Prominent Cancer Surgeon to Chair Department of Surgery

By todd

|

October 22, 2002

Michael Edwards, M.D., president of the American Society of Breast Surgeons, has joined the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) as chairman of the Department of Surgery.

A nationally respected clinician and researcher, Edwards comes to UAMS from the University of Louisville in Louisville, Ky., where he was chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center.
Michael Edwards, M.D. Click on image
for print-quality resolution.
“In Dr. Michael Edwards we have found a leader in research, medical education, and breast cancer treatment. He will be a tremendous asset to the College of Medicine and will help us build upwards from the existing foundation an outstanding breast cancer treatment program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. I know all of the faculty share my pleasure in announcing his appointment,” Dean E. Albert Reece, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., said.

Dr. Edwards is founder and chairman of a national registry of image-guided breast biopsy and the principal investigator of a variety of multi-institutional clinical trials. He is a member of the prestigious American Surgical Association and has served on the board of directors of the Society of Surgical Oncology. He has served on several editorial boards including currently Annals of Surgical Oncology, American Journal of Surgery, and Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Edwards received his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia at Athens, graduating magna cum laude with nomination to Phi Beta Kappa. He received his medical degree from Emory University in Atlanta and completed a residency in general surgery at the University of Louisville, followed by a fellowship in surgical oncology at M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston.

Dr. Edwards has been funded numerous times for major research projects and is the principal investigator on several current research projects including a Veterans Administration Merit Review Grant, “Mechanisms of interleukin-2 microvascular and systemic effects”; National Institutes of Health, “Regulation of hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury”; and Shering-Plough and Orion Pharma, “The North American Fareston versus Tamoxifen Adjuvant (NAFTA) Trial.”

Dr. Edwards will succeed the department’s interim chair, Kent Westbrook, M.D., who is professor and chief of the department’s Division of Surgical Oncology.

The Department of Surgery in the UAMS College of Medicine has 43 faculty members and 85 staff members. The physicians in the department include specialists in all aspects of general surgery, pediatric surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, vascular surgery, and plastic surgery.

At any time, the surgical faculty members are training approximately 30 full-time residents, medical school graduates who are receiving advanced training in surgery, and providing complementary training to approximately 35 additional residents in orthopaedic surgery, anesthesiology, and emergency medicine.