Author: Department of Surgery

Robert Riviello, MD, MPH, has received a $1M gift from the Steven C. and Carmella R. Kletjian Foundation to support his global surgery work. As Center for Surgery and Public Health (CSPH) director of Global Surgery Programs, Dr. Riviello is working to reduce surgical disparities and improve delivery of care in developing nations.

 

Robert Riviello, MD, MPH
Associate Surgeon, Division of Trauma, Burn, Surgical & Critical Care, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Director of Global Surgery Programs, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Instructor in Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Assistant Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Robert Riviello, MD, MPH, is an associate surgeon in the Division of Trauma, Burn, Surgical & Critical Care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and serves as director of Global Surgery for the BWH Center for Surgery and Public Health (CSPH).

He received his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and MPH from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Riviello completed a General Surgery Residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN and was a Fulbright International Fellow in Global Surgery at Centro Evangelico de Medicina in Lubango, Angola. He completed both an Acute Care and Burn Surgery Fellowship and Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at BWH.

Dr. Riviello serves nine months yearly at BWH in the fields of trauma, acute care surgery and burn care. He also serves three months yearly in sub-Saharan Africa in strengthening surgical services, surgical training and surgical device innovation. His clinical and research interests are in global health, specifically the reduction of disparities and the expansion of surgical delivery for low-income populations by developing surgical workforce and surgical infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa.

Ronald Bleday, MD, has been appointed associate chair for Quality and Patient Safety in the Department of Surgery. Dr. Bleday will lead and enable safe and efficient approaches to inpatient surgical care at Brigham Health and will be responsible for optimizing the quality and safety of inpatient care provided by practitioners in the Department of Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Brigham and Women’s-Faulkner Hospital (BWFH).

Ronald Bleday, MD
Associate Chair for Quality and Patient Safety, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Section Chief, Colon and Rectal Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Ronald Bleday, MD, is section chief of the Division of Colorectal Surgery and program director for the Colorectal Fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center (DF/BWCC). In addition, he is an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Bleday received his medical degree from McGill University School of Medicine, completed a General Surgery Residency at Brown University School of Medicine and a Surgery and Trauma Residency at Rhode Island Hospital. He completed his Surgical Oncology Fellowships at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Brigham and Women’s Hospital and New England Deaconess Hospital/Harvard Surgical Service, his Surgical Endoscopy Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and his Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship at the University of Minnesota.

He currently serves as secretary of the Research Foundation of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) and as a member of the Nation Cancer Institute (NCI) Gastrointestinal Cancer Steering Committee’s (GISC) Rectal Anal Task Force.

The author of over 50 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Bleday’s research focuses on the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ASCOSOG) local excision study, stool-based biomarker research, laparoscopic vs. open colectomy and tumor bank accrual. He worked on implementing Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) and Surgical Site Infection (SSI) reduction protocols at BWH and is part of the Executive Committee of the Partners Colorectal Surgery Collaborative.

Dr. Bleday has clinical interests in anorectal surgery, cancer surgery, colon disease and surgery, Crohn’s disease, diverticular disease, laparoscopic surgery, rectal surgery, sphincter sparing surgery and ulcerative colitis.

Zara Cooper, MD, MSc, FACS, has been appointed associate chair for Faculty Development in the Department of Surgery. Dr. Cooper has responsibility for supporting the career development of the faculty members of the Department of Surgery (DOS) through direct interactions, contributions to DOS and Brigham and Women’s Physician Organization (BWPO) policy development and the mentoring of mentors within the DOS.

Zara Cooper, MD, MSc, FACS
Associate Chair for Faculty Development, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Deputy Director, Strategy and Partnerships, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Zara Cooper, MD, MSc, FACS, is an acute care surgeon, trauma surgeon and surgical intensivist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). Dr. Cooper is an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, deputy director of Strategic Planning and Partnerships at the Center for Surgery and Public Health (CSPH) at BWH and associate faculty at Ariadne Labs in Boston, MA. A graduate of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Dr. Cooper completed her General Surgery Residency and Critical Care Fellowship at BWH; a Trauma Fellowship at Harborview Medical Center and the University of Washington in Seattle; and training in hospice and palliative medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and BWH.

Dr. Cooper’s research aims to improve palliative and geriatric care for older seriously ill surgical patients. A national leader in surgical palliative care and geriatric trauma, she has authored over 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts, chapters, and abstracts and lectures nationally about surgical care in complex older patients.

Dr. Cooper is currently funded through the National Institutes of Aging Paul B. Beeson Leadership in Aging Award, the Cambia Foundation Sojourns Scholarship and is a co-investigator on multiple federally funded grants. She is chair of the Prevention Committee for the American Association of the Surgery of Trauma (AAST), on the Executive Council of the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS) and serves on the Geriatrics Task Force and Palliative Care Committee for the American College of Surgeons (ACS).