General and Gastrointestinal Surgery at Emory

A leading minimally invasive surgery center

Based in Atlanta, GA, the Division of General and Gastrointestinal Surgery of Emory Healthcare has been a significant force in developing minimally invasive surgery. Division surgeons can do single incision laparoscopic surgery for resection of colon cancer, perform laparoscopic gallbladder and appendix operations using one-to-two incisions rather than the standard three-to-five, and do laparoscopic-assisted formal liver resections. Division surgeons also provide both open and laparoscopic/endoscopic procedures for treating inflammatory bowel, colorectal, endocrine, gallbladder, pancreatic, esophageal and gastric diseases as well as intra-abdominal infections, hernias and morbid obesity.

Among the division's various high profile programs are the Emory Endosurgery Unit for Minimally Invasive Surgery and the Emory Bariatric Center:

The Endosurgery Unit, one of the first clinical, academic and research programs of its type in the U.S., has been heavily involved in refining endoscopic and laparoscopic procedures for performing bariatric surgery, colon and rectal surgery, gastroesophageal surgery (foregut), hernia surgery, solid organ surgery and endocrine surgery. Dr. Edward Lin, director of the unit, was the first surgeon in the U.S. to perform endoscopic plication for gastro-esophageal reflux (GERD) in June 2004 at Emory Crawford Long Hospital; was officially designated a Lap Band proctor in 2008, allowing him to certify surgeons in the minimally invasive procedure by observing them performing the technique; and directed the development of a single incision, laparoscopic technique for resection of colon cancer.

A multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals dedicated to treating the obese and the morbidly obese patient, the treatment methods of the Emory Bariatric Center include nutrition and exercise therapy, lifestyle education, pharmacotherapy and surgery. The program is one of the primary centers of its type in the southeast. In January 2008, the center was accredited as a Level 1 Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by the Bariatric Surgery Center Network Accreditation Program of the American College of Surgeons.

The division's research concerns include ground-breaking diabetes and parathyroid disease investigations and studies of simulation training and robotics:

Due to his national stature as a diabetes investigator, Dr. Collin Weber was appointed co-principal investigator of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Center for Islet Transplantation at Emory, the goals of the center being to make islet transplantation a viable cure for patients with Type 1 diabetes and to increase the supply of donor islets. In 2003, Emory transplant surgeons Dr. Christian Larsen and Dr. Thomas Pearson conducted the first islet cell transplant to treat Type 1 diabetes in Georgia, a procedure that was a direct result of clinical and basic science research conducted by the JDRF Center at Emory and Dr. Weber's team (as of August 2008, Emory transplant surgeons had performed 18 successful islet transplant procedures into 11 patients). In 2006, the center received new five-year funding from the JDRF of nearly $8.5 million, and in 2007 an additional $2.5 million grant over three years to develop pig islets as an alternative to human donor islets.

The Emory Simulation, Training and Robotics Center (ESTAR), a component of the Endosurgery Unit, develops, validates and applies simulation-based educational tools and devices, curricula and robotics for use in medical education, training and patient care. In addition to studying and expanding the surgical application of robotics in the operating room, ESTAR is investigating the viability of simulation systems for teaching surgical procedures and assessing and improving skills before they are used in the operating room.