The award was created in 2000 by the AOTrauma of North America Education Committee to commemorate Howard Rosen’s life-long dedication to teaching. Achor received the award at the AO Basic Principles and Techniques of Operative Fracture Management meeting in Dallas.

Achor was chosen for the award by his peers, who felt that his laboratory performance exemplified many of the same teaching skills and devotion attributed to Howard Rosen, whose passion for education are well known in the orthopaedic community.

“While patient care has always been paramount, resident education can be just as important and rewarding,” Dr. Achor says. “Our orthopaedic trauma faculty is very involved with teaching efforts, not only at our own institution, but also nationally and internationally. It´s great to be recognized for our clinical efforts, but it´s important not to forget the impact we can have on young physicians. I was delighted to win this award and to be recognized for my enthusiasm in ‘paying it forward’ to the next generation of surgeons.”

After receiving his medical degree from Medical College of Ohio in Toledo, Dr. Achor completed a residency in orthopaedic surgery at New York Medical College. He completed a fellowship in orthopaedic traumatology at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

His area of specialty care is trauma, which includes high energy injuries, complex fractures and dislocations and post-traumatic deformities. Achor practices with the UT Physicians Orthopaedic Office in the UT Physicians – Texas Medical Center location. He recently was invited to lecture on pelvic and acetabular fractures in Santiago, Chile.

AOTrauma is an organization that fosters directed regional and national teams to run their own educational, research, and community development activities and that creates leadership opportunities for senior trauma surgeons, while nurturing opportunities for younger future leaders.

—Darla Brown, Office of Communications, Medical School

The medical group practice of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, UT Physicians offers the most advanced technologies with a personalized touch from its flagship location in the Texas Medical Center and at a growing number of clinics throughout the greater Houston area.

UT Physicians, the medical practice of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, will soon offer adult and pediatric general and specialty care in the Katy area at its new Cinco Ranch location.

Slated to open in the summer of 2012, UT Physicians at Cinco Ranch is currently under construction at 23923 Cinco Ranch Blvd.

“UT Physicians at Cinco Ranch will bring world-renowned health care to Cinco Ranch and the surrounding communities,” said Andrew Casas, vice president and chief operating officer of UT Physicians. “Our primary and specialty care doctors will provide unparalleled care for patients of all ages in Cinco Ranch and surrounding areas in a convenient location right in their neighborhood.”

The two-story, 11,000-square-foot clinic represents UT Physicians’ continued commitment to provide the most comprehensive, high-quality and personalized medical care in the community.

UT Physicians, one of Houston’s largest physician practices, also offers community-based medical care at its flagship location in the Texas Medical Center and at health centers throughout the Houston area, including Bellaire and in Missouri City at Sienna Plantation. The team of internationally recognized medical experts includes more than 1,000 doctors certified in 80 medical specialties.

“We are very pleased to announce this expansion to serve our neighbors in the Cinco Ranch/Katy area,” said Giuseppe Colasurdo, M.D., president ad interim of UTHealth and dean of the UTHealth Medical School. “This growth of UT Physicians follows our latest location in Bayshore to serve the regions of Clear Lake and Pasadena. Our goals are to bring the medical expertise of the UTHealth Medical School to our neighboring Houston communities and to work closely with the local physicians to provide continuity of the best patient care.”

UT Physicians, one of Houston’s largest physician practices, also offers community-based medical care at its flagship location in the Texas Medical Center and at health centers throughout the Houston area, including Bellaire and in Missouri City at Sienna Plantation. The team of internationally recognized medical experts includes more than 1,000 doctors certified in 80 medical specialties.
UT Physicians at Cinco Ranch will manage health care needs for people of all ages—from infants to the elderly. The health care team will provide a range of services from routine wellness exams and care for common illnesses to highly-specialized treatments for complex medical conditions. The clinic will be connected with the entire UT Physicians practice to offer patients a quick turnaround when referred by their primary care doctor to a specialist. The health center also will utilize a secure Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system to ensure that each doctor has access to a patient’s complete history, increasing patient safety and preventing duplication of diagnostic tests.

“We look forward to becoming part of the Cinco Ranch community, and when we open our doors next year, we hope many area residents will decide to make UT Physicians at Cinco Ranch their health care home,” Casas said.

For more information, call 888-488-3627. Follow our latest news and progress on Facebook.

—Meredith Raine

The medical group practice of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, UT Physicians offers the most advanced technologies with a personalized touch from its flagship location in the Texas Medical Center and at a growing number of clinics throughout the greater Houston area.

Kelly Davis sat patiently as other expectant moms receiving ultrasounds came and went. Her own scan had lasted more than an hour and although this was her first pregnancy, her instincts told her something was wrong.

The next day, her fear was given a name—omphalocele—when she met with the high-risk maternal-fetal medicine experts at the UT Physicians Texas Fetal Center, part of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital.

Her baby’s organs were developing outside his body. An omphalocele is a birth defect that occurs when a fetus’ abdominal wall fails to close properly. The organs—such as the intestines, liver, and spleen—are covered by only a thin layer of translucent tissue.

“Like any mother, I went in thinking that my baby was going to be perfect and everything was going to be fine,” Davis says. “I was hoping to maybe find out the gender of the baby and that would be my big excitement of the day.”

Instead, the family would embark on a rollercoaster ride that would, after many loops and turns, end in a gliding stop.

An omphalocele is relatively rare, occurring in 1 in 4,000 live births. In 25 to 40 percent of cases, the baby has other birth defects as well, according to the National Institutes of Health, including heart problems. Genetic testing and a fetal echocardiogram were both normal for the Davis’ baby. It seemed the omphalocele, as large as it was, would be the major hurdle.

As her son continued to grow, Kelly and her husband, Cody, learned what lay ahead from UT Physicians obstetrician Lara Friel, M.D., Ph.D., and UT Physicians surgeon KuoJen Tsao, M.D., co-director of the Texas Fetal Center. The multidisciplinary team at the Texas Fetal Center also includes neonatal experts, pulmonologists, anesthesiologists, and pediatric critical care providers.

An early childhood special education teacher and naturally inquisitive, Davis threw herself into learning everything she could about omphaloceles from the Internet and through other moms with babies born with omphaloceles. To educate others, she also created a blog, O Baby!

Kelly required multiple ultrasounds and physician appointments to track the size of the omphalocele, monitor the progress of other organs and assess the baby’s overall growth.

“There is a higher risk of stillbirth in babies with an omphalocele. There also is a possible risk of rupture or trauma to the organs in a vaginal birth so we deliver by cesarean section at 37 weeks,” Dr. Friel says. “The membrane does not protect the baby like a full layer of skin would, so the baby can have temperature and fluid losses immediately after birth.”

Dr. Friel was 37 weeks pregnant herself when she delivered Baby Hayes on a spring morning in 2011. Just before the baby was born, Cody, gowned and holding a camera, touched Kelly’s forehead with his hand. She looked at him, smiled and mouthed the words “I love you.”

Shortly after, the question about whether the lungs had developed properly was answered as Baby Hayes arrived.

“He was screaming, and it was wonderful,” Dr. Friel says.

Cody snapped a photo as nurses quickly and carefully wrapped the omphalocele, and then he rounded the bed to show the picture to Kelly, whose eyes welled with tears. Baby Hayes stopped fussing as he was swaddled. Dad carried him gingerly over to Mom, and they had their first family photo.

Hayes spent just less than a month in the pediatric intensive care unit at Children’s Memorial Hermann. For some omphalocele babies, it can be months before they can eat by mouth. But by the time he left, he was breastfeeding easily.

‘Paint and wait’

Some omphaloceles are small enough that they can be corrected soon after birth by tucking the organs back into the body and closing the wall. In the case of larger defects, doctors may “paint and wait,” meaning that the sac is “painted” with a medication to protect it while skin naturally grows up around it. Traditionally, pediatric surgeons wait until the child is 10 years old to try to correct the defect. It is a slow process, requiring several surgeries to pull the muscle and fascia over the organs.

Baby Hayes at nine months

Once home, it was up to Hayes’ parents to put medication on the omphalocele and wrap it. The skin slowly grew over it and by 11 weeks, completely covered the omphalocele. Since he couldn’t easily lie on his stomach like other babies and the omphalocele caused him to be off balance, Kelly put all her career know-how to work, helping him reach his milestones.

“They’re a great family. I can’t emphasize enough that the families do so much of the care. They are really part of the healthcare team,” Dr. Tsao says.

Things weren’t easy. Hayes’ pediatrician suspected that the baby suffered from plagiocephalys, commonly known as flat-head syndrome. Kelly took him to UT Physicians pediatric surgeon John Teichgraeber, M.D. Dr. Teichgraeber recommended a helmet that would slowly reshape his head. In her typical sunny way, Kelly found a camouflage pattern for the helmet, and Hayes’ helmet went from bland to cool.

Tucked in by successful surgery

With the same blue eyes of his mother and bright smile, Hayes continued to flourish and by October, Dr. Tsao was talking about being a new kind of corrective surgery for the omphalocele. It was possible that doing component separation surgery, as it is called, would require just one procedure instead of the multiple ones usually needed to stretch the muscles and skin over the abdomen.

UT Physicians surgeon Richard Andrassy, M.D., had used the new technique in 125 adult patients who required hernia repairs and abdominal reconstruction. The procedure involves cutting the top muscle of three layers, which frees up the muscles to slide toward the midline, almost accordion-like. A piece of mesh is placed to complete and reinforce the closure.

“We have had some very complicated cases, such as a man who had 38 previous operations, who did quite well after component surgery,” Dr. Andrassy says. “I started wondering if we could do it in children. The hesitation was always that it was unclear if there was enough musculature to do it.”

Two years ago, Dr. Andrassy decided to try the surgery on a pediatric patient at Children’s Memorial Hermann. She was a 9-year-old whose liver and intestines were covered only with skin and she wanted to play sports—a wish that was out of the question until the omphalocele could be repaired.

It was a success. Operations followed on younger children who ranged in age from 2 to 9 years. And then they performed the component surgery on a 5-day-old infant. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be better to take a newborn and try to do the repair then instead of waiting until they were older?’” Dr. Andrassy says. Dr. Andrassy says he believes the baby was the youngest infant in the world to receive the component surgery.

In Baby Hayes’ case, they decided to wait for him to grow and rule out any other medical complications. They also talked to Kelly and Cody about the new procedure.

“There are always risks in surgery, so any time you can do less surgery, it’s better,” Dr. Tsao says. “While we don’t have any long-term data on infants yet, it’s probably a pretty durable repair. We know from adults it’s a long-term fix.”

On Jan. 6, 2012, the family arrived for the surgery before the sun was up. Drs. Andrassy and Tsao went over the procedure again with Kelly and Cody before Hayes was wheeled into surgery. The two surgeons worked side-by-side, sending runners out to his parents with updates.

Twenty-four hours after component separation surgery

By 10:45 a.m., Dr. Andrassy reported to the family that the organs had been placed inside Hayes’ body and the closure was complete. Three drainage tubes were inserted, and after the final stitching, Dr. Tsao also visited the parents to report good news.

Because the omphalocele had been so large and placing it in the abdomen increased pressure on the lungs, Hayes was intubated. He remained in the hospital for 10 days as his lungs struggled to find space in a now crowded area. Through it all, Kelly continued her blog. They then went home with all parts right where they should be. And Hayes could finally lie on his tummy.

On March 25, Hayes celebrated his first birthday. Two days before that, Kelly recorded him crawling for the first time. It was the best birthday present ever.

—Deborah Mann Lake

The medical group practice of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, UT Physicians offers the most advanced technologies with a personalized touch from its flagship location in the Texas Medical Center and at a growing number of clinics throughout the greater Houston area.

At 535 pounds, Rex Adams felt like a prisoner, not just because of his weight, but because he was taking as many as a dozen pills a day to help manage complications of obesity.

“When I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and had to go on oral medication, that’s when it really hit me,” Adams says. “I had done this to myself. I knew I had to do something to lose the weight and free myself from all the pills I was taking.”

Adams sought a surgical solution to control the weight and his blood sugar. He took one last pill the day before the surgery.

Since then, he hasn’t required any medication to manage his Type 2 diabetes and is no longer considered diabetic.

“It was like a complete release,” Adams says. “I had the surgery, and I never looked back.”

Weight-loss surgery is increasingly becoming an option for those who are morbidly obese, which is defined by a Body Mass Index, or BMI, of 40 or higher. Those who have diabetes or other co-morbidities such as hypertension, along with a BMI of 35 to 39, also are considered surgical candidates.

Different types of weight-loss surgery can have a dramatic impact on morbidly obese patients with Type 2 diabetes, a condition affecting 21 million Americans—many of them overweight—that is characterized by high levels of blood sugar due to defects in insulin production and resistance to insulin’s actions. Some are able to go off diabetes medications entirely. Others may be able to significantly reduce the amount of insulin or other medication they require to keep their blood sugar in check. Patients who are classified as “pre-diabetic” may be able to avoid the disease all together.

“Patients with diabetes often see immediate improvements in their blood sugar levels after weight-loss surgery, especially those who have gastric bypass, duodenal switch or even sleeve gastrectomy” says Erik Wilson, M.D., chief of Elective General Surgery for UT Physicians and medical director of Bariatric Surgery for Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. “The surgery appears to facilitate hormonal changes that help resolve diabetes.”

Two studies recently published online by The New England Journal of Medicine are the first to compare the effect of these weight-loss surgeries to medications for treating Type 2 diabetes brought on by obesity. Both studies found that surgery helped far more patients achieve normal blood sugar levels than the medications alone.

In fact, the studies stated that some people were even able to stop taking insulin as soon as three days after their operations. In one study, most patients were even able to stop taking all diabetes medications since their disease has stayed in remission for at least two years. No patients treated with medications alone were able to do that.

Cut for the cure?

The evidence of weight-loss surgery’s impact on diabetes is so convincing that some physicians are exploring it as a possible cure for Type 2 diabetes.

“Previous data was anecdotal or from uncontrolled studies,” says Philip Orlander, M.D., a UT Physicians internist. “Now we have significant information from two randomized studies demonstrating the profound benefit of bariatric surgery on remission from diabetes.”

He says the important new information from the Cleveland Clinic study was that it demonstrated that patients benefited from this surgery even if they had the disease for more than eight years and were unable to adequately control their blood sugars on several medications. Patients also benefited even if they were only mildly obese. In the individuals assigned to medical therapy only, there was a progressive need for increasing the number of medications; whereas, in the surgical group, more than half of the individuals no longer required any diabetic medications.

UT Physicians are currently recruiting participants in their surgical clinical trial aimed at overweight or obese (but not morbidly obese) adults who have Type 2 diabetes. The clinical team—Wilson; Orlander; Brad Snyder, M.D., UT Physicians surgeon; and Kelly Wirfel, M.D., UT Physicians endocrinologist—is using an experimental procedure, called ileal transposition with sleeve gastrectomy, which is intended to improve or resolve Type 2 diabetes.

In the procedure, surgeons remove a section of the ileum that is about 5 feet in length and reattach it. In addition, they remove about 80 percent of the stomach. It is a “Band-Aid” procedure that is performed through tiny incisions on the abdomen. There is a risk of complication in the 1 to 2 percent range. The procedure is similar to treatment for morbid obesity, which can involve surgery on the stomach and intestines.

“No one has compared this surgery directly to medical therapy in a randomized, prospective study like this,” Dr. Snyder says. “If we can get patients into remission and off their medications, then we could open the door for people who want to pursue careers as firefighters, police officers, commercial pilots or other professionals who may at times be limited by this disease.”

“Additional research is needed to understand the long-term consequences of the different types of surgery and whether the remission from diabetes would be permanent or temporary,” Dr. Orlander says. “We will need to pay special attention to the overall nutritional impact of these procedures and provide the necessary nutritional support.”

Even with these emerging surgical options, Dr. Orlander says he often begins treating his patients by recommending they lose weight through conventional means such as restricting their calories and exercising more, as well as taking commonly used medications for diabetes. If that fails and they are eligible for bariatric surgery, Dr. Orlander will recommend it as a way to control their Type 2 diabetes.

Hefty hormones

Patients who undergo a conventional gastric bypass procedure typically have more weight loss and less hunger than those who undergo other gastric restriction procedures. This could be related to hormones such as ghrelin, an appetite stimulator made in the stomach, and glucagon-like polypeptide-1 (GLP-1), a hormone secreted from the intestines that stimulates insulin secretion, among other actions. The GLP-1 hormone is the basis for the action of a commonly used diabetes medication, exenetide (Byetta), which is associated with improved glucose control, decrease appetite and weight loss, Dr. Orlander says.

“So, although weight loss is important and certainly contributes to the improved glucose control, the changes in the hormones also are playing an important role,” Dr. Orlander says. “This is the rationale for research into medications that could have a similar effect or other surgical procedures that impact the hormonal milieu.”

Carol Wolin-Riklin, a registered dietitian at the Medical School, works with diabetic patients at the UT Physicians Minimially Invasive Surgeons of Texas after their weight-loss surgery.

“It’s a bit of a rocky transition,” Wolin-Riklin says. “They have to do more frequent fingertip blood sugar testing after the surgery because their body is going through so many changes. We may need to put them on sliding-scale insulin coverage with their medication, and as they move farther out from their surgery date, they require less and less medication.

“The typical carbohydrate load is quite high in these patients before surgery,” Wolin-Riklin explains. “After surgery, they are consuming fewer carbohydrates such as pastas, breads, and sweets that have been eliminated from the diet. They are eating a high-protein, low-carb diet. They aren’t bombarding the body with a large carbohydrate load that requires increased amounts of insulin to maintain a normal level of glucose in the bloodstream.”

The patient’s newly changed eating habits, combined with weight loss, are ideal for improving or resolving Type 2 diabetes, Wolin-Riklin says.

&ldquoI don’t know that I would use the word ‘cure.’ Does it help diabetes resolve? Absolutely. Do some patients’ diabetes resolve completely? Yes,” Wolin-Riklin says. “Bariatric surgery is a phenomenal tool to help resolve diabetes and the whole metabolic syndrome that goes along with obesity.”

Dr. Orlander says it’s important for patients to maintain a healthy weight and diet, because if they start to add on pounds and revert to their old eating habits, the diabetes could return.
In addition, Dr. Orlander says, delaying the disease process, even for a short period of time, could result in fewer diabetic complications, such as poor circulation, infection, heart disease, blindness, amputation, and kidney failure.

“Preventing, or delaying those complications, could have a dramatic impact on the patient’s quality of life,” Dr. Orlander says.

—Meredith Raine and Rob Cahill

The medical group practice of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, UT Physicians offers the most advanced technologies with a personalized touch from its flagship location in the Texas Medical Center and at a growing number of clinics throughout the greater Houston area.

Dr. Jerry Wolinsky celebrates the Company on the Move honor with Katie Brass, honorary chairman, from left; Franelle Rogers, luncheon chairman; and Lesha Elsenbrook, Person on the Move Honoree.

The Multiple Sclerosis Clinic was honored as the 2012 Company on the Move by the Houston Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at its annual Women on the Move Luncheon March 7 at the Hotel ZaZa.

The UT Physicians clinic, which is located at the UT Professional Building, is part of the Medical School’s Department of Neurology and led by Dr. Jerry Wolinsky, the Bartels Family and Opal C. Rankin Professor of Neurology and director of the Multiple Sclerosis Research Group.

The center was honored for its “track record of cutting-edge care through the use of state-of-the-art techniques in the diagnosis, evaluation, management, and treatment of adult patients with demyelinating disorders in Houston.”

The center conducts investigator-initiated and pharmaceutical-company sponsored clinical trials on novel agents for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) and clinical research using imaging studies to investigate the evolution of MS pathology.

The medical group practice of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, UT Physicians offers the most advanced technologies with a personalized touch from its flagship location in the Texas Medical Center and at a growing number of clinics throughout the greater Houston area.

Angela Stotts, Ph.D.

A clinical trial to test the safety and efficacy of a medication that could help pregnant women stop smoking has begun enrolling patients at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

The study targets pregnant women in their second and third trimesters when smoking can be quite harmful to the fetus, says Angela Stotts, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

“Pregnant women receive counseling or self-help materials but they may need something more powerful to stop smoking. Nicotine is one of the hardest substances to quit due to its action in the brain,” Dr. Stotts says.

The medication, bupropion, is known under the brand name Zyban for smoking cessation and as the antidepressant Wellbutrin in a stronger formula.

“In nonpregnant smokers, bupropion has been shown to almost double the success rate of smoking cessation and is a relatively safe medication,” Dr. Stotts says. “Some obstetricians already prescribe it during pregnancy for depression.”

Pregnant women who smoke are twice as likely to suffer premature rupture of membranes, placental abruption, and placenta previa, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They also have a 30 percent higher chance of delivering prematurely, and their infants are up to three times more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome. Infants born to smoking mothers also have a higher rate of low birth weight, increasing their risk for illness or death. Some studies also have linked developmental problems, such as attention disorders, to mothers who smoked during pregnancy.

“Smoking is an addiction, and women who continue to smoke during pregnancy often say they want to quit for the benefit of their baby but just can’t overcome the need. We currently don’t have many pharmacological options to assist them. Therefore, I think this study is extremely important and will impact our patients in a meaningful way,” says Sean Blackwell, M.D., UT Physicians obstetrician and gynecologist.

A 2001 brain activation study published in the Archive of General Psychiatry concluded that bupropion appears to reduce the cravings associated with smoking.

“It’s an atypical antidepressant and the mechanism is not well known but we believe it works on several systems. We think it’s mediated through the dopaminergic and noradrenergic systems,” Dr. Stotts says. “It might act as an antagonist, blocking the effects of the nicotine, so people might not experience the same pleasant reinforcing properties of nicotine.”

The randomized, placebo-controlled trial will recruit 50 women over a two-year period from the UT Physicians Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic and the UT Physicians Women’s Health Center. Persons interested in enrolling may call 713.500.5850 or email Maria Hutchinson for more information.

— Deborah Mann Lake, Office of Advancement, Media Relations

The medical group practice of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, UT Physicians offers the most advanced technologies with a personalized touch from its flagship location in the Texas Medical Center and at a growing number of clinics throughout the greater Houston area.

A new UTHealth medical weight loss program led by Kevin Hwang, M.D., M.P.H., can help people who want to reduce their weight by at least 10 percent. Hwang is pictured with medical assistant Vicky Davis.

The innovative program is based on an intensive lifestyle intervention initiative associated with sustained weight loss and improvements in fitness and blood sugar control in individuals with Type 2 diabetes. The initiative is called Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes).

“The program employs scientifically-based principles to help participants make healthy changes in nutrition and physical activity,” said Kevin Hwang, M.D., M.P.H., medical director of the UT Physicians Medical Weight Loss program and an assistant professor of medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School. “Our goal is to help our clients reduce their weight by at least 10 percent if not more.”

Hwang said, “We take a personalized approach to weight loss providing participants with both one-on-one counseling and group counseling. We help people deal with occasional setbacks and help them stick with the program.”

In general, the program is for people who are obese, which is a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, or those with a BMI of 27 and at least one obesity-related health condition. The program is housed in the Bellaire offices of The University of Texas Center for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, 6700 West Loop South, Suite 500.

“Regardless of how much weight you want to lose, we can help,” said Erik Wilson, M.D., director of the UT Center for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery and associate professor of surgery at the UTHealth Medical School  “We now offer both medical and surgical treatment of obesity, which is a national health epidemic.”

Program participants complete a comprehensive questionnaire, receive a thorough medical evaluation and attend consultations with a registered dietitian.

The Weight and Lifestyle Inventory questionnaire is designed to evaluate weight loss history, nutrition and physical activity habits and social and psychological factors. It is available online at http://www.utweight.com.

The medical assessment is performed by Hwang to determine program eligibility. It includes a medical history, physical exam, and possibly laboratory and other tests.

Employing a high tech approach to weight loss, participants are tested to see how many calories they burn while resting, which is useful in meal planning.

The members of Hwang’s weight loss team also utilize a 3-D white light scanner, which helps participants visualize changes to their bodies.

“Twelve to 24 weeks is the preferred amount of time for a program like this,” said Carol Wolin-Riklin, the program’s registered dietitian. “You are asking people to make lifestyle changes and you can’t do that overnight.”

During her counseling sessions, Wolin-Riklin discusses topics such as how to count calories, how to shop for healthy food and how to read labels. In addition, Wolin-Riklin reviews exercise and food journals and develops personalized nutrition plans.

Many people seeking to lose weight find that it is easier to incorporate a prepared meal program in which calories are already calculated. Wolin-Riklin can aid in the selection of such a service.

People do not need a physician referral to see Hwang for the initial medical evaluation, which may be covered by insurance. There are three different program options with prices ranging from $530 to $1,040. For appointments, call 713.892.5500 or visit www.UTWeight.com.

UT Physicians is the medical group practice of the UTHealth Medical School. Its team of internationally-recognized medical experts includes more than 1,000 doctors certified in 80 medical specialties.

Rob Cahill
Media Hotline: 713-500-3030

Lillian Kao, M.D.

Dr. Kao’s election to the one-year term was announced at the recent 7th Annual Academic Surgical Congress in Las Vegas. The meeting was hosted by the AAS and the Society of University Surgeons. Dr. Kao will start a term as association president in 2013.

Dr. Kao’s research at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston focuses on providing evidence-based care to improve surgical outcomes, particularly with regard to surgical infections. Kao has received a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Physician Faculty Scholars Award and a National Institutes of Health award.

At the Medical School, Dr. Kao is co-director of the Center for Surgical Trials & Evidence-based Practice, a member of the faculty for the Center for Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine, a vice-chair of Quality of Care for the Department of Surgery and a member of The University of Texas-Memorial Hermann Center for Healthcare Quality and Safety.

Founded in 1967, the AAS is the largest association of academic surgeons with more than 3,000 members worldwide.

—Rob Cahill, Media Relations, Office of Advancement

The medical group practice of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, UT Physicians offers the most advanced technologies with a personalized touch from its flagship location in the Texas Medical Center and at a growing number of clinics throughout the greater Houston area.

Steven Canfield, M.D.

“Dr. Canfield has served as the program director of the Division of Urology for the last few years and it has been a pleasure to work him,” says Richard Andrassy, M.D., UT Physicians surgeon. “We are pleased he has accepted the position of chief of urology.”

Dr. Canfield, a UT Physicians surgeon, specializes in the treatment of prostate cancer, bladder cancer, and kidney cancer. He utilizes robot-assisted surgery and organ preserving techniques to maximize cure rates and long-term quality of life health. Dr. Canfield and his partners at offer state-of-the-art treatments for stone disease, voiding dysfunction and incontinence, sexual medicine, female pelvic disorders, and all urologic issues.

The division operates a urology residency training program, which prepares physicians to treat a host of health problems including urinary tract stones.

Dr. Canfield graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and completed an internship and residency at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. Later, he finished a three-year fellowship at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Canfield is the chief of urology at Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital in partnership with the Harris County Hospital District and the MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is certified by the American Board of Urology. He is an investigator in ongoing clinical trials and has published more than 70 manuscripts, chapters and editorial reviews.

—Rob Cahill, Media Relations, Office of Advancement

The medical group practice of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, UT Physicians offers the most advanced technologies with a personalized touch from its flagship location in the Texas Medical Center and at a growing number of clinics throughout the greater Houston area.