The 7/13/09 issue of the The Carolina Curator, published by UNC’s Health Sciences Library, features “Dr. Benson Wilcox: Surgeon, Scholar, and Benefactor.”

July 10, 2009 — George F. Sheldon, MD, FACS, Director of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Health Policy Research Institute and Zack D. Owens Distinguished Professor of Surgery and professor of social medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, testified on behalf of the ACS at a July 8 House Committee on Small Business hearing.

July 6, 2009 — Matthew G. Ewend, M.D., director of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center program in neuro-oncology, received the Alumni Achievement Award from the ewendcyber2Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Department of Neurosurgery.

Michael Helmrath, MD, in the Division of Pediatric Surgery, has been awarded a 5 year grant for his project studying “Mechanisms of intestinal stem cell expansion following resection”. The award, R01DK083325, is supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and covers the project period 07/01/2009 – 06/30/2014.

June 25, 2009 — The UNC Health Care YouTube site features a novel aneurysm approach by Dr. Anand Germanwala, on faculty in the Divison of Neurosurgery.

David Gerber, MD, of Transplant Surgery, has been appointed by Chancellor Holden Thorp to the search committee for the University’s next executive vice chancellor and provost, a position being vacated by Bernadette Gray-Little. The seventeen-member search committee, chaired by H. Shelton Earp, MD, will recommend a final slate of candidates to the chancellor, who will forward his recommendation to the Board of Trustees for approval. The position serves as chief academic officer and oversees all academic operations including thirteen schools and the College of Arts and Sciences, the University Library, a variety of centers and several cultural and and educational units.

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences has awarded a 5 year grant to Bruce A. Cairns, MD, Director of the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center, for his project studying the “Cellular mechanism of immune dysfuncton following burn injury”. The project, supported by Award Number R01GM076250, covers the period 04/06/2009 – 03/31/2014.

The Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery is pleased to announce that the division will be split into two Sections.

Dr. Koruda will remain the Chief of the Division and head the Section of General GI Surgery. This section will include Dr. Timothy Sadiq, Dr. Christopher Rupp and their support staff.