INTRODUCING NEW FACULTY: Pediatric Surgeon (Dr. Richard J. Scriven) + Laparoscopic and General Surgeon (Dr. Arif Ahmad)

On May 1, 2001, Richard J. Scriven, MD, joined our Division of Pediatric Surgery as assistant professor of surgery. He comes to Stony Brook from the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, where he practiced for the past two years.

Dr. Scriven received his MD in 1990 from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He subsequently completed his residency in general surgery at the SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn, where he also completed his fellowship training in pediatric surgery. He is board certified in both general surgery and pediatric surgery.

Dr. Scriven's clinical practice at Stony Brook will provide comprehensive surgical care for children—from newborn infants to adolescents—with congenital or acquired diseases of the neck, chest, abdomen, and soft tissues.

Areas of special interest include congenital anomalies of the esophagus, necrotizing enterocolitis, and pediatric trauma. His current research interests are microvascular reactivity and mesenteric blood-flow changes during fetal development.

In joining our Division of Pediatric Surgery, Dr. Scriven will work closely with Cedric J. Priebe, Jr., MD, professor of clinical surgery and chief of pediatric surgery at University Hospital and Medical Center.

For consultations/appointments with Dr. Scriven, please call 631-444-4538.

On July 1, 2001, Arif Ahmad, MBBS, FRCS(Edin), FRCS(Eng), assistant professor of surgery, joined our Division of General Surgery as director of the Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery. He comes to Stony Brook from the University of Virginia, where he just completed a fellowship in advanced laparoscopic surgery, and was on the surgical faculty as laparoscopic instructor.

Dr. Ahmad received his medical degree (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery: MBBS) from the University of Calcutta in 1985, with numerous distinctions and awards. He then underwent postgraduate surgical training, for which he received his Master of Surgery (MS), and was awarded the Gold Medal in Surgery for best performance among all surgical trainees of the MS program.

In 1989, Dr. Ahmad moved to England and spent four years in surgical training, equivalent to residency, as "registrar" in surgery at medical centers of the University of Liverpool. He had become a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1988, and in 1991 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Dr. Ahmad's interest in academic surgery then motivated him to come to the United States in 1994, and he was clinical fellow in surgery (surgical nutrition and metabolic care) at the New England Deaconess Hospital, Harvard Medical School, from 1994 to mid-1995.

From Harvard, Dr. Ahmad moved to the University of Connecticut to complete a five-year surgical residency (1995–2000), in order to meet the requirements for board certification in surgery in the U.S.

At Stony Brook, Dr. Ahmad will practice his specialty of laparoscopic and general surgery. He will also serve to direct and further develop the Center of Minimally Invasive Surgery. His special interest and expertise are in conventional as well as laparoscopic gastrointestinal/foregut surgery, including laparoscopic antireflux surgery and laparoscopic bariatric surgery.

An active scholar, Dr. Ahmad has published several research papers in peer-reviewed journals and also book chapters. His current research interests are in the areas of surgical nutrition, bariatric surgery, and laparoscopic surgery.

For consultations/appointments with Dr. Ahmad, please call 631-444-4545.