General Surgery

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.

• Abdominal Surgery
• Breast Surgery
• Endocrine Surgery
• Minimally Invasive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Weight Loss (Bariatric) Surgery

Advanced Practice Providers

• Acute Care Surgery Service

  • Steven Hartzler, PA-C
  • Caitlin Kairys, PA-C
  • Jessica Kempton, PA-C * Lead APP

• Breast Surgery

  • Alexis Liska, PA-C
  • Omaimah Sara Mahrat, APN
  • Laura Nanocchio, PA-C
  • Sarah Sharpe, PA-C

• Endocrine Surgery

  • Negin Mehraein, APN

• Ingalls General Surgery

  • Liz Irizarry, PA-C
  • Gabrielle Woodman, PA-C

• Minimally Invasive/ Bariatric Surgery

  • Alisha Wilson, APN
  • Angela Willis, APN
  • Katie Wagner, PA-C
  • Heelai Wardak, PA-C

• Surgical Oncology

  • Colette Brottman- Ebsen, PA-C
  • Barbara Gordon, APN, OCN

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.