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Biography: Dr. Winchell is an internationally renowned expert in care of the critically injured and the development, design, and operation of trauma systems. He is the G. Thomas Shires II Professor of Surgery, Professor of Medical Ethics in Medicine, and Chief of the Division of Trauma, Burns, Acute and Critical Care at Weill Cornell Medicine. He heads one of the leading Level 1 trauma centers in New York City and oversees the internationally recognized William Randolph Hearst Burn Center.Dr. Winchell received his undergraduate degree at the California Institute of Technology, his M.D. from Yale University, and did his internship, General Surgery residency, and Trauma and Critical Care Fellowship at the University of California, San Diego. He is board certified in general surgery, with added qualifications in surgical critical care. He served on the faculty at UCSD as Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery until 1999, and prior to joining Weill Cornell, he was a Visiting Professor of Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and Chief of Trauma at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center.Dr. Winchell is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, currently serving as Governor for the Manhattan Council Chapter. He served on the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma for over 20 years, in various roles including Chair of the Trauma Systems Evaluation and Planning Committee, member of the Executive Committee, and Special Consultant for International Quality Programs. Dr Winchell has led the development and evolution of trauma systems throughout the world, including his seminal work in the Committee on Trauma's Trauma System Consultation Program, and work with the WHO Global Alliance for the Care of the Injured.Dr. Winchell is the author of more than 100 scientific papers and book chapters, and has given over 200 regional, national, and international presentations. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, a section editor for the European Journal of Trauma, and reviewer for several other journals including Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Open, the Archives of Surgery, and the World Journal of Surgery. He is a fellow or member of the American Surgical Association, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the American Burn Association, the New England Surgical Society, the International Society for Surgery, the International the Association for Trauma Surgery and Intensive Care, the Western Trauma Association, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine as well as other national and regional scholarly societies.

Biography: Cassandra Villegas, MD MPH is an Attending Surgeon at Weill Cornell Medical Center in the Division of Trauma, Burns, Critical, and Acute Care Surgery. She received her B.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University, where she was a President' Scholar and received the Teaching Excellence award. She remained at Stanford University as an instructor and doing neuroscience research before joining Teach for America to teach high school science in Los Angeles Unified School District for five years. There, she won the Most Inspirational Teacher Award before leaving education to attend Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. As a medical student, she completed her MPH at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, focusing on data outcomes research while diversifying her medical training at Guy's, King's, and St. Thomas's Hospital in London, England as well as the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland.She continued her outcomes research in trauma and health disparities before starting her general surgery residency at the University of Arizona. While there, she took 1st Place in the American College of Surgeons Resident Paper Competition and earned the American Association for the Surgery Resident Scholarship for her work her in trauma outcomes. She received Resident Educator of the Year twice, and was Awarded Resident of the Year at the Southern Arizona Veteran's Hospital. At the conclusion of her residency, she was awarded the Charles Putnam Chief Resident Teaching Award.Dr. Villegas then completed her Surgical Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery Fellowships at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, where she now serves as faculty and continues her research interest in trauma, emergency surgery, and global health surgery. She is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the Easter Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and the Surgical Outcomes Society.

Biography: Dr. Piotr Jerzy Gorecki is a graduate from Nicholas Copernicus Academy of Medicine at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, one of the oldest and most recognized medical schools and universities in Europe. Following his residency training at the New York Methodist Hospital, he completed Fellowship in Minimally Invasive Surgery at the Mayo Clinic. Serving as a Chief of Advanced Laparoscopy and Section Chief of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery since 2001, he has introduced and developed a minimally invasive program for advanced GI/ Foregut, colorectal, solid organ and most notably the minimally invasive metabolic and bariatric surgery with accreditation at the American College of Surgeons / MBSAQIP as a Comprehensive Weight Loss Center with Adolescent Qualification.Clinical PracticeInspired by long-standing interest in Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) and followed by completion of MIS fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, my clinical activities and expertise have been focused around advancing laparoscopic techniques and minimally invasive approaches to disease of the foregut, solid organs, emergency laparoscopy and most noticeably laparoscopy for morbid obesity and obesity surgery for adolescents.Furthermore, our minimally invasive metabolic and bariatric practice was awarded as an ASMBS Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence in 2005 (currently combined with American College of Surgeons (ACS) and with Adolescent Qualifications under ACS MBSAQIP / Quality Improvement Project. Our program has been one of the initial metabolic and bariatric centers of excellence in the tri-state area. Indeed, bariatric surgery for adolescents including long-term outcomes and modification of operative techniques has been my long-standing interest that resulted in establishing regional multidisciplinary metabolic and bariatric surgery center of excellence with adolescent designation.Moreover, system-based practice and value based surgical methods utilizing hand-sewn anastomotic techniques resulted not only in major cost savings to our institution but also in reduction of use of disposable instrumentation and reduction of medical waste, while further optimizing and enhancing highest quality patient care.To advance our clinical and research activities I have initiated, organized and maintained a prospectively collected bariatric database while maintaining busy clinical practice and surgical education to our surgical residents, medical students, PA students and GI fellows.Clinical LeadershipServing as a Chief of Advanced Laparoscopy and Section Chief of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery since 2001, I have introduced and developed a minimally invasive program for advanced GI/ Foregut, colorectal, solid organ and most notably the minimally invasive metabolic and bariatric surgery with accreditation at the ACS MBSAQIP center.At the NYP Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, I have performed more than 3900 laparoscopic foregut and bariatric operations since the inception of the advanced MIS program in 2001 with the fortune of not experiencing any perioperative mortality and enjoying high patient satisfaction and an excellent safety profile for our clinical activities. These outcomes were reported at regional, national and international meetings (including SAGES, ASMBS, ACS, IFSO, DDW, NYSS, WCS) and more than 75 papers/abstracts were presented further contributing to the growing national and international recognition of our Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Program at the NYP Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.

Care Philosophy: We are committed to delivering the best care and an exceptional patient experience. We are devoted to providing services that are patient-centered and compassionate, and care for you as a person.

Care Philosophy: Pancreatic cancer has been my area of clinical and research focus for the past 15 years. I participated in the process of recognition that outcomes of complex surgery such as that for pancreatic cancer are better in high volume centers when performed by experienced surgeons. In 2006, I conceived, funded and built a multidisciplinary unit with the mission of improving overall outcomes in pancreatic cancer care by integrating the care of multiple medical specialists.