Julie Ann Sosa is a professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and holds the Leon Goldman, MD, Distinguished Professorship in Surgery.[1][2] She currently serves as the Treasurer of the American Thyroid Association and Editor-in-Chief of the World Journal of Surgery.[3]

Julie Ann Sosa
Dr. Sosa at UCSF in 2018
Born
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
NationalityAmerican
EducationPrinceton University (Bachelor of Arts)
Worcester College, Oxford (Master of Arts)
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Doctor of Medicine)
Occupation(s)Endocrine surgeon and scientist
Years active2002–present

Sosa is an American endocrine surgeon and surgical oncologist, specializing in thyroid cancer.[1] She is internationally recognized for her work in health services research, demonstrating for the first time in the United States a strong association between a higher surgeon or hospital case volume and improved patient outcomes following thyroidectomy and pancreatectomy,[4] as well as optimal extent of thyroid surgery and lymphadenectomy for thyroid cancer. Her contributions have led to the revision of practice guidelines for the management of patients with endocrine diseases.[5]

Education and previous appointments

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Sosa received her medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1994 and went on to complete the Halsted Residency in Surgery at Johns Hopkins in 2001, followed by a fellowship in Surgical Oncology as Assistant Chief of Service in 2002.[6] She was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar from 1996 to 1998.

In 2002, Sosa joined the Yale School of Medicine as an assistant professor of surgery, reaching the rank of associate professor in 2008. While at Yale, Sosa led the Clinical Research Program in Endocrine Cancers at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven. In 2012, Sosa joined the Duke University School of Medicine as Professor of Surgery and Medicine (Oncology) where she remained until April 2018 when she became chair of the UCSF Department of Surgery.

Scientific contributions

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Dr Sosa's research has focused on identifying ways to optimize patient outcomes following surgery and focused in the arena of endocrine neoplasia, with a particular interest in thyroid cancer. She also has been actively involved in clinical trials focused on the development of novel therapies for the management of locally advanced and metastatic thyroid cancer; she was active in early work developing vandetanib for medullary thyroid cancer (JCO 2010) and exploring vascular disrupting agent for anaplastic thyroid cancer (Thyroid 2014). Most recently, she has worked together with Dr Libby Grubbs at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to develop a first of kind multi-institutional registry studying the natural history of a rare disease, medullary thyroid cancer (JMIR Form Res 2021). Her scholarship has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the Connecticut Stem Cell Fund, the American Geriatrics Society, the Donoghue Medical Research Foundation, and the Association for Academic Surgery.

Her transdisciplinary research group, which includes surgeons, endocrinologists, biostatisticians, epidemiologists, health economists, health services researchers, basic scientists and stem cell researchers, has made discoveries that have helped define optimal extent of surgery for differentiated thyroid cancer (JCEM 2015, Ann Surg 2014) and what constitutes an adequate lymphadenectomy (JCO 2016); a minimum volume threshold of thyroidectomies to optimize outcomes (Ann Surg 2016); survival benefit afforded by adjuvant RAI for intermediate risk DTC (JCEM 2015); explanations for the increasing incidence of thyroid cancer (Nature Rev 2016; JAMA 2017); improved staging systems for thyroid cancer (JCO 2016); and the potential association between thyroid cancer and flame retardants (Environment International 2017). Practice guidelines have changed as a result (Thyroid 2016). She is currently co-chairing the committee writing the next iteration of American Thyroid Association practice guidelines for adult patients with differentiated thyroid cancer.

Dr Sosa is a tireless advocate for initiatives and scholarship around diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic surgery. She has assembled a large body of scholarship based on the National Study of Expectations and Attitudes of Residents in Surgery (NEARS) survey, the results of which were first reported in JAMA 2009. Since that time, many other findings have been reported out by Drs Heather Yeo and Sosa, describing expectations and attitudes of interns and residents toward their training, ultimately trying to understand reasons for the high attrition rates observed in general surgery postgraduate training. Most recently, their research group reported on the association of demographic and program factors with American Board of Surgery qualifying and certifying examinations pass rates (JAMA Surgery 2020).

Professional memberships and awards

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In recognition for her scientific contributions, Sosa has been elected into professional societies and has been honored with awards over the years, a few of which are listed below:

Societies

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  • Elected Member of the American Surgical Association[7]
  • Member of the Association for Academic Surgery[8]
  • Treasurer of the American Thyroid Association[9]
  • Elected Member of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons[10]
  • Chair, Finance and Audit Committee, and Member, Board of Directors of the International Thyroid Oncology Group[11]
  • Elected Member of the Society of Clinical Surgery[12]
  • Elected Member of the Halsted Society[13]

Honors

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  • Elected full Member, Academy of Master Surgeon Educators, American College of Surgeons (MAMSE)[14]
  • Research Career Development Award, Claude D. Pepper Center at Yale[15]
  • JJ Roslyn Faculty Research Award, Association for Academic Surgery[16]
  • Association for Academic Surgery International Visiting Professorship Award[17]
  • Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, Johns Hopkins University[18]
  • Distinguished Alumna Award, Johns Hopkins University[19]
  • Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Class of 2016[20]
  • Woman of the Year in Thyroidology 2017, American Thyroid Association[21]
  • Lewis E. Braverman Distinguished Lectureship Award, American Thyroid Association, 2017[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b Hyperarts, Rob Mayfield -. "Department of Surgery - Julie Ann Sosa, M.D., M.A., FACS". Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  2. ^ Hyperarts, Rob Mayfield -. "Department of Surgery - Leon Goldman, M.D." Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  3. ^ "Julie Ann Sosa appointed editor-in-chief of World Journal of Surgery - DCRI". DCRI. October 18, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  4. ^ Sosa, J A; Bowman, H M; Tielsch, J M; Powe, N R; Gordon, T A; Udelsman, R (September 1998). "The importance of surgeon experience for clinical and economic outcomes from thyroidectomy". Annals of Surgery. 228 (3): 320–330. doi:10.1097/00000658-199809000-00005. ISSN 0003-4932. PMC 1191485. PMID 9742915.
  5. ^ Ross, Douglas S.; Burch, Henry B.; Cooper, David S.; Greenlee, M. Carol; Laurberg, Peter; Maia, Ana Luiza; Rivkees, Scott A.; Samuels, Mary; Sosa, Julie Ann (August 12, 2016). "2016 American Thyroid Association Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management of Hyperthyroidism and Other Causes of Thyrotoxicosis". Thyroid. 26 (10): 1343–1421. doi:10.1089/thy.2016.0229. ISSN 1050-7256. PMID 27521067.
  6. ^ "Julie Ann Sosa, MD | Duke Department of Surgery". surgery.duke.edu. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  7. ^ "ASA Newsletter: Summer 2014 newsletter". americansurgical.org. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  8. ^ "Leadership - Association for Academic Surgery". Association for Academic Surgery. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  9. ^ "Dr. Julie Ann Sosa Elected Treasurer of the American Thyroid Association | Duke Department of Surgery". surgery.duke.edu. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  10. ^ "The American Association of Endocrine Surgeons > About Us > Governance > Committees". endocrinesurgery.org. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  11. ^ "Chair, Finance and Audit Committee, and Member, Board of Directors | International Thyroid Oncology Group". www.itog.org. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  12. ^ "Active Members - Society of Clinical Surgery". www.societyofclinicalsurgery.com. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  13. ^ "Halsted Society" (PDF). Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  14. ^ "American College of Surgeons Membership Listing". American College of Surgeons. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  15. ^ "Pepper Center Awards Support Research Related to Aging > Geriatrics | Internal Medicine | Yale School of Medicine". medicine.yale.edu. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  16. ^ "Roslyn Faculty Award - Association for Academic Surgery". Association for Academic Surgery. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  17. ^ "Travel Grants & Visiting Professorships - Association for Academic Surgery". Association for Academic Surgery. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  18. ^ "Society of Scholars inducts new members". The Hub. May 6, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  19. ^ "Distinguished Alumnus Award 2014 | Johns Hopkins Alumni". alumni.jhu.edu. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  20. ^ "ELAM Names Julie Ann Sosa, MD to 2015-2016 Class of Fellows | Duke School of Medicine". medschool.duke.edu. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  21. ^ "Women in Thyroidology | American Thyroid Association". www.thyroid.org. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  22. ^ "ATA selects Lewis E. Braverman Distinguished Lectureship Award recipient | American Thyroid Association". www.thyroid.org. October 20, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.