Sheryl Gabram-Mendola transitions from Emory Surgery and Grady, Keith Delman to serve as interim surgeon-in-chief
MARCH 2020
Sheryl Gabram-Mendola, MD, MBA, is transitioning from her clinical role in the Department of Surgery as well as her leadership positions and clinical work at Grady Memorial Hospital as Surgeon-in-Chief, Chief of the Division of Emory Surgery at Grady, Deputy Director of the Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady, and Director of the Avon Comprehensive Breast Center at Grady as of April 16th, 2020, with planned retirement to Emory Emeritus Professor in January 2021.
"Dr. Gabram-Mendola's contributions as a clinician, teacher, and researcher to the Department of Surgery and Grady Memorial Hospital have been substantial, and she will be deeply missed," says John Sweeney, MD, Joseph Brown Whitehead Professor and Chair of the Emory Department of Surgery. "Her efforts to improve community awareness of the earlier detection of breast cancer in underserved minority women, to meet the rehabilitation needs of breast cancer patients, and to conduct analyses on the impact of various quality metrics and algorithms on patient care at Grady have been highly effective. She is an exemplary academic surgeon leader."
After joining Emory in 2005, Dr. Gabram-Mendola began directing the highly successful Avon Comprehensive Breast Center at Grady, which has been consistently accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) starting in 2010; led numerous initiatives focused on decreasing disparities for breast cancer; was named a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar in 2007; and established a high profile breast surgical oncology fellowship in the School of Medicine that same year. She was named the PI on the AVON Foundation Emory Winship Cancer Institute Grant from 2009 until the program ended nationally in 2018. During this time she was awarded over $6M for the Community Education Outreach Initiative program at Grady, support for key individuals in the Center including the breast surgical oncology fellows, and funding for pilot research studies focused on decreasing the disparities gap.
In 2009, she was appointed Deputy Director of Grady Health System's Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence (GCCE), and in 2011 began serving as Surgeon-in-Chief and Chief of the Division of Emory Surgery at Grady. She was named the inaugural Ada Lee Correll Academic Chair in Surgery in July 2019.
During her tenure at Grady, Dr. Gabram-Mendola recruited over 20 faculty; oversaw the expansion of services in the areas of acute care surgery, burns, surgical oncology, cardiothoracic surgery, vascular surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and plastics; and doubled the patient volume of the clinical breast program as well as introduced new treatment options collaboratively with breast imaging, such as radioactive seed localization and the soon-to-rolled-out contrast enhanced mammography program. Dr. Gabram-Mendola will be joining the board of directors of TurningPoint Breast Cancer Rehabilitation, and will continue her work with Susan G. Komen of Greater Atlanta, particularly her focus on decreasing disparities for African-American women diagnosed with breast cancer in Atlanta. She will maintain her role as co-PI on the Merck Foundation Award to GCCE as part of the new Alliance to Advance Patient-Centered Cancer Care, which is dedicated to improving timely access for breast, GYN, and lung patient-centered care, and reducing disparities in care for vulnerable and underserved populations in the United States. She will also continue to mentor students, fellows, and faculty until her planned appointment as Emory Emeritus Professor in January 2021.
Keith Delman, MD, Associate Chair, Clinical and Faculty Affairs, will begin serving as Interim Surgeon-in-Chief at Grady in April. Having served as program director of the general surgery residency since 2011, a position that will be assumed by Jahnavi Srinivasan, MD, in June, Dr. Delman is very familiar with the Grady landscape, particularly since more than 40% of the residents rotate at the hospital each year.