Latest Surgery News & Announcements

Kristin Oliveira, MD, has been appointed Program Director of the General Surgery Residency Program in the Department of Surgery, effective April 10, following an extensive 18-month national search. A seasoned trauma surgeon and respected educator, Dr. Oliveira has served as Associate Program Director for seven years, leading key curriculum initiatives and shaping resident education. She succeeds Andrew Duffy, MD, whose steady leadership as Interim Program Director helped maintain program momentum.

This year’s awardees are tackling some of the most urgent life science challenges with projects spanning novel therapeutics to AI-powered medical solutions.

We are delighted to announce that Hiroshi Sogawa, MD, FACS will join the Yale School of Medicine Department of Surgery’s Transplant Division as Surgical Director of the Liver Transplant Program at Yale New Haven Hospital, effective April 15, 2025.

The Department of Surgery announces that Alan Dardik, MD, PhD, Chief of Surgery at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System and Professor of Surgery and Cellular and Molecular Physiology at Yale School of Medicine (YSM), will be stepping down from his Yale positions to pursue an exciting new leadership opportunity. Effective March 2025, Dr. Dardik will join the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai as Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Surgery and Co-Director of the Jacobson Aortic Center.

The Yale School of Medicine Department of Surgery is pleased to announce key leadership appointments within its residency training programs. Andrew Dhanasopon, MD, has been named Associate Program Director (APD) for the General Surgery Residency, effective Feb. 10.

Yale School of Medicine, the Department of Genetics, Yale New Haven Health, and the National Organization for Rare Disorders are hosting a Rare Disease Celebration on Friday, Feb. 21 from 1 – 5 p.m. at the Greenberg Conference Center.

Yale New Haven Hospital achieved a major medical milestone with the state’s first BATMAN (Balloon Assisted Translocation of the Mitral Anterior Leaflet) procedure, offering new hope for patients with severe mitral regurgitation (MR) and complex anatomical conditions. Led by Prashanth Vallabhajosyula, MD, and a multidisciplinary team of cardiologists, the innovative transcatheter approach combines the precision of the Basilica procedure with mitral valve implantation to address MR in patients at high surgical risk.

Sanjay Kulkarni, MD, and the Yale New Haven Transplantation Center’s living donor program are transforming lives through living kidney donations, which offer faster transplants, better outcomes, and longer-lasting organs. The story of David N., a Middlebury man with chronic kidney disease, highlights this impact. After years on dialysis and facing an eight-year wait for a donor, David’s life changed when Deborah Dooley, a childhood acquaintance, stepped forward to donate her kidney. Dr. Kulkarni emphasized the safety and benefits of living donations, made possible by minimally invasive procedures and quick recovery times, while calling for increased public awareness to address the organ donor shortage. Deborah’s selfless...

Yale medical student Jake Moscarelli has been selected to deliver an oral presentation at the prestigious American Association of Plastic Surgeons (AAPS) 103rd Annual Meeting on May 26. His project, “Dual Perfusion Superomedial Pedicle in Reduction Mammoplasty - A Prospective Intraoperative Radiographic Study,” is a collaboration with principal investigator Dr. Paris Butler. Chosen from over 1,054 submissions, with only 8% accepted for podium presentations, Jake’s work exemplifies innovation and excellence. Dr. Butler praised the achievement, calling it “extraordinary” and a testament to Jake’s talent and dedication.