The Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery is proud to announce Dr. Ryan Kramer as the 2025 inductee into the Surgeon Scientist Training Program (SSTP). A general surgery intern and aspiring thoracic surgical oncologist, Dr. Kramer joins a distinguished group of trainees selected for their exceptional potential to bridge the worlds of surgical excellence and scientific innovation. He is the fourth resident to be named to the program since its inception in 2021.
The SSTP was established by Department Chair Dr. Nita Ahuja, a nationally recognized surgeon-scientist, to address a critical need in academic surgery: creating a pipeline for surgical residents to pursue rigorous, uninterrupted research alongside their clinical training. Led by Vice Chair of Research, Peter Gruber, MD, PhD, SSTP equips residents with the mentorship, resources, and structured protected time needed to develop high-impact research portfolios, ultimately positioning them for success in academic medicine.
“Surgeon-scientists are uniquely positioned to translate insights from the operating room to the bench and back again,” said Dr. Ahuja. “With SSTP, we aim to give our trainees a long runway for a smooth landing into academic careers—where they can make discoveries that directly benefit patients.”
Dr. Kramer brings to SSTP impressive experience in translational research in genetics and cancer biology, spanning from germline studies in inherited cardiomyopathies to clonal dynamics in hematologic malignancies. His scientific journey to date has included co-first author work in the Landstrom Lab at Duke University, where his research reshaped the clinical management of a young patient with cardiomyopathy. He further honed his expertise in the Ebert Lab at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute during a Sarnoff Fellowship year, mastering single-cell RNA sequencing and statistical modeling across large biobank datasets.
As an SSTP scholar, Dr. Kramer will join the Townsend Lab at Yale, where he will investigate the clonal evolution of lung cancer through a computational and evolutionary biology lens. His research will leverage whole-genome sequencing, mutational signature analysis, and causal inference models to elucidate tumor initiation and progression, with the goal of improving early detection and precision treatment strategies.
“Cancer is fundamentally a clonal and temporally variable process,” Dr. Kramer explains. “I believe an evolutionary framework offers powerful tools to understand—and ultimately interrupt—tumor growth. As a future thoracic surgeon, I’m drawn to this intersection of science and patient care.”
Dr. Kramer’s long-term goal is to lead a research lab focused on computational oncology, drawing on the unique strengths of the surgeon-scientist role: direct access to patient tissues, deep involvement in clinical decision-making, and the opportunity to drive meaningful translational discoveries.
He joins a growing community of SSTP scholars at Yale, including Dr. Clancy Mullan, Dr. Holly Blackburn, and 2024 graduate Dr. Makoto Mori. Each member exemplifies the program’s vision: to foster the next generation of academic leaders who will redefine what is possible at the interface of surgery and science.
The Department of Surgery congratulates Dr. Kramer on this milestone and looks forward to his continued growth and impact as a Yale surgeon-scientist.