The UI Department of Surgery has active laboratory investigations in surgical oncology, pediatric surgery and gastrointestinal surgery with National Institutes of Health-funded bench research. There are active clinical research projects in all of the Surgical Divisions. Members of the department have established collaborative investigations with other faculty members throughout the Carver College of Medicine and the core research centers at the University of Iowa.

Erica Carlisle, MD, Division of Pediatric Surgery

            Decision making in pediatric surgery.

Carlos HF Chan, MD, PhD, Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery

            Immune mechanism of TLR-based immunostimulatory agents in treating peritoneal carcinomatosis of gastrointestinal and pancreatic cancer

John Cromwell, MD, Division of Gastrointestinal, Minimally-Invasive, and Bariatric Surgery

            Conducts clinical research related to complex systems.

Joseph Cullen, MD, Division of Gastrointestinal, Minimally-Invasive, and Bariatric Surgery

            Studies treatments for pancreatic cancer.

Kristina Guyton, MD, Division of Gastrointestinal, Minimally invasive and Bariatric Surgery

            Studies communication between patients and providers during awake surgical procedures, including how to optimize the patient experience, understand the ethical challenges in this communication, teach this type of communication and include trainees in these situations.

Hisakazu Hoshi, MD, Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery

            Conducts clinical research for colorectal cancer liver metastasis.

James Howe, MD, Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery

            Studies the genetic basis of Juvenile Polyposis.

Daniel Katz, MD, Division of Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery

            Conducts clinical trials related to immunosuppression, renal transplantation, and liver transplantation.

Ingrid Lizarraga, MBBS, FACS, Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery

            Studies determinants and health outcomes of breast cancer surgery as well as rural disparities in quality of cancer care.

Isaac Samuel, MD, Division of Gastrointestinal, Minimally-Invasive, and Bariatric Surgery

            Studies the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis with a view to implement new treatment modalities.

Scott Sherman, MD, Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery

            Studies genetic regulation of neuroendocrine tumors and clinical aspects of surgery for metastatic cancers.

Joel Shilyansky, MD, Division of Pediatric Surgery

            Studies immune response in pediatric cancer patients.

Dionne Skeete, MD, Division of Acute Care Surgery

            Studies trauma care delivery and surgical critical care.

Sonia Sugg, MD, Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery

            Studies clinical aspects of breast and endocrine surgery. As co-director of BMER, the breast molecular and epidemiologic resource, and organizer of the breast cancer research group, Dr. Sugg works with and supports researchers working on translational aspects of breast cancer.

Ronald Weigel, MD, PhD, Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery

            The Weigel laboratory studies mechanisms of gene regulation that control a number of processes in cancer biology including oncogenesis, tumorigenesis, metastasis and drug resistance.

Lucy Wibbenmeyer, MD, Division of Acute Care Surgery

            Conducts clinical research in burn treatment.