Welcome to the Division of Surgical Sciences, the home of basic and translational research within the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch. For several decades, clinical and basic science faculty in the Department of Surgery
have been at the forefront of medical research, contributing to discoveries that have materially improved the health and well-being of countless patients worldwide. Established areas of research strength amongst our faculty include the study of the
hypermetabolic and scarring responses to burn injury, the mechanistic cause of gastrointestinal cancer, cellular pathways of degenerative and fibrosis-associated disease, and improving outcomes following surgery.
The ethos of the Division of Surgical Sciences is to encourage close collaboration between our clinical and basic science faculty, enabling the translation of innovative ideas from the bench to the bedside. As a culmination of this approach, our faculty
are highly productive, authoring over 128 peer-reviewed publications in 2021 and securing >$1.6 million in extramural research support. Faculty receive research support from several sources, including the National Institute of Health, the Department
of Defense, and various charities including Shriners Hospitals for Children.
We are dedicated to the training of the next generation of clinical scientists, with established programs in the study of burn injury, and gastrointestinal disease, the latter supported by a T32 grant via the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive
and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Many of our past mentees have gone on to senior leadership positions and remain research active in their clinical careers.
UTMB students wishing to undertake a research project in the Division of Surgical Sciences can express their interest by completing this form. For all other individuals, open research positions are posted on UTMB’s careers website.
Katalin Modis, PharmD, PhD
Division Co-Chief of Surgical Sciences
kamodis@utmb.edu
Andrew Murton, PhD
Division Co-Chief of Surgical Sciences
ajmurton@utmb.edu