Research in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Our extremely productive research arm is supervised by Dr. Zaid Abdelsattar, Director of Surgical Research at the Thoracic and Cardiovascular Research Institute (Twitter Handle: @ZaidAbdelsattar).
Dr. Abdelsattar is a prolific surgeon-scientist whose research emphasis is in health services and translational research. The focus is to better understand the quality of thoracic surgical care at the national level by studying processes of care, structure and surgical outcomes utilizing big data, clinical registries and administrative databases. These are used to help inform large scale policy and affect clinical practice.
Departmental research also bridges health services with innovative translational research that can identify mechanistic and pathophysiological attributes in thrombosis and inflammation and how they relate to improving several processes of surgical care that can result in real-world solutions to many surgical problems.
Our research program benefits from many collaborations with basic scientists and other surgeons from other disciplines, including surgical oncology, trauma surgery, the Edward Hines Jr.. VA Hospital, and with many of the basic science laboratories located on the medical school campus and its Center for Translational Research and Education. Amongst our closest relationships are those has with the Loyola Core and Specials Clinical Coagulation Laboratories under the direction of Dr. Jeanine Walenga and Dr. Walter Jeske.
Dr. Abdelsattar's work has been published in several high impact peer reviewed journals including The Lancet, JAMA Surgery, Annals of Surgery, Annals of Thoracic Surgery and the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery amongst others. He has authored or co-authored over 120 published papers (111 available in pubmed, 9 in press), of which he is first or senior author on over 50% of those. He has mentored several medical students who have all had first author publications and opportunities to present at the podium nationally or internationally. Many students have also received prestigious awards from the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago, and from international societies such as the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.
Our Department has a long track record of multidisciplinary collaboration but our closest collaboration has been with the Loyola Core and Specials Clinical Coagulation Laboratories under the direction of Dr. Jeanine Walenga and Walter Jeske.
Dr. Abdelsattar is a prolific surgeon-scientist whose research emphasis is in health services and translational research. The focus is to better understand the quality of thoracic surgical care at the national level by studying processes of care, structure and surgical outcomes utilizing big data, clinical registries and administrative databases. These are used to help inform large scale policy and affect clinical practice.
Departmental research also bridges health services with innovative translational research that can identify mechanistic and pathophysiological attributes in thrombosis and inflammation and how they relate to improving several processes of surgical care that can result in real-world solutions to many surgical problems.
Our research program benefits from many collaborations with basic scientists and other surgeons from other disciplines, including surgical oncology, trauma surgery, the Edward Hines Jr.. VA Hospital, and with many of the basic science laboratories located on the medical school campus and its Center for Translational Research and Education. Amongst our closest relationships are those has with the Loyola Core and Specials Clinical Coagulation Laboratories under the direction of Dr. Jeanine Walenga and Dr. Walter Jeske.
Dr. Abdelsattar's work has been published in several high impact peer reviewed journals including The Lancet, JAMA Surgery, Annals of Surgery, Annals of Thoracic Surgery and the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery amongst others. He has authored or co-authored over 120 published papers (111 available in pubmed, 9 in press), of which he is first or senior author on over 50% of those. He has mentored several medical students who have all had first author publications and opportunities to present at the podium nationally or internationally. Many students have also received prestigious awards from the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago, and from international societies such as the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.
Our Department has a long track record of multidisciplinary collaboration but our closest collaboration has been with the Loyola Core and Specials Clinical Coagulation Laboratories under the direction of Dr. Jeanine Walenga and Walter Jeske.
Another area of research collaboration involves the application of machine learning to our large clinical volume of aortic pathology. An example of a project in this area is research into an automated machine learning process to analyze the entirety of normal and aneurysmal portions of the aorta to predict risk and site of dissection.
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POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
Funding now exists for 1-2 years of post-doctoral research with our Departmental laboratory.
The ideal candidate will be a recent graduate, holding an M.D. and/or PhD with an interest in cardiothoracic surgery, thoracic oncology and/or heart/lung transplantation. Surgical residents who wish to gain research experience are welcome to apply. Experience with statistical software packages such as R, SAS, Stata, is preferred but not mandatory.
The successful candidate will have the appropriate mentorship and supervision to see through translational and health services research projects from idea to publication, and the opportunity to present at national and international meetings. The candidate will be able to develop a research niche and area of expertise in cardiothoracic surgery. The candidate will become facile in the management and analysis of big data as it pertains to cardiothoracic surgery with emphasis on health care delivery and policy. The candidate will work in a multi-disciplinary research environment which includes multiple renowned cardiothoracic surgeons, thoracic oncologists, cardiologists and pulmonologists, in addition to having access to basic scientists at the Health Sciences Campus of Loyola University Chicago.
Light clinical duty not to exceed 20 percent of total time in the fellowship offers the candidate the opportunity to maintain surgical skills and increase experience of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.
Candidates are invited to send a CV and a cover letter expressing their interest through the contact page.
The ideal candidate will be a recent graduate, holding an M.D. and/or PhD with an interest in cardiothoracic surgery, thoracic oncology and/or heart/lung transplantation. Surgical residents who wish to gain research experience are welcome to apply. Experience with statistical software packages such as R, SAS, Stata, is preferred but not mandatory.
The successful candidate will have the appropriate mentorship and supervision to see through translational and health services research projects from idea to publication, and the opportunity to present at national and international meetings. The candidate will be able to develop a research niche and area of expertise in cardiothoracic surgery. The candidate will become facile in the management and analysis of big data as it pertains to cardiothoracic surgery with emphasis on health care delivery and policy. The candidate will work in a multi-disciplinary research environment which includes multiple renowned cardiothoracic surgeons, thoracic oncologists, cardiologists and pulmonologists, in addition to having access to basic scientists at the Health Sciences Campus of Loyola University Chicago.
Light clinical duty not to exceed 20 percent of total time in the fellowship offers the candidate the opportunity to maintain surgical skills and increase experience of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.
Candidates are invited to send a CV and a cover letter expressing their interest through the contact page.
Recent Achievements
- Pohlman A, Odeh AM, Purnell SM, Alrahmani L, Blackmon SH, Coughlin JM, Abdelsattar ZM. Comparing Companion Open Access Journals to Their Traditional Journal Counterparts. Accountability in Research: Ethics, Integrity, and Policy. October 2025. Doi: 10.1080/08989621.2025.2575211
- Pohlman A, Odeh B, Coughlin JM, Raad W, Lubawski J, Abdelsattar, ZM. Real-World Oncologic Outcomes of Thoracoscopic and Open Tracheal Cancer Resection. Journal of Thoracic Disease. Doi: 10.21037/jtd-2025-1445
- Pohlman A, Lozanoski M, Odeh B, Abdelsattar ZM. Using Augmented Reality to Guide Complex Chest Wall Resection with Simplified Single-Patch Reconstruction. Innovations: Technology and Techniques in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery. (Accepted for Publication September 2025)
- Pohlman A, Coughlin JM, Abdelsattar ZM, Lubawski J, Raad W. Robotic Resection of An Ectopic Mediastinal Pancreatic Cyst. Innovations: Technology and Techniques in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery. (Accepted for Publication August 2025)
- Pohlman A, McMullen P, Abdelsattar ZM. Grades and Lung Cancer Prognostication. JTCVS Open. August 2025. Doi: 10.1016/j.xjon.2025.07.017
- Pohlman A, Abdelsattar ZM. The Use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Thoracic Surgery. Thoracic Surgery Clinics. August 2025. Doi: 10.1016/j.thorsurg.2025.07.006
- Pohlman A, Odeh B, Helenowski I, Coughlin JM, Raad W, Lubawski J, Abdelsattar ZM. Minimally Invasive Total versus Partial Thymectomy for Early-Stage Thymoma. Cancers. July 2025. Doi: 10.3390/cancers17152518
- Pohlman A, Stone A, Abdelsattar ZM, Coughlin JM. Robotic Repair of Catamenial Pneumothorax. CTSNet. June 2025. Doi:10.25373/ctsnet.29306810.
- Odeh B, Pohlman A, Abdelsattar ZM. Robotic resection of a bronchogenic cyst. Multimed Man Cardiothorac Surg. April 2025. Doi: 10.1510/mmcts.2025.021.
- Pohlman A, Vasilopoulos A, Odeh A, Shen KR, Coughlin J, Abdelsattar ZM, Cost-Effectiveness Of Adjuvant Osimertinib With And Without Chemotherapy For Surgically Resected Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. JTO Clinical and Research Reports. April 2025. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.jtocrr.2025.100833.
- Pohlman A, Odeh B, Abdelsattar ZM. Robotic resection of a mediastinal liposarcoma. Multimed Man Cardiothorac Surg. March 2025. Doi: 10.1510/mmcts.2025.013.
- Pohlman A, Nizamuddin M, Albarillo FS, Abdelsattar ZM. Lung resection from wedge to pneumonectomy as surgical options for pulmonary mucormycosis. J Surg Case Rep. November 2024. Doi: 10.1093/jscr/rjae753.
- 2025 Pohlman A, Odeh B, Abdelsattar ZM. Southern Thoracic Surgical Association 72nd Annual Meeting, Fernandina Beach, FL. November 2025. Lobar versus Sub-lobar Lung Resection for Early-Stage EGFR-Mutant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
- 2025 Pohlman A, Odeh B, Abdelsattar ZM. ACS Clinical Congress 2025: Scientific Forum Full Oral Presentation, Chicago IL. October 2025 STARR: Straight Stick and Robotic Resection of Solid Organ Cancers – A US-Hospital Based National Analysis of 2,258,360 Patients
- 2025 Pohlman A, Odeh B, Abdelsattar ZM. ACS Clinical Congress 2025: Video-Based Education Session, Chicago IL. October 2025 Robotic Heller Myotomy and Dor Fundoplication
- 2025 Odeh B, Pohlman A, Abdelsattar ZM. ACS Clinical Congress 2025: Video-Based Education Session, Chicago IL. October 2025 Robotic Resection of Bronchogenic Cyst
- 2025 Pohlman A, Odeh B, Abdelsattar ZM. General Thoracic Surgical Club Annual Meeting, Bonita Springs FL. March 2025. Robotic Resection of Mediastinal Liposarcoma
- 2025 Pohlman A, Vasilopoulos A, Shen KR, Odeh A, Abdelsattar ZM. Academic Surgical Congress, Las Vegas, NV. February 2025. Cost-effectiveness of adjuvant Osimertinib with and without chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer
- 2025 Pohlman A, Abdelsattar ZM. AATS International Thoracic Surgical Oncology Summit 2025, Boston, MA. September 2025. Impact of Neoadjuvant Therapy, Tumor Size, and Surgical Approach on Conversion to Open Thoracotomy During Curative Lung Cancer Resection
- 2025 Pohlman A, Lau J, Odeh B, Abdelsattar, ZM. General Thoracic Surgical Club Annual Meeting, Bonita Springs, FL. March 2025. Minimally Invasive Total versus Partial Thymectomy for Early-Stage Thymoma
- 2025 Zahra O, Pohlman A, Odeh A, Odeh B, Coughlin J, Raad W, Lubawski J, Goyal A, Abdelsattar ZM. General Thoracic Surgical Club Annual Meeting, Bonita Springs, FL. March 2025. Can AI Interpret PFTs and Predict Prolonged Air Leak After Lung Resection?
- 2025 Odeh B, Pohlman A, Odeh A, Goyal A, Harkenrider M, Abdelsattar ZM. General Thoracic Surgical Club Annual Meeting, Bonita Springs, FL. March 2025. Hospital Variation in Invasive Mediastinal Staging for Patients with Stage I Lung Cancer Treated with Radiation
