Category: News

Posted on

Welcoming New Faculty – Desiree A. Steimer, MD

Please join us in welcoming Desiree A. Steimer, MD, as a new faculty member in the Department of Surgery.

Desiree A. Steimer, MD
Associate Surgeon, Division of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery

Dr. Steimer is a graduate of Rhodes College and received her medical degree from the University of Kentucky. She completed surgical residency at Baylor University and is board certified in general surgery. Her thoracic training includes a cardiothoracic surgical residency and a fellowship in foregut and general thoracic surgery; both programs were completed at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

She has an interest in minimally invasive thoracic surgery and is a recipient of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) Foundation Thoracic Surgical Robotics Fellowship. She is a member of various professional societies, including Women in Thoracic Surgery (WTS), the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS).

Dr. Steimer’s clinical interest is thoracic oncology, including lung cancer, esophageal cancer, thymic malignancies and mesothelioma. Her research will focus on improving patient education for pre-surgical and postoperative care.

Posted on

Welcoming New Faculty – Paula A. Ugalde Figueroa, MD

Please join us in welcoming Paula A. Ugalde Figueroa, MD, as a new faculty member in the Department of Surgery.

Paula A. Ugalde Figueroa, MD
Associate Surgeon, Division of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery

Dr. Ugalde received her medical degree from the Federal University of Bahia Medical School in Salvador, Brazil, where she also completed a master’s degree and a postdoctoral research fellowship in lung volume reduction surgery. She completed her general surgery residency at the Santo Antônio Hospital in Salvador, Brazil and a thoracic surgery residency at the Pavilhão Pereira Filho Santa Casa da Misericórdia Hospital Department of Pulmonary Disease in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Subsequently, Dr. Ugalde completed a 2-year clinical fellowship in thoracic surgery at the Hôpital Laval Department of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery in Quebec, Canada and a minimally invasive thoracic surgery fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Esophageal and Lung Surgery Institute.

She is a member of the Board of Directors and chair of the Database Committee of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), as well as a member of the American Association of Thoracic Surgery (AATS), the Society of Thoracic Surgery (STS) and Women in Thoracic Surgery (WTS), among other institutions. Previously, Dr. Ugalde worked as the director of the Thoracic Oncology Research Program at the University Institute of Cardiology and Pulmonology of Quebec of the Université Laval, where she was also a clinical professor in the Department of Surgery.

Dr. Ugalde’s clinical and research interests include innovation in minimally invasive lung surgery. She has the largest prospective database on uniportal surgery and has published extensively on using this technique for complex procedures. She is also dedicated to education and organizing several meetings and training programs, nationally and internationally.

Posted on

Mark Fairweather, MD, Named Program Director of the Mass General Brigham/Dana-Farber Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Harvard Medical School

Mark Fairweather, MD
Program Director, Mass General Brigham/Dana-Farber Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship, Harvard Medical School
Associate Program Director, Brigham General Surgery Residency, Department of Surgery
Director, Advanced Surgery Clerkships, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Fairweather joined the faculty in the Division of Surgical Oncology at the Brigham in 2018, specializing in GI/HPB and sarcoma. He is a graduate of Hanover College and received his medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He completed a residency in general surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital followed by a fellowship in complex general surgical oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Fairweather’s clinical interests include cancers of the gastrointestinal tract and soft-tissue sarcomas.  In addition to research on treatment outcomes for sarcoma, including retroperitoneal sarcomas and gastrointestinal stromal tumors, he also serves as an executive officer for the Alliance Foundation Trials, LLC (AFT), where his work focuses on developing and validating methods of capturing high-quality real-world data alongside ongoing clinical trials.