Lena Marie Napolitano, MD

Dr. Napolitano is Professor of Surgery at the University of Michigan School of Medicine, Acute Care Surgery (Trauma, Burns, Critical Care, Emergency Surgery), Program Director of the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship (6 fellows annually) and Associate Chair for the Department of Surgery. Dr. Napolitano is certified by the American Board of Surgery in General Surgery as well as Surgical Critical Care. She is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, American College of Critical Care Medicine (ACCM), and the American College of Chest Physicians. Dr. Napolitano is a member and holds leadership positions in numerous professional organizations in surgery, trauma and surgical critical care.

Dr. Napolitano is Vice-Chancellor of the Board of Regents of the ACCM. She is past-Chair of the Surgical Section of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), and was SCCM Congress Co-Chair in 2006. She served as Chair of the Committee on Perioperative Care for the American College of Surgeons (ACS) from 2003-2005. She is past-Chair of the Multi-Institutional Trials Committee and a member of the Board of Directors for the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma and the Society for the Advancement of Blood Management. She is Secretary of the Surgical Infection Society. She is a member of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) Committee on Acute Care Surgery. She is a member of the Society of University Surgeons, Association of Women Surgeons, and American Surgical Association, among others. She participates nationally in many organizations, and is a member of the Surgical Education and Self-Assessment Program (SESAP) Committee of the ACS and a member of the Steering Committee of the ACS Fundamentals of Surgery Resident Curriculum Committee. She is a member of the national Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) and CMS Technical Expert Panels for Respiratory and Infection, with the goal of reducing surgical complications by 25% by 2010.

Dr. Napolitano received the 2002 Association of Women Surgeons Distinguished Member Award, awarded to a member that exemplifies the ideals and mission of the association. Other honors include Surgical Critical Care Educator of the Year Award (1998, 1999, 2000) from University of Maryland, and the Surgery Teacher of the Year Award in 1999 and 2001. She has been a mentor to a number of research fellows at the surgical resident and fellow level and her research group has received numerous awards, including the annual Resident Paper Competition of the ACS Committee on Trauma, SCCM Best Paper award, and numerous others. Dr. Napolitano has authored over 120 peer-reviewed publications, over 50 book chapters, and has been an invited lecturer at many national/international symposia and Visiting Professor at many institutions over the course of her career.

Clinical Specialization:

Dr. Napolitano's clinical interests are in the areas of general surgery, trauma and surgical critical care.

General Surgery, Trauma and Surgical Critical Care

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Dr. Napolitano has a research effort in trauma and surgical critical care, and is Principal Investigator on a number of research grants focused on translational research. She is Associate Editor of the journal Surgical Infections and is a member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Surgical Research and others. She is also a reviewer for many academic journals, including Surgery, Annals of Surgery, Critical Care Medicine, Journal of Trauma, Chest, JACS, Journal of Vascular Surgery, American Journal of Medicine, and Journal of Intensive Care Medicine. She serves as Community Editor of the Surgical Critical Care "e-portal" of the American College of Surgeons at www.facs.org. Her research interests include translational and outcomes research in trauma and surgical critical care, with focus on multiple organ failure, systemic inflammatory response, healthcare-associated infections, anemia & blood transfusion.