Miriam Nuño, PhD - Chair

Miriam Nuño is an Associate Professor in Biostatistics and Associate Professor In Residence in the School of Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences. Her research focuses on surgical outcomes, methodological development of metrics aimed to improve patient outcomes and comparative effectiveness studies. Dr. Nuño completed her Ph.D. at Cornell University, postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard School of Public Health and University of California Los Angeles prior to co-directing the Center of Neurosurgical Outcomes Research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Misty Humphries, M.D., MAS - Vice Chair

Dr. Humphries specializes in open vascular and advanced endovascular treatment for arterial and venous disease. Her primary clinic interest is in endovascular treatment of complex aortic aneurismal disease, as well as peripheral artery disease. This has provided her the opportunity to speak on a national and international level about the use of advanced endovascular interventions in the treatment of complex aortic pathology, including aortic dissection and aneurismal disease.

Lisa M. Brown, M.D., MAS - Secretary

Dr. Brown has had extensive advanced training using minimally invasive techniques including thoracoscopic (VATS), laparoscopic, endoscopic, and robotic surgery.  Dr. Brown has a Master's of Advanced Study degree in Clinical Research. She is interested in outcomes research including retrospective and prospective cohort studies, cost-effectiveness analyses, and clinical trials. She is developing research foci on patient-centered outcomes and lung cancer in women.

Garth Utter, M.D., M.Sc.

Dr. Utter has clinical expertise in the fields of trauma surgery, emergency general surgery, and critical care. He has active research interests in the optimal circumstances for chest tube removal, the effectiveness of counseling techniques in reducing problematic drinking behavior, the survival of donor blood cells following transfusion (called "micro chimerism"), the influence of blood transfusion on outcomes from traumatic brain injury, and indicators of the quality of health care. He has participated in extramurally funded projects on the topics of alcohol-related counseling (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), microchimerism (National Institutes of Health), and quality of care indicators (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality).

Nasim Hedayati, M.D., MAS

Dr. Hedayati  specializes in complex vascular surgery, including revascularization of lower extremity arterial occlusive disease using endovascular and open techniques, aortic aneurysm repair,  treatment of mesenteric and renal artery disease and treatment of varicose veins.  Her research interests include outcomes of open bypass and endovascular procedures for lower extremity arterial disease with emphasis on effects of gender and race/ethnicity and the use of stem cells for the treatment of severe arterial disease of lower extremities. She also has a strong research interest in outcomes of treatment of varicose veins and complex venous disease.

David Tom Cooke, M.D. - Councilor-At-Large

Dr. Cooke is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, the Section Head of General Thoracic Surgery, and the Program Director of the UC Davis Cardiothoracic Surgery Residencies.  He specializes in the surgical treatment of malignant and benign lung and esophageal disease, and minimally invasive thoracic surgery.  His research includes multi-disciplinary oncology trials, surgical outcomes/health services research, patient-centered outcomes research, surgical education, and public medical communication using social media.  Dr. Cooke’s research goals are to contribute new knowledge in the access, delivery, cost, and outcomes in general thoracic and thoracic surgical oncology.  His work in patient-centered outcomes and patient engagement has promoted healthcare literacy and patient understanding of evidence based medicine and standard of care clinical practices for lung cancer.  He completed his cardiothoracic surgery training at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, general surgery residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital, medical school at Harvard and undergraduate at UC Berkeley.

Robert J. Canter, M.D., MAS

Dr. Canter's clinical interests include soft tissue sarcoma, upper gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies including stomach, pancreas, and hepatobiliary. His research interests includes soft tissue sarcoma, radiologic and metabolic markers of response to neoadjuvant therapy, as well as novel treatment strategies for neoadjuvant therapy. Dr. Canter's philosophy is to have coordinated care for the oncology patient.

Shinjiro Hirose, M.D.

Dr. Hirose is pediatric surgeon specializing in minimally invasive and cancer-related procedures. He serves as chief of pediatric surgery at UC Davis Children’s Hospital and is the director of pediatric surgery for the adjoining Shriners Hospitals for Children – Northern California.  Dr. Hirose specializes in minimally invasive surgery for gastro-intestinal, biliary, liver and thoracic disorders in fetuses and children, and is a nationally recognized children’s cancer surgeon. He is an expert in the development and use of surgical robotics in children. His specific clinical interests also include chest wall deformities and hepatobiliary surgery.

Gregory J. Jurkovich, M.D.

Dr. Jurkovich is the Donant Professor of Trauma Medicine and Vice-Chair for Surgery. He has a 30-year history of treating the most severely injured trauma patients, managing their critical care illness, and addressing their operative repair needs.  He has been Chief of Surgery at Denver Health and Hospitals, and prior to that, Chief of Trauma at the University of Washington’s Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. His research interests have been in the patient-centered and clinically important outcomes of individual trauma and emergency general surgery patients, but also in the design of the ideal trauma system. 

Jeffrey S. Hoch, PhD

Dr. Hoch’s experience is in health services research related to cancer, mental health, and other health issues affecting poor and vulnerable populations. An award winning teacher, Dr Hoch has taught Health Economics and Economic Evaluation classes in the United States and internationally.  Dr Hoch pursues research making health economics more useful to decision makers.

Patrick Romano, M.D., MPH, FACP, FAAP

Dr. Romano's research and teaching interests focus on developing, testing, and validating health care quality measures, using outcomes data to improve the quality and effectiveness of health care, and studying the role of physicians and nurses in optimizing quality and safety across the health care industry.

Arti Kumar, Executive Assistant