Adult Bariatric Program Continuing COE Accreditation with Optum and the New Accreditation for the Adolescent Program

The Bariatric Surgery Program at the Virginia Commonwealth University has continuously achieved excellence in providing high-quality care for both adults and adolescents seeking bariatric surgery. Accredited as a Level 1 Program for Adults and Adolescents by the prestigious American College of Surgeons Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program, the program has consistently maintained this certification for the past four years.

In addition to this recognition, the Adult Bariatric Surgery Program at VCU is widely acknowledged as a Center of Excellence (COE) by major payers within the state, including Aetna, Blue Cross & Blue Shield (Blue Center of Distinction), and Optum/United. This esteemed COE status signifies the program's exceptional standards and outcomes, ensuring that patients receive the highest level of care and support.

Moreover, during the recent re-accreditation cycle, the VCU Bariatric Surgery Adolescent Program, specifically with Optum/United, has surpassed the required volume threshold and it has now gained recognition as a COE for adolescent patients as well. This achievement further reinforces the program's commitment to providing comprehensive, specialized care to both adults and adolescents seeking bariatric surgery.

Overall, the VCU Bariatric Surgery Program's continuous certification as a Level 1 Program, coupled with its esteemed COE status and the recent expansion to include the Adolescent Program, exemplifies its dedication to excellence, patient safety, and optimal outcomes in the field of bariatric surgery.

Students' Choice Award for Surgical Teaching Excellence

In an effort to celebrate these outstanding individuals (attendings and residents), we have created a teaching recognition entitled, "Students' Choice Award for Surgical Teaching Excellence." We aim to give the award after each rotation is complete. Students will nominate individuals and vote—comments will be recorded and shared with the Department of Surgery. Certificates will be provided to the winners.

For Block 1, the Students' Choice Award for Surgical Teaching Excellence is:

Attending: Raphael Louie MD - Surgical Oncology

"When you are in a case, Dr. Louie makes you feel that you are a part of the team and pimps you when you get something wrong but goes through the process of what is wrong and helps you get to the right conclusion."

"Most professional attending, never raises his voice or changes his tone in the OR. Incredibly kind and promotes a very positive work environment."

 "Does a great job in explaining patient prognosis and communicating to students and to patients. 

"Plays music and promotes a really good experience" 

Runner ups:  

Gregory Golladay, MD

Sayuri Jinadasa, MD

Paschalia Mountziaris, MD

Sarah Krzastek, MD

Jennifer Catlin, MD

Daniel Coelho, MD

Adam, Klausner, MD

Resident: Yannis Reissis, MBBS (PGY-5)

"Dr. Reissis would hold education sessions for medical students and would walk through cases from start to end"

"Did a phenomenal job of walking through the student's thought process, highlighting what was good and what areas they need to change." 

"At the VA, while being chief resident for Vascular Surgery, he still had time to teach and was very patient with students. Was helpful in putting out all fires." 

"Makes everyone feel comfortable and students really enjoyed his leadership style." 

Runner ups: 

Yahya Alwatari, MBBCh, PGY-5

Taylor Jacobs, MD, PGY- 1 Categorical

Wesley Lemons, MD, PGY-1 (Orthopedic Resident) 

Graham Gardner, MD, PGY-2 Categorical

Willam Brenton French, MD, PGY-4

Alexander Simmonds, MD, PGY-3

Renee Cholyway, MD, PGY-4 

Theodore Cisu, MD, PGY-5 (Urology Resident) 

Congratulations to Dr. Louie and Dr. Reissis and all the honorable mentions. THANK YOU to everyone for your dedication in teaching.

Congratulations to our Graduating Chiefs in General Surgery

Yahya Alwatari, MB, BCh, BAO

Post-residency plans:

Thoracic Surgery Fellowship

Mayo Clinic

Rochester, NY

Adam Beyer, DO

Post-residency Plans:

Vascular Surgery Fellowship

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC

Diyar Omer, MD, MPH

Post-residency Plans:

Vascular Surgery Fellowship

VCU

Richmond, VA

Yannis Reissis, MBBS, BSc

Post-residency Plans:

General Surgery Practice

National Health Service

United Kingdom

Ashley Shustak, MD, MPH

Post-residency Plans:

Colorectal Surgery Fellowship

Cleveland Clinic

Weston, FL

Wayne Tse, MD

Post-residency Plans:

Vascular Surgery Fellowship

The Ohio State University

Columbus, OH

Congratulations to the Following Winners of Awards at the Bigger Dinner held on June 17, 2023

ABSITE High Score Award

Dr. Bhavishya Ramamoorthy, MD

General Surgery Intern Medical Student Teaching Award

Dr. Kyle Alexander, MD

General Surgery Resident Medical Student Teaching Award

Dr. Yahya Alwatari, MB, BCh, BAO

General Surgery Intern of the Year Award

Dr. Mohamad Chehab, MD

Isaac A. Bigger Award

Dr. Yahya Alwatari, MB, BCh, BAO

Faculty Teaching Award for Excellence in Resident Education

Dr. Sayuri Jinadasa, MD

The Arnold A. Salzberg, M.D. Award in Surgery

Dr. Joel Berman, MD

2023 S. Dawson Theogaraj Lecture

This past June, VCU Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery hosted Bernard T. Lee, MD, MBA, MPH, Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School as the Annual S. Dawson Theogaraj Visiting Professor. Topics included: "Health Literacy in Surgery: Breast Cancer and Reconstruction" and "Improving Outcomes in Breast Reconstruction".

This annual event is named after Dr. S. Dawson Theogaraj, a professor of plastic surgery at the Medical College of Virginia from 1972 – 1984. In that short time, he established a legacy of mentorship, education, and dedication to compassionate patient care that we recognize today. Recruited by Dr. Kelman Cohen, Dr. Theogaraj rose quickly to the rank of full professor. He was a gifted teacher and surgeon who is remembered for his humility, generosity, and grace.

14th Annual Shining Knight Gala

On May 20th, the VCU Trauma Center held its fourteenth Shining Knight Gala, an annual occasion designed to celebrate lives saved and the community of women and men who save those lives. One of the highlights of the evening is an in-depth look into the journey of trauma patients; from injury to recovery.

Guests learned about the heroic efforts and collaboration of an outstanding team of “Shining Knights” made up of care providers from first responders, to trauma surgeons, nurses and countless others who worked together to save the life of this year’s featured patient, Natalie Rainer.

Also honored at this year’s gala was Diana Eadie, who received the Cole Sydnor Trauma Survivor Giving Back award for her work mentoring other trauma survivors. The Honorable Colette McEachin, Commonwealth's Attorney for the City of Richmond, received a special award on behalf of her late husband Representative A. Donald McEachin for his outstanding support against community violence through his political career. 

The Shining Knight Gala is a truly unique and poignant evening that highlights the outstanding work we are privileged to be a part of every day. Next year’s Shining Knight Gala will take place on Saturday, May 18, 2024 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. If you are interested in attending, please contact our event planner at amanda.vanthunen@vcuhealth.org for more information.

VCU Medical Center is proud to be Virginia’s longest-standing comprehensive Level I adult, pediatric and burn trauma center. Funds raised at the Shining Knight Gala are used to support our Injury and Violence Prevention Program (IVPP) — the Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education (CTCCE), the Trauma Survivors Network (TSN), Stop the Bleed and other programs — that benefit the communities in Richmond, Central Virginia and beyond.

If you are interested in supporting the VCU Trauma Center and its community serving programs you can do so by going to go.vcu.edu/give2skg

VCU Pancreatic Islet Cell Transplant Lab granted a contract to Distribute Human islets through the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Disease’s (NIDDK’s) Integrated Islet Distribution Program (IIDP) Initiative

The Pancreatic islet cell isolation lab at VCU has recently been awarded a contract to be an Islet Isolation Center (IIC) for the Integrated Islet Distribution Program (IIDP). The IIDP is the largest organized effort in the world to provide high-quality human pancreatic cells including islets and acinar cells for research investigators. IIDP is funded by the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Institute of the National Institute of Health (NIH). Research studies supported by the IIDP program include but are not limited to studying pancreatic cell biology, the pathophysiology of diabetes, and pancreatitis. Since its establishment, the IIDP has placed more than 277 million islets to 367 investigators, supporting more than 500 unique studies across 12 countries, yielding close to 900 peer-review publications.

As human islet preparations are expensive to process and require specialized expertise, only a few labs in the United States are capable of this venture. Before VCU, only 5 other centers in the United States have received the status of an IIC from the IIDP. The IICs are qualified based on the expertise of the isolation team and center director credentials, working relationships with local as well as specific distant Organ Procurement Organizations with the provision of consistent access to quality donor pancreata, exemplary islet isolation history, and stable recipient satisfaction. The process of awarding an IIC is highly regulated by a scientific review conducted by experts in the field of human islet research and/or isolation and distribution. After reviewing VCU’s islet lab experience and high-quality output, IIDP and the scientific review committee awarded this contract.

The pancreatic islet cell lab led by Dr. Mazhar Kanak, Ph.D. (pictured top left), performs human islet isolation clinical total pancreatectomy and Islet auto-transplantation (TPIAT) program for patients suffering from Chronic Pancreatitis. A total of 95 clinical cases have been completed since the inception of the program in 2016 by Dr. Marlon Levy. Apart from clinical isolations, the team performs regular training and proficiency isolation procedures using research pancreas obtained from deceased donors. The islet lab acknowledges the continuous support provided by the Department of Surgery and the Hume-Lee Transplant Institute to achieve this prestigious status.

Liza Serafin, MPH

Division Supervisor

Pediatric Surgery

Are you new to Richmond?

I grew up in rural Virginia and then moved to Waco, Texas to attend Baylor University where I received my undergraduate degree, B.S. Biology, and my graduate degree, Master of Public Health. I lived there for about 8 years and worked in Emergency Medicine within the Baylor Scott & White System during that time. I moved to Richmond two years ago after I finished my MPH to be closer to my family. 

Describe your role in your own words.

I am the Division Supervisor for Children's Surgery which encompasses Peds General Surg, Peds Urology, Peds Plastics, and Peds Cardiothoracic surgery. I work closely with our Providers and Chair to ensure our division is running smoothly and efficiently. My goal is to make my Providers lives easier and be their go-to person for problem solving! 

Most exciting and/or challenging part of your position?

The most exciting part of this position is being able to contribute in a meaningful way to our community, being able to take care of the administrative tasks so that our providers can focus on providing excellent service for each patient is incredibly fulfilling. I anticipate that the most challenging part of this position will be reworking the position to encompass the several added specialties as well as modernizing some of our current approaches. 

What gives you the greatest satisfaction in your job?



The greatest satisfaction I have found so far in this position is team building and growing personal relationships with my team members and providers. 

What do you do for fun outside of work?

Outside of work I enjoy cooking new recipes, reading/collecting books, and working on my novels (I currently have 2 published fiction novels). Most of my evenings are spent watching reality TV with my significant other, Ryan, and our two dogs, a grouchy Pekingese named Gizmo and an energetic Cavapoo named Cinnamon.

Got Research?

VCU SOM Research Opportunities & News

Research Questions?

Please contact: Amanda Jabri

Department of Surgery | Virginia Commonwealth University | (804) 828-7874 surgweb@vcu.edu