Department of Surgery 2024 Annual Report

Over the past year, the Department of Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital has continued to build on our proud history of clinical and academic achievement. This report highlights just some of the many examples of our ongoing commitment to excellence in clinical care, research and surgical education.

This year we embarked on unifying Mass General Brigham into the health care system of the future. This includes the full integration of the surgical departments at both the Brigham and Massachusetts General Hospital, a vital step toward transforming patient experiences, improving clinical outcomes, and better supporting our exceptional clinicians and researchers. By joining forces, we aim to enhance the quality of care, elevate our training programs, and further our groundbreaking research. While this will be the final annual report for the legacy Department of Surgery at the Brigham, we remain committed to the storied histories of both departments and look forward to creating a premier surgical department together at Mass General Brigham.

Thank you for taking the time to read our report.

Robert Riviello, MD, MPH, Appointed the Steven C. and Carmella R. Kletjian Associate Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine in the Field of Global Surgery at Harvard Medical School

Robert Riviello, MD, MPH
Steven C. and Carmella R. Kletjian Foundation Endowed Chair in Global Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Steven C. and Carmella R. Kletjian Associate Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine in the Field of Global Surgery
Associate Professor of Surgery

Harvard Medical School

Dr. Riviello is the medical director of the metabolic support service and an associate surgeon with the Division of Trauma, Burn, Surgical Critical Care, and Emergency General Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is also the director of the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (PGSSC) at Harvard Medical School. He serves as co-chair of the Center for Equity in Global Surgery at the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) in Rwanda and the Kletjian Foundation Endowed Chair in Global Surgery in the Department of Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Riviello received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, his master’s degree from the Harvard School of Public Health and his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego. He completed his general surgery residency at Vanderbilt University. He completed a Fulbright International Fellowship in Global Surgery at Centro Evangélico de Medicina do Lubango in Angola and a research fellowship in global surgery at the BWH Center for Surgery and Public Health. He then completed an acute care and burn surgery fellowship, as well as an anesthesia critical care medicine fellowship at the Brigham.

Dr. Riviello’s current research focuses on delivering safe, effective, equitable and patient-centered care to vulnerable populations in settings of poverty. He has more than 140 peer-reviewed publications in the field of global surgery. Dr. Riviello has developed innovative platforms for surgical care delivery and curricula to maximize surgeon effectiveness in resource-limited communities.