Category: News

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Eric Sheu, MD, PhD, Awarded a $3.3M National Institutes of Health Grant

Eric Sheu, MD, PhD, has been awarded a $3.3M NIH R01 grant for the study, “A microbiome-dependent bile acid metabolite improves type 2 diabetes.”

Dr. Sheu’s group has identified a bile acid metabolite, CA7S, that is generated by bariatric surgery and has anti-diabetic properties. This study’s goals are to evaluate the CA7S metabolite as a novel therapy for type 2 diabetes; uncover how CA7S production is regulated by the gut microbiome; and determine the contribution of CA7S to type 2 diabetes remission, following bariatric surgery. The study is funded by the NIH National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), whose mission is to conduct and support medical research and research training and to disseminate science-based information on diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases, nutritional disorders, and obesity; and kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases, to improve people’s health and quality of life.

Eric Sheu, MD, PhD
Associate Surgeon, Division of General and Gastrointestinal Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Associate Program Director, Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Sheu is a bariatric and minimally invasive surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, an assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and associate program director of the advanced minimally invasive surgery fellowship at the Brigham. Dr. Sheu graduated from Harvard College, obtained his doctorate in immunology as a Marshall Scholar at Oxford University and completed medical school at Harvard Medical School. He trained in general surgery at the Brigham, followed by a fellowship in advanced laparoscopy and bariatric surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. 

Dr. Sheu’s clinical practice focuses on bariatric, foregut and hernia surgery.  He directs an NIH R01-funded laboratory that investigates how changes in immunology and metabolism triggered by bariatric surgery lead to resolution of type 2 diabetes. His research has been supported by numerous societies and philanthropic institutions, including the American Surgical Association (ASA), the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator, the Quadrangle Fund for Advancing and Seeding Translational Research (Q-FASTR) and Harvard Catalyst.

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Department of Surgery Faculty Among Boston’s “Top Doctors” 2021

Boston magazine’s 2021 list of “Top Doctors” recognizes 41 Department of Surgery faculty members. Congratulations to the following providers for being recognized in their respective fields:

Colon and Rectal Surgery
Ronald Bleday, MD
Joel Goldberg, MD

Otolaryngology
Donald Annino, MD

Plastic Surgery
Matthew Carty, MD (Hand Surgery)
Yoon Chun, MD
Dennis Orgill, MD, PhD
Andrea Pusic, MD
Christian Sampson, MD
Simon Talbot, MD

Surgery
Stanley Ashley, MD
Monica Bertagnolli, MD
Thomas Clancy, MD
Gerard Doherty, MD
Atul Gawande, MD
Pardon Kenney, MD
Tari King, MD
Sayeed Malek, MD
Faina Nakhlis, MD
Chandrajit Raut, MD
Esther Rhei, MD
Scott Shikora, MD
Douglas Smink, MD, MPH
Ali Tavakkoli, MD
Ashley Vernon, MD

Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery
Raphael Bueno, MD
Christopher Ducko, MD
Hari Mallidi, MD
M. Blair Marshall, MD
Ciaran J. McNamee, MD
Steven Mentzer, MD
Scott Swanson, MD
Jon Wee, MD
Daniel Wiener, MD

Urology
Steven Chang, MD
Adam Kibel, MD
Michael Malone, MD
Michael O’Leary, MD, MPH
Graeme Steele, MD

Vascular Surgery
Michael Belkin, MD
Edwin Gravereaux, MD
Matthew Menard, MD
Charles Ozaki, MD

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Welcoming New Faculty – Akinobu Itoh, MD, PhD

Please join us in welcoming Akinobu Itoh, MD, PhD, as a new faculty member in the Department of Surgery.

Akinobu Itoh, MD, PhD
Associate Surgeon, Division of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery
Surgical Director, Heart Transplantation and Mechanical and Circulatory Support

Dr. Itoh received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the Tohoku University School of Medicine in Sendai, Japan. He completed resident training in general surgery and cardiovascular surgery at the NTT Medical Center in Tokyo and a fellowship in cardiovascular surgery at the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Osaka, Japan. Subsequently, he completed a fellowship in cardiovascular surgery at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada and a fellowship in transplant/heart failure at Toronto General Hospital. In 2013, he joined Washington University School of Medicine/Barnes-Jewish Hospital as a faculty member. Dr. Itoh also holds a PhD in cardiac valve physiology and pathology from Tohoku University.

Before coming to the Brigham, Dr. Itoh was an associate professor of surgery, surgical director of the Heart Transplant and Ventricular Assist Device Program and director of the Surgical Heart Failure Fellowship Program at the Washington University School of Medicine, as well as co-director of the Barnes-Jewish ECMO Program. At the Brigham, Dr. Itoh will also be serving as surgical director of Heart Transplantation and Mechanical and Circulatory Support for the Division of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery.

Dr. Itoh’s main clinical focus is on orthotopic heart transplant and mechanical assist device surgery. He also takes care of high-risk, complex aortic and mitral valve surgeries, as well as aortic dissection and aneurysm. Low ejection fraction coronary artery revascularization surgery, with mechanical circulatory assist is another area of his clinical interest. His clinical and translational research concerns are heart failure and the clinical impact of valvular surgery concomitant with mechanical assist device implantation and reverse remodeling in mechanically unloaded condition. He’s also interested in the clinical outcomes of acute circulatory support, with extracorporeal oxygen membrane circulatory support and other mechanical circulatory support devices, such as the intra-aortic balloon pump and the Impella device. Based upon his previous research experience in valvular/ventricular physiology and transesophageal echocardiography, he would like to contribute to the development of the clinical and translational research in the heart failure field.