Greg Kennedy, MD, PhD graduated from the University of Washington School of Medicine and received his PHD in cancer biology from the University of Wisconsin where he also completed his general surgery training. He has extensive research experience runs a funded basic science laboratory that studies the role of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor in colorectal carcinogenesis. He is currently the John H. Blue Chair of General Surgery and the Director of Gastrointestinal Surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Ankush Gosain, MD, PhD is an Associate Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Director of Surgical Research at the Children's Foundation Research Institute of Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. His NIH-funded laboratory focuses on the development of the enteric nervous system and gastrointestinal mucosal immune system. The long-term goal of his research is to gain an understanding of the interactions between the enteric nervous and gastrointestinal immune systems in both development and disease to permit the generation of novel neuro-immunomodulatory therapies that may potentially target a broad range of congenital and acquired pediatric gastrointestinal tract diseases (Hirschsprung's disease, necrotizing enterocolitis, intestinal atresia, motility disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, etc.). Melina R. Kibbe, MD, is Professor of Surgery with tenure, and the Colin G. Thomas, Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of North Carolina (UNC). She also is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Prior to UNC, Dr. Kibbe was faculty at Northwestern University for 13 years where she also served as the Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Surgery and as Deputy Director of the Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology. Clinically, Dr. Kibbe has significant experience withboth open and endovascular surgery. Dr. Kibbe's research interests focus on developing novel therapies for patients with vascular disease while simultaneously studying the mechanism of how these therapies impact the vascular wall. Dr. Kibbe has been funded for her research by the NIH, VA, DOD, and AHA, among others, and received an award in recognition of her research from President Obama in 2009. Her bibliography includes over 270 peer-reviewed manuscripts, review articles, and book chapters and she has received 21 awards for her teaching efforts as a faculty member. Dr. Kibbe has assumed national positions of leadership. She is the Editor-in-Chief for JAMA Surgery. She is past-president for the Association for Academic Surgery, the Midwestern Vascular Surgical Society, and the Association of VA Surgeons. She is also an active member in the American College of Surgeons, the American Surgical Association, the Society for Vascular Surgery, and the American Heart Association, among others. Most recently, she was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine. Scott A. LeMaire, M.D. is the Jimmy and Roberta Howell Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery, the Vice Chair for Research in the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, the Director of Research in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, and Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Baylor College of Medicine, as well as a member of the professional staff in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at the Texas Heart Institute and Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Dr. LeMaire graduated from Northwestern University Medical School in 1992 and completed residency training in cardiothoracic surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in 1999. His primary clinical interest focuses on the management of patients with thoracic aortic disease, with a particular emphasis on treatment of aortic dissection and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms. His corresponding research program focuses on organ protection during aortic surgery, genetic aspects of thoracic aortic disease, and molecular mechanisms of aortic degeneration. He has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and the Thoracic Surgery Foundation for Research and Education for his research studying the pathobiology of thoracic aortic aneurysms and aortic dissection. At Baylor, he has received both the Michael E. DeBakey Excellence in Research Award and the Fulbright & Jaworski Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching and Evaluation, the most prominent awards in research and education given by the College. Dr. LeMaire is a past-president of the Association for Academic Surgery and is the current editor-in-chief of the Journal of Surgical Research.
