Overview
The clinical research of former and current vascular surgery faculty of the Emory University School of Medicine has focused on the genetics of abdominal aortic aneurysm and peripheral artery disease; novel stents for treatment of thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms; evaluation of new catheter-based strategies, drugs, and gene therapy for treatment of peripheral arterial disease; artificial blood vessels; new devices for prevention of stroke and treatment of carotid disease; and artificial venous valves.
Basic science and translational studies frequently promote arterial health and work towards preventing major amputations in aging patients, with specific studies concentrating on the characterization of biomechanical, cellular signaling, and extracellular matrix differences between stiffened and healthy vessels and seeking to identify new strategies for delivering cellular therapies to at-risk patients.
The division's quality studies and health services research are often an outgrowth of its membership in the Southeastern Vascular Study Group (SEVSG), a cooperative consortium of clinicians, hospital administrators, and research personnel organized to improve the care of patients with vascular disease in the states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. The SEVSG participates in the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI), a collaborative of regional quality groups that collects and analyzes data in an effort to improve patient care.
Funding sources for prior and current Emory vascular surgery research include the American Heart Association, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Department of Defense, industry sponsors, and private donors.
Current Faculty Investigators
Olamide Alabi, MD
Dr. Alabi's research interests are concentrated on surgical education and curriculum development, quality improvement and surgical outcomes, and health equity/health disparities in vascular surgery. While doing her vascular surgery fellowship at Oregon Health and Science University, Dr. Alabi engaged in efforts to decrease inadvertent arterial cannulations during central venous line placement. She also worked to improve surgical outcomes in vascular reconstruction during oncologic surgery, and led several systems-level quality improvement initiatives, including the development of clinical protocols to fast-track endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) at OHSU's aortic center.
Luke Brewster, MD, PhD, MA, RVT
Dr. Brewster's lab is investigating the biomechanical mechanisms that contribute to pathologic arterial remodeling in peripheral arterial disease, developing regenerative strategies for use in ischemic tissue, and working to improve the function of patients who have undergone major amputation.
Through his joint affiliations with the Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute and the Wallace Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech/Emory, Dr. Brewster has access to an exceptional pool of collaborators, and has received a steady stream of various federal, foundation, and industry grants. His recent studies have included investigations of the molecular process of disturbed flow in arterial stiffening and evaluations of types of medical imaging as decision support tools in assessing fibrosis and sarcopenia in combat casualty amputees.
Yazan Duwayri, MD
Dr. Duwayri's research interests encompass vascular surgery outcomes, quality improvement, endovascular device design, and mesenchymal stem cell biology. He is investigating the influence of perioperative variables on surgical outcomes, and assessing the performance of new endovascular aortic devices through industry funded trials.
Dr. Duwayri is PI of the Emory-based site of the national PRESERVE-Zenith® Iliac Branch Clinical Study, and co-PI of a multi-site, NIH-funded investigation that is comparing the effectiveness of the best available surgical treatment with the best available endovascular treatment in adults with critical limb ischemia who are eligible for both treatment options.
As the chief quality officer for the Division of Vascular Surgery, Dr. Duwayri leads the division's participation in the Florida Georgia Vascular Study Group and the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI).
Katherine E. Hekman, MD, PhD
Dr. Hekman’s lab is investigating strategies for vascular regeneration to treat peripheral artery disease, including adult and pluripotent stem cell technologies. In addition, her lab studies the role of mitochondria and metabolism in vascular aging and disease.
She has diverse interests in clinical research projects, including trainee wellness and venous disease. During her integrated vascular surgery residency program, she developed and implemented a bundled initiative to reduce surgical site infections after lower extremity bypass surgery.
Ravi Rajani, MD
Dr. Rajani, the chief of vascular and endovascular surgery at Grady Memorial Hospital, is focused on applying endovascular techniques to the management of vascular trauma. He has served as the principal investigator for several trauma-specific clinical trials, and is particularly interested in refining thoracic stent graft technology for treating blunt aortic injury.
He is currently the national PI of a prospective, multi-center, non-blinded, non-randomized study of a novel stent graft in subjects with traumatic injury of the descending thoracic aorta.
Christopher R. Ramos, MD
Dr. Ramos was an active researcher throughout his postgraduate years, and has published articles in several leading journals, including Annals of Vascular Surgery, Journal of the American Medical Association, and Surgery. His current research areas are surgical education and surgical outcomes.