Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery
Major, United States Air Force
To see if Rachel Michelle Russo is accepting new patients, or for assistance finding a UC Davis doctor, please call 800-2-UCDAVIS (800-282-3284).
Dr. Russo seeks to heal patients while guiding their families to a better tomorrow. She is dedicated to serving our community's health needs while mentoring the next generation of surgeons and scientists.
Dr. Russo is an Air Force Trauma Surgeon caring for adults and children with a critical illness or in need of emergency surgery. She has a special clinical interest in caring for pregnant women suffering from blood loss and expertise in hemorrhage control.
Dr. Russo's research focuses on the management of shock in military and civilian settings. She specifically investigates novel therapies to reduce deaths from sepsis, blood loss, and brain injury. She also has a special interest in device development and automated critical care platforms for remote environments.
Division of Trauma, Acute Care Surgery and Surgical Critical Care
Trauma Program
B.S., B.A., University of Central Florida, Orlando FL 2005
M.D., University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami FL 2011
M.A.S, Clinical Research, UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center, Sacramento CA 2016
General Surgery, UC Davis, Sacramento CA 2011-2012
General Surgery, UC Davis, Sacramento CA 2012-2018
Surgery Critical Care, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor MI 2018-2019
Trauma and Critical Care Translational Science, Trauma and Critical Care Translational Science Center, Ann Arbor MI 2019-2020
1st Place, Best Pitch for a Novel Surgical Innovation, Michigan Surgical Innovation Shark Tank, 2019
University of Michigan Hospital, Making A Difference Award, exceptional performance managing patients and families dealing with critical illness and end of life, 2019
Elks National Foundation, Alum of the Year, Outstanding Commitment to Community Service, 2016
1st Place, Resident Paper Competition, American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT), 2016
1st Place, Resident Paper Competition, American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, 2015
1st Place Outstanding Poster Presentation. Military Health Sciences Research Symposium, 2015
Tian Y, Russo RM, Li Y, Karmakar M, Liu B, Puskarich MA, Jones AE, Stringer KA, Standiford TJ, Alam HB. Serum citrullinated histone H3 concentrations differentiate patients with septic verses non-septic shock and correlate with disease severity. Infection. 2020 Sep 30:1–11. doi:10.1007/s15010-020-01528-y. Epub ahead of print. PMID:33000445.
Russo RM, Franklin CJ, Davidson AJ, Carlisle PL, Iancu AM, Baer DG, Alam HB. A new, pressure-regulated balloon catheter for partial resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2020 Aug;89(2S Suppl 2):S45-S49. doi:10.1097/TA.0000000000002770. PMID:32345889.
Russo R, Kemp M, Bhatti UF, Pai M, Wakam G, Biesterveld B, Alam HB. Life on the battlefield: Valproic acid for combat applications. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2020 Aug;89(2S Suppl 2):S69-S76. doi:10.1097/TA.0000000000002721. PMID:32282756.
Russo RM, Galante JM, Holcomb JB, Dorlac W, Brocker J, King DR, Knudson MM, Scalea TM, Cheatham ML, Fang R. Mass casualty events: what to do as the dust settles? Trauma Surg Acute Care Open. 2018;3(1):e000210. doi:10.1136/tsaco-2018-000210. eCollection 2018. PMID:30402561.
Davidson AJ, Russo RM, Reva VA, Brenner ML, Moore LJ, Ball C, Bulger E, Fox CJ, DuBose JJ, Moore EE, Rasmussen TE; BEST Study Group. The pitfalls of resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta: Risk factors and mitigation strategies. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2018 Jan;84(1):192-202. doi:10.1097/TA.0000000000001711. Erratum in: J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2018 Mar;84(3):544. PMID:29266052.
Russo RM, Girda E, Kennedy V, Humphries MD. Two lives, one REBOA: Hemorrhage control for urgent cesarean hysterectomy in a Jehovah's Witness with placenta percreta. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2017 Sep;83(3):551-553. doi:10.1097/TA.0000000000001602. PMID:28557847.
Russo RM, Neff LP. The Military Perspective: pediatric trauma. Curr Trauma Rep. 2016 Dec;2(4):247-255. doi:10.1007/s40719-016-0061-z. Online Published 2016 Oct 1.
Russo RM, Neff LP, Lamb CM, Cannon JW, Galante JM, Clement NF, Grayson JK, Williams TK. Partial Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta in Swine Model of Hemorrhagic Shock. J Am Coll Surg. 2016 Aug;223(2):359-68. doi:10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2016.04.037. Epub 2016 Apr 29. PMID:27138649.
Russo RM, Williams TK, Grayson JK, Lamb CM, Cannon JW, Clement NF, Galante JM, Neff LP. Extending the golden hour: Partial resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta in a highly lethal swine liver injury model. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2016 Mar;80(3):372-8;discussion 378-80. doi:10.1097/TA.0000000000000940. PMID:26670114.
Russo RM, Galante JM, Jacoby RC, Shatz DV. Mass casualty disasters: who should run the show? J Emerg Med. 2015 Jun;48(6):685-92. doi:10.1016/j.jemermed.2014.12.069. Epub 2015 Mar 30. PMID:25837230.