony Brook Hospital's MART Auditorium. The 2025 event featured ten oral presentations, dozens of research abstracts submitted by medical students and residents, and a keynote speech from Timothy J. Pawlik, MD, PhD, MPH.
The event opened with comments from Professor and Department of Surgery Chairman, Apostolos K. Tassiopoulos, MD, FACS; and Susan Hedayati, MD, MHSc; Vice Dean of Research. Dr. Pawlik, Professor in the College of Medicine, surgeon-in-chief of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Urban Meyer III and Shelley Meyer Chair for Cancer Research followed with his keynote address, Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: Morphology, Genetics, and the Surgeon. A surgical oncologist with a focus on treating patients with liver, gallbladder, pancreatic and neuroendocrine tumors, Dr. Pawlik followed his presentation with a brief Q&A.
The first Oral Presentation Session was moderated by Nicholas Ahn, MD; and Artem Shmelev, MD; and included:
- Rates of Occult Lymph Node Metastasis in Clinically N0 Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma by Primary Site and T-Stage in the Modern Era - Presented by David Shimunov
- Application of Pressurized Intra-Peritoneal Aerosolized Chemotherapy in a Tertiary Academic Center-A First Real-World US Case Series - Presented by David Restle
- Exploring Acute Rapid Growth of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms - Presented by Stephanie Li
- Gut-Brain Links in Necrotizing Enterocolitis: Impact of G-CSF on Neuronal Synaptic Connections - Presented by Cuilee Sha
- Routine Delayed Head CT is Indicated in Geriatric Blunt Trauma Patients on Antithrombotics - Presented by Esha Sawant
A coffee break/vendor fair followed with the Oral Poster Competition participants presenting their research to judges Angela A. Kokkosis, MD; Konstantinos Spaniolas, MD; Deborah Nagle, MD; and Randeep S. Jawa, MD. The posters included:
- A Novel Technique for Cardiac Xenotransplantation: Nonischemic Beating Heart Transplantation in a Pig-to-Nonhuman Primate Model - Presented by Daniel Wolbrom
- Long-Term Outcomes of Diaphragmatic Relaxing Incisions Used During Challenging Primary and Revisional Hiatal Reconstruction: A Propensity-Matched Analysis - Presented by John Campbell
- Improving Organ Procurement Efficiency through Artificial Intelligence Models - Presented by Manan Shukla
- Risk Factors for Longer Duration of Facial Paralysis after Superficial Parotidectomy - Presented by Radhika Patel
- Uncovering Injury Patterns in Pediatric Head Trauma: Fractures, Hemorrhages, and their Clinical Consequences by Presented by Priya Aggarwal
After the poster presentations, the Oral Presentation Sessions resumed with the second session moderated by Christopher Vanison, MD; and Edmund Lee, MD; and included:
- Talc and Tetracycline Pleurodesis during VATS Resection Results in Similar Recurrence for Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax: Assessment of Re-Intervention in a Multi-Center Retrospective Cohort Study - Presented by Ilan Pesselev
- Socioeconomic and Geographical Disparities to Undergoing Endoscopic Resection for Stage I Rectal Cancer in the United States: A National Cancer Database (NCDB) Study - Presented by Michael Froehlich
- Spatiotemporal Characterization of Arterial and Venous Thrombi: Insights into Composition and Remodeling - Presented by Shiffoni Siukhal
- Non-Invasive Monitoring of Burn Wound Healing Dynamics Using DISC Technology in a Porcine Model - Presented by
- The ACGME Case Log: Evaluating the Impact of COVID-19 on General Surgery Residents’ Pediatric Surgery Experience - Presented by Sophia Liu
The event concluded with the announcement of the 2025 Research Day award-winners. Doctors Tassiopoulos and Aaron Sasson, Chief, Division of Surgical Oncology, presented awards to:
- Daniel Wolbrom, MD - Poster Competition Winner
- Christopher Mazis, MD - Outstanding Resident Teaching Scholar
- Sherif R.Z. Abdel-Misih, MD; Nicholas J. Ahn, MD; and Randeep S. Jawa, MD - Outstanding Faculty Teaching Scholars
- Adam Kressel, MD, PhD; and Alvin Wong, MD - Seed Grant Winners
The Department of Surgery expresses a special thank you to all who helped make this year's Research Day a success:
Abstract Reviewers:
- Alvin Wong, MD
- Amy Rosenbluth, MD
- Georgios V. Georgakis, MD, PhD
- Jonathan Martin, MD
- Keith Chadwick, MD, MS
- Kenneth W. Gow, MD, MHA, FACS, FAAP
- Kristen Calabro, MD, MBS
- Lucyna Z. Price, MD
Department of Surgery Research Day Planning Committee:
- Aaron R. Sasson, MD
- Gurtej Singh, PhD
- Andrea Fodor, MA, PhD
Research Day Coordinators:
- Alexa DeMola
- Luis Ehrman, Jr
- Serra Izmirligil
- Tracey Erickson
Research Day Volunteer Staff:
- Andrew Bryan, BA
- Victoria Boufis, BS
Sponsors
- Allergan Aesthetics, Gregg Wilbur
- CONMED, Michael Dotzler
- Histosonics, Adam Laber
- Medtronic, Alex Dicpinigaitis
- Organogenesis, Jordan Katz
- Polynovo, Rachael Dillon
- Solventum Health, Alfred DiBernardo
The next Surgery Research Day will be held in May of 2026. More details will be announced when available.
Follow this link for additional information about Surgery Research Day and an archive of previous Research Day articles and images. Please click this link for a photo gallery from this year's Research Day event.