Sections & Programs

General Surgery

Welcome to the University of Chicago Section of General Surgery.

The mission of the University of Chicago Department of Surgery and the Section of General Surgery is to provide the highest quality patient care, conduct innovative medical research and offer the best training for our young surgeons and physicians. We are proud to share our efforts with you through this web site. Please explore those areas of interest to you.

The section of general surgery offers the highest quality patient care and advanced minimally invasive surgical procedures. Our surgeons are recognized experts in breast surgery, endocrine surgery, hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, inflammatory bowel disease, minimally invasive surgery, surgical oncology and surgical treatment of obesity.

Advanced Practice Providers

Researchers in the Section of General Surgery are conducting research in a number of areas, much of which is funded with NIH grants. Ongoing reserach includes pathophysiology of surgical infections, molecular biology of familial polyposis syndrome and solid gastrointestinal and endocrine tumors, breast cancer treatment, as well as evaluation of inflammatory bowel disease.

Pathophysiology of Surgical Infections

Dr. John Alverdy, professor of surgery, directs a research program that studies the pathophysiology of surgical infections. This program seeks to understand the mechansism by which infection and sepsis arise among critically ill patients.

Despite newer and more powerful antibiotics, the incidence and severity of sepsis continues to rise, claiming the lives of more than 200,000 Americans annually. An aging population, the development of invasive medical and surgical procedures, and the ability to rescue and sustain the lives of the most critically ill and injured patients has created an unprecedented population of patients at risk for infection and sepsis. 

The working hypothesis of the Alverdy lab is that during bouts of severe physiologic stress, disruption of the normal balance of the intestinal microflora coupled with an erosion of the protective barrier of the intestinal tract defense system, creates a situation in which the normal resident flora is replaced by highly lethal pathogens. 

Learn more about the research of Dr. Alverdy and his lab.

Our five-year General Surgery Residency training program is primarily based at the University of Chicago Medical Center with specific rotations integrated at our affiliated hospital, NorthShore University Health System. We are uniquely situated on the Hyde Park campus of the University of Chicago, which is one of the top academic universities in the world and has been the home to over 87 Nobel laureates.

The Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship program is an ACGME-approved fellowship that is based at two outstanding facilities: The University of Chicago Medicine (UCM) and North Shore University Health Systems (NSUHS)/Evanston Hospital, which serves as UCM's primary academic affiliate. This union of an elite academic medical center and a premier community based hospital has strengthened our established outstanding comprehensive program in surgical oncology.

Faculty & Providers