UF surgeon receives research award from national organization

University of Florida vascular surgeon Scott Berceli, M.D., Ph.D., has received a $30,000 faculty research award from the Association for Academic Surgery.

Berceli, an assistant professor in the College of Medicine’s division of vascular surgery, was presented the 2002 Joel J. Roslyn, M.D., Faculty Research Award at the organization’s annual meeting this past fall in Milwaukee.

Sponsored by The Journal of Surgical Research, the award is designed to provide a faculty member who is within five years of completing a surgical training program with one year of support for basic laboratory research.

Berceli’s research proposal, titled “Mechanisms of flow-induced intimal regression,” was selected by the organization’s executive committee. He will use the funds to study the biologic link between local disturbances in blood flow and the regional variation in vein graft narrowing. Specifically, he will focus on the interaction between cellular and non-cellular components of the vein wall as the graft is subjected to different pressure and flow conditions.

His research is aimed at designing better treatments after bypass surgery to increase the durability of these grafts. Currently, there is an approximate fifty percent blockage rate at five years following bypass surgery.