Research

BRINGING RESEARCH TO LIFE

The Department of Surgery conducts a broad range of both basic and clinical research aimed at bringing medical problems found in patient care to the research lab and returning research advances to patient care.

Among current research projects are studies addressing how to help the heart create its own coronary bypass through growth of new blood vessels; how to improve the outcomes of breast reconstruction using new imaging technology; the impact of portable music players on hearing in children; and the effectiveness of new therapies for lung cancer.

The research conducted by the Department's faculty is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in addition to other public sources — and also private sources — of funds for biomedical research. Our faculty collaborate with Stony Brook's General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) in multidisciplinary efforts to speed basic research into better patient care; unique on Long Island and one of only 74 centers nationwide supported by the NIH, the GCRC was federally funded in 1998, and facilitates patient-focused "translational" research.

Bringing problems in patient care to the research lab
and returning research advances to patient care

As the regional center for numerous clinical trials in cancer, Stony Brook uses the latest in therapeutic advances for the care of different cancers — and this gives our patients the only opportunity available in Suffolk County to benefit from such studies. Indeed, innovative use of technology has put Stony Brook at the forefront of cancer research and treatments, and the Department of Surgery contributes to this distinction in both basic and clinical sciences.

The following list of selected research projects now underway in the Department makes clear our commitment to excellence in research — and to advancing patient care with it:

n Radiofrequency ablation in high-risk patients with stage 1a non-small cell lung cancer
n Use of proteomic analysis of serum samples for detection of non-small cell lung cancer
n Mediastinal lymph node sampling versus complete lymphadenectomy during pulmonary resection with patients with N0 or N1 non-small cell carcinoma
n Prognostic significance of occult metastases in the patient with resectable non-small cell carcinoma
n Use of Novadaq SPY imaging technology to assess mastectomy skin-flap viability
n Assessment of patient-reported outcomes following post-mastectomy breast reconstruction
n Survey of closed-suction drain management and antibiotic prophylaxis in immediate breast reconstructive surgery
n Comparison of risks and complications in post-mastectomy tissue expander/implant breast reconstruction with and without acellular dermal matrix
n Comparison of standard sutures versus Quill sutures on cutaneous wound scarring
n Transanal hemorrhoidal dearterialization versus hemorrhoidectomy
n Strattice facial onlay to prevent parastomal hernia formation in patients undergoing surgery for permanent abdominal wall ostomies
n Laparoscopic-assisted resection versus open resection for rectal cancer
n Benefit of coenzyme Q-10 in patients on statins
n Gel-filled breast implant adjunct study
n Changes in muscle recruitment following treatment with botulinum toxin type A
n Acute venous thrombosis: thrombus removal with adjunctive catheter-directed thrombolysis
n Incidence of heparin induced thrombocytopenia over-diagnosis in hospitalized patients
n Determination of candidates for pharmacomechanical thrombolysis
n Nutritional regulation of albumin synthesis
n Role of visceral adipose tissue in inflammation
n Cellular mechanism for sarcopenia in the elderly
n Regulation of adipose tissue formation
n Mechanisms of remote ischemic preconditioning
n Compliance with treatment guidelines and effect on outcome in patients with melanoma
n Impact of melanoma treatment on physical and psychosocial function
n Genetic character of melanoma and correlation with outcome
n Multicenter selective lymphadenectomy trial 2
n Early ambulation of patients in cardiothoracic surgery: efficacy and safety postoperatively
n Role of median sternotomy versus mini-thoracotomy in heart valve surgery
n Role of median sternotomy versus mini-thoracotomy in systemic inflammatory responses to open heart surgery
n Ten-year follow-up assessment of a phase 1 trial of angiogenic gene therapy for the treatment of coronary artery disease using direct intramyocardial administration of an adenovirus vector expressing the VEGF121 cDNA
n One-year follow-up of patient receiving the geoform annuloplasty ring for functional mitral regurgitation
n Impact of portable music players on hearing in children
n Indocyanine green fluorescence imaging as a prognostic indicator of optimal wound healing
n Linezolid in the treatment of subjects with nosocomial pneumonia proven to be due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
n Claudication: exercise versus endoluminal revascularization (CLEVER)
n Retrospective review of robot-assisted gastric resections
n Novel approach to the surgical management of distal pancreatic stump

Click here to see selected faculty publications which reflect the breadth and depth of our basic/clinical research.


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