UAB Division of Surgical Oncology Director Vikas Dudeja, M.D., and Division Surgical Oncology Associate Professor Annabelle Fonseca, M.D., MHS, have been selected for health policy scholarships through the American College of Surgeons (ACS).
Through the scholarships, Dudeja and Fonseca attended the Brandeis Health Leadership Program in Health Policy and Management. This intensive, one-week program aims to educate doctors and surgeons involved in healthcare policy and reform and to cultivate them as innovators and advocates for sustainable development in healthcare.
Funding from the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association
Dr. Vikas Dudeja received a scholarship funded by the ACS and the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (AHPBA). Over the past 14 years, he has dedicated his research to studying the pathobiology of pancreatic cancer and developing approaches to tackle its progression and metastases, in addition to clinical trial research to study acute and recurrent acute pancreatitis.
Dudeja has received millions in total funding to pioneer pancreatic research from organizations such as the United States Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, as well as the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dudeja’s work has been published in high-impact journals like Gastroenterology, Gut, Clinical Cancer Research, and Nature Reviews in Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Funding from the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract
Dr. Annabelle Fonseca was awarded a health policy scholarship through the ACS and the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT). Her research focuses on a systems- based approach to improving barriers in access to complex oncologic care among patients with foregut cancers. She is funded by an National Institutes of Health (NIH) Career Development Award. She is a member of the UAB Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship.
Fonseca’s research has been published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology, the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, and The American Journal of Surgery.