INTRODUCING NEW FACULTY: Breast Surgeon (Dr. Christine Rizk) + Cardiac Surgeon (Dr. Sandeep Gupta) + Colorectal Surgeon (Dr. Paula Denoya) + General Surgeon (Dr. Jared M. Huston) + Plastic Surgeon, Hand Surgeon (Dr. Jason C. Ganz) + Surgical Oncologist, Hepatobiliary Surgeon (Dr. Philip Bao) + Vascular Surgeon (Dr. David S. Landau)

"On behalf of the Department of Surgery," says Todd K. Rosengart, MD, professor and chairman of surgery, and chief of cardiothoracic surgery, "it is my pleasure to introduce to you the seven new members of our department faculty, who join us from many of the leading programs across the country. These new members of our faculty bring with them a broad range of expertise and experiences, with which we will seek to continue to expand our services and care for our patients."

Breast surgeon Christine Rizk, MD, has joined the Division of Surgical Oncology as assistant professor of surgery. She comes to Stony Brook from Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY, where for the past three years she has been practicing in the Division of Breast and Soft Tissue Surgery, and serving as a member of the surgical faculty at SUNY-Buffalo.

Board certified in general surgery, Dr. Rizk will focus her practice at Stony Brook on breast surgery, and provide clinical services for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

Dr. Rizk was selected for inclusion in the 2009 edition of Guide to America's Top Surgeons, published by the Consumers' Research Council of America. She also has received many awards including humanitarian and teaching awards.

Dr. Rizk's research interests include nipple-sparing mastectomy, oncoplastic surgery, and breast conserving surgery to improve breast cosmesis.

Dr. Rizk earned her MD with honors in 2000 from SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY, and completed her residency training in general surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH. She then completed a fellowship in breast diseases at Brown University's Women and Infants Hospital in Providence, RI, after which she joined the breast care team at Roswell Park.

For consultations/appointments with Dr. Rizk, please call 631-638-1000.

Cardiac surgeon Sandeep Gupta, MD, has joined the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery as assistant professor of surgery. He comes to Stony Brook from the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH, where he completed both his general surgery residency and his cardiothoracic surgery fellowship. He is not only an accomplished surgeon, but also a distinguished innovator in minimally invasive mitral valve repair surgery.

Board certified in general surgery, Dr. Gupta will focus his practice at Stony Brook on surgery for all forms of adult heart disease. His special interests include minimally invasive complex mitral valve repair and aortic valve surgery, including robotic mitral valve repair.

In addition, Dr. Gupta will treat high-risk patients after acute myocardial infarctions and patients with congestive heart failure, aortic disease, and history of prior cardiac surgery. He specializes in the use of all arterial conduits for patients with coronary artery disease.

Dr. Gupta was selected for inclusion in the 2009 edition of Guide to America's Top Surgeons, published by the Consumers' Research Council of America.

Dr. Gupta has numerous publications, as well as national and international presentations, to his credit. He received the Cleveland Clinic Foundation Innovator Award for development of devices to enhance the practice of minimally invasive mitral valve repair surgery.

Currently, Dr. Gupta is developing new devices to allow mitral valves to be repaired with smaller incisions. His research interests include minimizing the risk of acute and chronic rejection in heart and lung transplant recipients by identifying new HLA and non-HLA antibodies involved in organ rejection.

Dr. Gupta received his MD with honors in 2000 from the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington, VT. He then went to the Cleveland Clinic for his training in general surgery, after which he completed a transplant research fellowship there in the departments of thoracic and cardiothoracic surgery and transplantation. Subsequently, in 2006, he entered the training program in cardiothoracic surgery.

For consultations/appointments with Dr. Gupta, please call 631-444-1820.

Colorectal surgeon Paula I. Denoya, MD, has joined the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery as assistant professor of surgery. She comes to Stony Brook from Cleveland Clinic Florida, located in Weston, FL, where she completed fellowship training in colorectal surgery.

Board certified in general surgery, Dr. Denoya will focus her practice at Stony Brook on all aspects of colon and rectal surgery, including laparoscopic colorectal surgery, colonoscopy, colorectal cancer, diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and anorectal diseases.

Dr. Denoya was selected for inclusion in the 2009 edition of Guide to America's Top Surgeons, published by the Consumers' Research Council of America.

Dr. Denoya's research interests are in the areas of laparoscopic surgery, inflammatory bowel disease, and colorectal cancer.

Dr. Denoya received her MD in 2002 from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, NY. At her graduation she was given the Eugene W. Friedman MD Award for Clinical Excellence. She subsequently completed her residency in general surgery there. She then spent a year at Cleveland Clinic Florida as a clinical research fellow in the colorectal surgery department, and went on to complete her fellowship training in colorectal surgery.

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

General surgeon Jared M. Huston, MD, has joined the Division of General Surgery, Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, and Burns as assistant professor of surgery. He comes to Stony Brook following his residency in general surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College (New York Presbyterian Hospital) in New York, NY.

Dr. Huston will focus his practice at Stony Brook on the management of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and endocrine systems; minimally invasive laparoscopic and conventional surgery for inguinal and incisional/ventral hernias, gallbladder and biliary disease, and diseases of the stomach and spleen.

Dr. Huston will also serve on our trauma service, where he will perform emergency surgery in the management of injured patients.

In addition to his practice, Dr. Huston will pursue his research interests in shock hypoxia and inflammation, and will further extend the department's scholarly activity in this area. He will launch our second research core laboratory, focusing on inflammatory processes.

Dr. Huston received his MD in 2001 from Stony Brook University. He earned considerable distinction as a medical student here, and was elected to membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, serving for a year as president of the Stony Brook Mu Chapter.

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

Plastic surgeon, hand surgeon Jason C. Ganz, MD, has joined the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive as assistant professor of surgery. He comes to Stony Brook from New York Medical College, where he practiced at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, NY. Previously, he was on the faculty of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, and on staff at University Hospitals/Case Western Medical Center, as well as at Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where he was chief of plastic surgery.

Board certified in plastic surgery, Dr. Ganz will focus his practice at Stony Brook on reconstructive and aesthetic surgery; hand surgery, including treatment of hand and wrist disorders, fractures, tendon injury, and nerve injury or compression (carpal tunnel); microsurgery; breast reconstruction after cancer, breast reduction, and breast augmentation; nose surgery; treatment of facial fractures; reconstructive surgery for burn patients; facelift, general liposuction, and tummy-tuck surgery; evaluation and surgical management of chronic wounds (skin grafting and soft-tissue flap coverage).

Dr. Ganz was selected for inclusion in the 2009 edition of Guide to America's Top Plastic Surgeons, published by the Consumers' Research Council of America.

Dr. Ganz received his MD in 1998 from New York Medical College, where his outstanding performance earned him election to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He was trained in plastic surgery at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Subsequently, he completed his fellowship training in hand surgery in the orthopaedics department here at Stony Brook.

For consultations/appointments with Dr. Ganz, please call 631-444-4666.

Surgical oncologist, hepatobiliary surgeon Philip Bao, MD, has joined the Division of Surgical Oncology as assistant professor of surgery. He comes to Stony Brook from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, PA, where he completed fellowship training in surgical oncology.

Board certified in general surgery, Dr. Bao will work closely with our Upper Gastrointestinal and General Oncologic Surgery Group. He will focus his practice on the treatment and management of malignant and benign tumors of the upper gastrointestinal tract including liver, pancreas, esophagus, and stomach.

Dr. Bao uses standard open surgery as well as laparoscopic and robotic surgical techniques when possible. In addition, for advanced abdominal cancers, he provides treatment using new modalities such as heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) for carcinomatosis.

Dr. Bao was selected for inclusion in the 2009 edition of Guide to America's Top Surgeons, published by the Consumers' Research Council of America.

Dr. Bao's research interests include intraoperative tumor imaging and surgical navigation, decision analysis for cancer management, and clinical trials. He earned a Certificate in Clinical Research during his fellowship in Pittsburgh. Previously, while a surgical resident, he was granted a National Research Service Award (National Institutes of Health) as principal investigator for his study titled "Tracked Laparoscopic Ultrasound for Use in Liver Surgery."

Dr. Bao received his MD in 2000 from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, NY. He completed his residency in general surgery at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, and in 2007 he started his training in surgical oncology.

For consultations/appointments with Dr. Bao, please call 631-444-8086.

Vascular surgeon David S. Landau, MD, has joined the Division of Vascular Surgery as assistant professor of surgery. He comes to Stony Brook from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where for the past 12 years he has been a member of the surgical faculty, and recently served as interim chief of vascular surgery. A leader in minimally invasive surgery, he was responsible for the creation and maintenance of all endovascular capabilities at the University of Illinois Medical Center.

Board certified in both general surgery and vascular surgery, Dr. Landau will focus his practice at Stony Brook on all areas of arterial and venous surgery, using both conventional surgical techniques and minimally invasive endovascular techniques; arterial conditions related to carotid, aortic, and lower extremity diseases; venous conditions including varicose veins and venous insufficiency. In addition, he has a special interest in lower extremity limb salvage.

Dr. Landau was selected for inclusion in the 2009 edition of Guide to America's Top Surgeons, published by the Consumers' Research Council of America.

Dr. Landau's research interests include computed tomographic (CT) angiography and gene therapy for myointimal hyperplasia.

Dr. Landau received his MD in 1990 from SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY. He completed his residency in general surgery at the University of Illinois at Chicago, followed by a one-year vascular surgery research fellowship. He then completed his fellowship training in vascular surgery at the Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus, OH, and from there joined the surgical faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2002, he completed a three-month fellowship in endovascular surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH.

Since 2004, Dr. Landau was also a member of the adjunct surgical faculty of Northwestern University. In addition, at the University of Illinois Medical Center he served as medical director of the Blood Flow Laboratory (certified by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories), and director of the Wound Clinic there.

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