Department of Surgery Divisions at OHSU

Five surgeons wearing scrubs talk as they walk down a hospital hallway.

Clinical care, research and education across nine surgical divisions

More than 100 faculty work within our nine divisions to provide leading-edge surgical care, advance research and train the next generation of surgeons.

What sets us apart

We coordinate patient care and research across our divisions and other OHSU departments and institutes. Our divisions have outstanding faculty, facilities, and clinical and research programs. Each division has at least one fellowship program to train surgical specialists and subspecialists.

We have:

Divisions affiliated with the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, which has the National Cancer Institute’s top leadership in research designation
A Level 1 trauma center and a Level 1 site for children’s surgery, as verified by the American College of Surgeons
A history of surgical innovation, including as the hospital where the first artificial heart valve was coinvented and implanted
Faculty who lead their fields in using advanced surgical techniques and advancing surgical treatments

Our research includes studying:  

How to best advance surgical decision-making using data science and clinical expertise
New approaches to direct patients’ immune systems to recognize and destroy cancer cells, building on a previous discovery that high potassium concentrations in tumor tissue can prevent T cells from fighting cancer
Trauma care for military, civilian and pediatric injuries
How to help people with upper arm amputations regain function through targeted muscle reinnervation
How to improve treatment for patients with inherited and familial vascular disease
Solid organ transplantation, hepato-pancreato-biliary malignancies and expanding access to transplantation

Our faculty participate in clinical trials and collect and analyze data in registries, including:

The Oregon Colorectal Cancer Registry, which collects data and sometimes blood and tissue samples from families with a history of this condition
The OHSU Esophageal Cancer and Related Diseases database has clinical and pathologic data on all our patients with esophageal cancer
Testing Pump Chemotherapy in Addition to Standard of Care Chemotherapy versus Standard of Care Chemotherapy Alone for Patients with Unresectable Colorectal Liver Metastases: The PUMP Trial

Divisions

Abdominal Organ Transplantation 
Our faculty expand access to organ transplants in the state with advanced surgical and organ preservation techniques. Our research projects focus on clinical outcomes in transplantation and making more transplants available.

Cardiothoracic Surgery
We provide innovative and advanced surgical care for adult and pediatric cardiac conditions and noncardiac thoracic conditions. We work with the Knight Cardiovascular Institute for interdisciplinary care and research.

Foregut and Metabolic Bariatric Surgery
We provide comprehensive care for medical obesity and foregut disease. We have a complete medical weight loss team and use advanced surgical technologies in foregut and bariatric surgery.

Gastrointestinal and General Surgery
Our leading-edge care focuses on anal, colorectal and pancreatic cancer with the Knight Cancer Institute and on abdominal wall issues. Our faculty have many research publications and collaborations to advance care for these conditions.

Pediatric Surgery
Our faculty treat children with complex medical issues across the region and study trauma care, fetal surgery and how to improve outcomes after pediatric surgery. We offer programs not available in many academic hospitals, including chest wall surgery.

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 
Our surgeons perform a wide range of complex plastic and reconstructive surgeries not available elsewhere in the state for both children and adults.

Surgical Oncology
As part of the prestigious Knight Cancer Institute, we take a collaborative approach to cancer care, research and physician training. The institute holds the National Cancer Institute’s top leadership in research designation.

Trauma, Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery
We treat thousands of trauma patients each year and partner with other divisions and community groups to improve outcomes.

Vascular Surgery
We work with the Knight Cardiovascular Institute and have extensive clinical, research and training programs to advance care for vascular conditions. We collaborate with divisions and programs across OHSU, including endocrinology, cardiology and surgical oncology, to treat conditions with a vascular component.