Department of Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine Forms New Executive Committee to Provide “Visionary Governance”

New Faculty Committee to Advise Chair on Strategic Direction and Range of Departmental Initiatives from Education to Discovery-Based Science

University of Maryland School of Medicine Department of Surgery Chairman Stephen Bartlett, MD, announced today the formation of a new Department of Surgery Executive Committee. The new committee, which draws from the Department’s top clinical and research faculty leadership, will provide strategic oversight and advice on ongoing departmental operations and initiatives with the goal of advancing innovation, growth, and visibility.

“With the creation of the new Executive Committee, we are establishing a new and highly effective level of visionary governance for our department,” said Dr. Bartlett, who is also the Peter G. Angelos Distinguished Professor of Surgery at the School of Medicine as well as surgeon-in-chief and senior vice president at the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS). “Given the experience and accomplishment of its members, this new committee will provide the inspired leadership necessary to lift our department to new levels of achievement.”

Meeting weekly, the committee will set the strategic direction of the Department of Surgery and make recommendations to the Chair regarding research direction, clinical matters, department visibility, and educational initiatives, while ensuring that all efforts move forward in the context of sound financial analysis. A central mandate for the committee will be to promote discovery-based surgical science that could lead to new breakthroughs in patient care. The committee also will explore new collaborative clinical opportunities within Surgery’s divisions, as well as with other departments in the School of Medicine.

The new Executive Committee members are:

Vice Chair for Academic Affairs and Committee Chair John Olson M.D., Ph.D. is the Campbell and Jeanette Plugge professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, as well as vice chair of the department of surgery at the School of Medicine, and chief of the division of general and oncologic surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Dr. Olson joined the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 2012 following a 12-year tenure on the faculty of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Prior to working at Duke, he trained in surgical oncology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, in general surgery at Washington University in St. Louis Missouri, and was a Registrar of the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh, Scotland. He received his MD and PhD degrees from the University of Florida in Gainesville. Dr. Olson is a board-certified surgeon who specializes in endocrine and oncologic surgery with a focus on surgical diseases of the thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal glands, and breast. He is a member-elect of the American Surgical Association, and is a member of the Halsted Society, the Society of Clinical Surgeons, the Society of University Surgeons, and the Southern Surgical Association. Dr. Olson has been named to America's Top Doctors, Best Doctors, and US News and World Report's top 1% of doctors in his specialty in the United States.

Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs Rajabrata Sarkar, M.D., Ph.D. is a professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, head of the Division of Vascular Surgery at the School of Medicine, and chief of vascular surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He joined the Department of Surgery at the School of Medicine from the University of California, San Francisco, where he was an associate professor of surgery and a vascular surgeon. Dr. Sarkar received both his MD and PhD in physiology from the University of Michigan Medical School and completed a surgical residency at UCLA. His training continued with a residency in vascular surgery at the University of Michigan. Dr. Sarkar is an expert in treating blood vessel disorders and a nationally known researcher in blood vessel growth and development, with additional special interests in deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

Vice Chair for Research Jonathan Bromberg, M.D., Ph.D. is a professor of surgery and microbiology and immunology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, director of research in the Division of Transplantation at the School of Medicine, and director of strategic services for transplantation at the University of Maryland Medical Center He has devoted his 20-year career to investigating the role of immunology in transplantation, with a current focus on the effects of chemokines and cell migration on the immune response. Dr. Bromberg received both his MD and PhD from Harvard Medical School and completed a surgical residency at the University of Washington. His training continued with a transplantation fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the Department of Surgery in 2011, Dr. Bromberg practiced for more than a decade at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

Vice Chair for Quality and Safety Jose Diaz M.D. is a professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the chief of acute care surgery at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center, and Program Director of the Acute Care Surgery Fellowship. Dr. Diaz received his MD from University of Texas Medical School and completed residencies in General Surgery at Huron Hospital and the University of Kentucky Hospital. His training continued with a Trauma and Surgical Critical Care fellowship at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Diaz’s special interests include thoracic trauma, complex abdominal wall reconstruction and ventral hernia, re-do general surgery, intestinal fistulas, and surgical nutrition.

Michele Mehrling, MBA, Department of Surgery Senior Administrator, oversees the management of the Department's financial and operational activities. A healthcare professional with over 20 years of experience, Ms. Mehrling joined the Department of Surgery in 2014, having previously worked as a Surgery Administrator at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and as a Senior Administrator Manager in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Her current responsibilities include operations planning and budgeting, project management, and statistical and financial analysis.

“The creation of the Department of Surgery’s Executive Committee is a bold and strategic step,” says UM SOM Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, who is also the vice president for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor. “By convening this leadership committee, the Department of Surgery will increase the pace of discovery while promoting the highest quality of patient-centered care.”

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

The University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 and is the first public medical school in the United States and continues today as an innovative leader in accelerating innovation and discovery in medicine. The School of Medicine is the founding school of the University of Maryland and is an integral part of the 11-campus University System of Maryland. Located on the University of Maryland’s Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine works closely with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide a research-intensive, academic and clinically based education. With 43 academic departments, centers and institutes and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians and research scientists plus more than $400 million in extramural funding, the School is regarded as one of the leading biomedical research institutions in the U.S. with top-tier faculty and programs in cancer, brain science, surgery and transplantation, trauma and emergency medicine, vaccine development and human genomics, among other centers of excellence. The School is not only concerned with the health of the citizens of Maryland and the nation, but also has a global presence, with research and treatment facilities in more than 35 countries around the world.  medschool.umaryland.edu/

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