School of Medicine


Showing 11-14 of 14 Results

  • Lisa Marie Knowlton, MD, MPH, FACS, FRCSC

    Lisa Marie Knowlton, MD, MPH, FACS, FRCSC

    Assistant Professor of Surgery (General Surgery)

    BioDr. Knowlton is a trauma and critical care surgeon and NIH funded public health researcher whose focus is on improving access to and quality of care for trauma and surgical patients. She obtained her medical degree at McGill University and completed her general surgery residency at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Her desire to understand varied healthcare systems and develop solutions for vulnerable surgical populations led her to obtain an M.P.H. at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and complete a research fellowship at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. Most recently, she trained as a Surgical Critical Care fellow at Stanford University Medical Center and joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Surgery in early 2018.

    Dr. Knowlton's research focuses on improving health equity, addressing barriers in access to care and reducing disparities among vulnerable surgical populations, including underinsured trauma patients. She is also investigating the financial burden that injury imposes upon both patients and hospitals, with the goal of finding economically sustainable strategies for ensuring best outcomes among trauma patients. These include the study of emergency Medicaid programs at the state and national level. Dr. Knowlton’s work has been funded by the American College of Surgeons (the 17th C. James Carrico Faculty Research Fellowship), the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) and most recently, she was awarded an R21 by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Dr. Knowlton is board certified by the American Board of Surgery and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. She is a member of the AAST Diversity and Inclusion and Healthcare Economics Committees, and also serves on the Association for Academic Surgery’s Publications Committee. She was the inaugural Chair of the Associate Member Council of the AAST and currently serves as the Associate Vice Chair of Research for the Stanford Department of Surgery.

  • Ara Ko, MD, MPH

    Ara Ko, MD, MPH

    Assistant Professor - University Medical Line, Surgery - General Surgery

    BioDr. Ara Ko is a trauma surgeon and intensivist who completed her surgical critical care fellowship at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Born in Korea and raised in Southern California, Dr. Ko attended the University of California, Los Angeles receiving her bachelor of arts degree in religious studies. With an interest in global health and underserved communities, she went on to earn her combined medical degree and masters in public health at the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. She returned to Los Angeles for her general surgery training at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where she also spent time publishing on topics such as improving outcomes in traumatic brain injury, venous thromboembolism prevention, quality improvement and trauma workflow, and pain assessment and treatment in the trauma population. Her research has been recognized both regionally and nationally, receiving awards by organizations including the American College of Surgeons Southern California Committee on Trauma and the High Value Practice Academic Alliance National Research and Education Conference. Dr. Ko is an associate member of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma and she enjoys mentoring the next generation of physicians, being selected for outstanding student teaching awards 3 years consecutively.

  • James R. Korndorffer, Jr. MD, MHPE, FACS

    James R. Korndorffer, Jr. MD, MHPE, FACS

    Associate Professor of Surgery (General Surgery)

    BioJames R. Korndorffer, Jr. MD MHPE FACS is Associate Professor and Vice Chair of Education in the Department of Surgery at Stanford University. Previously he served as Vice chair of Surgery at Tulane University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. While at Tulane he also was the Surgery Residency Program Director, the assistant dean for Graduate medical education and the Medical Director of the Tulane Center for Advanced Medical Simulation and Team Training. He received his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University, his Medical Degree from the University of South Florida College of Medicine and his Masters in Health Professions Education from the University of Illinois Chicago. His general surgery residency was completed at The Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina and his Advanced Laparoscopic Fellowship was completed at Tulane University.

    He is actively involved in numerous national societies including the American College of Surgeons, the Society for Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, the Association for Surgical Education, and the Association for Program Directors in Surgery. He serves on the American College of Surgeons Committee on Validation of Surgical Knowledge and Skills, SAGES Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery and Development Committees and also serves as the APDS research committee vice chair.

    Dr. Korndorffer has published over 60 papers in peer reviewed journals, 5 book chapters and has presented at over 100 national meetings. Dr. Korndorffer’s clinical interests include minimally invasive surgery for gastrointestinal disorders and hernias. His research interests include surgical education, surgical simulation, patient safety, and patient care quality.