Surgical Science at UC San Diego

Our faculty, research fellows and residents are encouraged to exploit the Department's research resources to collaborate with an extensive network of researchers locally, nationally and internationally.

Discovery

The Department's surgical scientists are dissecting the molecular mechanisms that underlie the development of the significant diseases that are faced by their clinical partners everyday. These include dissecting the mechanisms that are common to the development and progression of cancer and comparing them with those that are normally found during tissue repair and regeneration. 

Translation 

The Department of Surgery is at the forefront of efforts to translate basic research into pragmatic solutions that will advance the field. In leveraging the results obtained from studies of basic research, the Department's faculty help turn discoveries into new therapeutics like developing new and safer approaches to surgery under fluorescence-guidance.

Clinical Research

Every year, clinical faculty members of the Department initiate new, and complete existing, clinical trials that test ways of doing surgeries that cost less, have better outcomes and are more reliable. Using a combination of approaches that include outreach, health services research and robotics training, they make significant strides towards improving the field for everyone. 

Engineering Sciences

Unlike all other medical disciplines, surgery is uniquely positioned to exploit advances in all aspects of engineering from their creation of new biodegradable materials that can be used in tissue repair and regeneration to the deployment of algorithms that optimize the deployment of resources to improve surgical outcomes.