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George Molina, MD, MPH, Awarded a $338K National Institutes of Health Grant

George Molina, MD, MPH, has been awarded a $338K grant from the National Institutes of Health National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) for the study, “Identifying factors associated with variation in surgical treatment of colorectal liver metastasis.”

The study’s main goal is to identify factors associated with variation in surgical treatment of colorectal liver metastasis, locally and nationally.

George Molina, MD, MPH
Associate Surgeon, Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Molina graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a BS in cellular and molecular biology. He obtained his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and he completed an MPH in quantitative methods at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He completed his general surgery residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and a fellowship in complex surgical oncology at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Hospital Cancer Center and Massachusetts General Hospital.

As part of his general surgery training, Dr. Molina also completed a two-year postgraduate research fellowship at Ariadne Labs, where he worked on projects in health systems innovation and research, global surgery modeling, clinical studies in surgical oncology, surgical safety culture in inpatient and ambulatory settings and impact of a surgical safety checklist program.

He is board certified in general surgery, and he is a member of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO).

Dr. Molina’s clinical and research interests include improving the safety, quality and equity of surgical care through health systems innovation. He is also interested in understanding the impact of fragmentation of cancer care on disparities in surgical outcomes in the United States. Dr. Molina will be conducting his research at the Center for Surgery and Public Health and at Ariadne Labs.

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Zara Cooper, MD, MSc, Awarded a $3.3M National Institutes of Health Grant

Zara Cooper, MD, Msc, has been awarded a $3.3M National Institutes of Health grant for the study, “A layered examination of the patient experience to elucidate the role of palliative care in surgical care for seriously ill older adults.”

Over 1 million older adults with serious illness have major surgery or severe trauma each year, and palliative care delivered alongside surgical care can help relieve patient suffering, improve postoperative outcomes and reduce health care utilization. Although seriously ill surgical patients benefit from palliative care, they are less likely than other patients to receive it. The proposed study will provide an innovative and layered examination of the role of palliative care in surgery in order to directly inform bedside clinical decisions and the implementation of targeted palliative care interventions to improve care for older seriously ill surgical patients.

Zara Cooper, MD, MSc
Michele and Howard J. Kessler Distinguished Chair in Surgery and Public Health
Kessler Director, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Chair, Executive Advisory Committee, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Health
Director, Center for Geriatric Surgery
Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Cooper is an acute care surgeon, trauma surgeon and surgical intensivist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she also serves as Kessler director of the Center for Surgery and Public Health (CSPH), chair of the Executive Advisory Committee for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Health and director of the Center for Geriatric Surgery. Dr. Cooper is an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and adjunct faculty at the Marcus Institute for Aging Research. A graduate of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Dr. Cooper completed her general surgery residency and critical care fellowship at the Brigham; a trauma fellowship at Harborview Medical Center and the University of Washington; and training in hospice and palliative medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Brigham.

Her research aims to improve palliative and geriatric care for older seriously ill surgical patients. A national leader in surgical palliative care and geriatric trauma, she has authored over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts, chapters, and abstracts and lectures nationally about surgical care in complex older patients.

Dr. Cooper is currently funded through the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), the National Palliative Care Research Center (NPCRC), the Department of Defense and is a co-investigator on multiple federally funded grants. She also serves on numerous editorial boards and committees for professional societies, Mass General Brigham and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is a member of the Brigham Health Board of Trustees.

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Welcoming New Faculty – Stella E. Lee, MD

Please join us in welcoming Stella E. Lee, MD, as a new faculty member in the Department of Surgery.

Stella E. Lee, MD
Associate Surgeon, Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Section Chief, Rhinology, Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

Dr. Lee received a Bachelor of Science in neuroscience and English from Duke University and her medical degree from Chicago Medical School. She completed her residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Yale University, followed by a fellowship in rhinology and skull base surgery at Johns Hopkins University.

Before coming to the Brigham, Dr. Lee served as the division chief for Sinonasal Disorders and Allergy in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for ten years. At the Brigham, Dr. Lee will also serve as the section chief of Rhinology in the Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

Dr. Lee is experienced in the comprehensive management of patients with complex rhinologic, allergic and skull base disorders. Her research interests include characterization of the inflammatory endotypes of chronic rhinosinusitis, the impact of environmental pollution on airway inflammation and advancing the care of patients with cystic fibrosis and hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. She is a leader in the development of novel therapeutics and creation of new paradigms of how we conceptualize and treat sinus and skull base disorders.