{"id":17662,"date":"2019-07-11T10:16:34","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T14:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-medical-education\/?page_id=17662"},"modified":"2026-09-18T15:55:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T19:55:20","slug":"residents-research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-medical-education\/general-surgery-residency-program\/residents-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Residents – Research"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hana<\/div><\/div>

Hana Baig, M.D., M.S.<\/h3>\n

Medical school:<\/strong>\u00a0Howard University College of Medicine
\n<\/strong>Undergraduate school:<\/strong>\u00a0Stony Brook University
\nHometown:<\/strong> Long Island, NY
\n<\/strong>Career interests\/fellowship interests:<\/strong>\u00a0Surgical oncology
\n<\/strong>Location for research years:<\/strong>\u00a0University of Connecticut
\n<\/strong>Research Description:<\/strong>\u00a0I am working on identifying the hallmarks and potential therapeutic targets for metabolic dysfunction associated liver disease and associated hepatocellular cancer.
\nFavorite thing about UConn General Surgery?<\/strong> My co-residents.
\nFavorite thing to do in the area\/restaurant to eat at:<\/strong> Go to the local farmers markets! Favorite restaurants: Pho Boston, City Kebab House
\n<\/strong>Other:<\/strong> Surgical Congress Gold Medal Award (2022)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Nicole<\/div><\/div>

Nicole Bertaux, D.O.<\/h3>\n

Medical school:<\/strong> University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine
\nUndergraduate school:<\/strong> Quinnipiac University
\nCareer interests\/fellowship interests:<\/strong> Pediatric Surgery
\nLocation for research years:<\/strong> Johns Hopkins
\nResearch Description:<\/strong> My research focuses on clinical outcomes in pediatric surgery, with an emphasis on congenital foregut and thoracic malformations. Complementing this work, my translational research investigates fetal lung development in congenital diaphragmatic hernia to better understand the mechanisms underlying disease.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Rakesh<\/div><\/div>

Rakesh Gurrala, M.D., M.B.A.<\/h3>\n

Medical school:<\/strong> Tulane University School of Medicine
\nUndergraduate school:<\/strong> University of Massachusetts Amherst
\nHometown:<\/strong> Shrewsbury, MA
\nCareer interests\/fellowship interests:<\/strong> Pediatric Surgery
\nLocation for research years:<\/strong> Children's Mercy Kansas City
\nResearch Description: <\/strong>I am conducting multicenter clinical outcomes and translational research in pediatric and fetal surgery, with a particular focus on congenital diaphragmatic hernia and congenital lung malformations. My work aims to improve prenatal decision-making, optimize surgical management, and advance evidence-based care through collaborative research networks.
\nFavorite thing about UConn General Surgery?<\/strong> Good team culture and diverse clinical experience.
\nFavorite thing to do in the area\/restaurant to eat at:<\/strong> Meatball Mondays at Savoy.
\nOther:<\/strong> APSA Bartlett Award for Innovation in Pediatric Critical Care and ECMO (2026), International Fetal Medicine and Surgery Society Travel Award (2025)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Qiawen<\/div><\/div>

Qiawen (Wendy) Jin, M.D.<\/h3>\n

Medical school:<\/strong> Wayne State University SoM
\nUndergraduate school:<\/strong> Shanghai International Studies University
\nHometown:<\/strong> New York
\nCareer interests\/fellowship interests:<\/strong> Pediatric Surgery\/ CT Surgery
\nLocation for research years:<\/strong> Columbia University Irving Medical Center
\nResearch Description:<\/strong> My current research focus includes pediatric ECMO, including circuit optimization, ECMO patient care etc. I am also involved in clinical research in pediatric surgery topics, including NEC, pectus excavatum repairs etc.
\nFavorite thing about UConn General Surgery?<\/strong> Supportive faculty.
\nFavorite thing to do in the area\/restaurant to eat at:<\/strong> West Hartford.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Raina<\/div><\/div>

Raina Parikh, M.D.<\/h3>\n

Medical school:<\/strong>\u00a0Albany Medical College (MD)
\nGraduate school:<\/strong> Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (MPH, Humanitarian Health)
\nUndergraduate:<\/strong> University of Delaware (BA, Anthropology)
\nHometown:<\/strong> Wilmington, DE
\nCareer interests\/fellowship interests<\/strong>: Pediatric surgery, trauma, global surgery, firearm and injury prevention, humanitarian health, health equity and access.
\nResearch Description:<\/strong> My research combines basic science, clinical outcomes, and public health to improve care for children with surgical disease. Current projects focus on developing novel therapies for necrotizing enterocolitis, evaluating pediatric surgical outcomes in low- and middle-income countries, and examining pediatric firearm injury to inform prevention strategies and health policy.
\nFavorite thing about UConn General Surgery?<\/strong> My co-residents - they\u2019re friends turned into family, and we always have each other\u2019s backs.
\nFavorite thing to do in the area\/restaurant to eat at:<\/strong> RIP Union Kitchen, but grabbing pizza at Savoy with friends, going to Story and Soil Coffee post-call, kayaking the Farmington River, climbing at the local rock gym.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Huxley<\/div><\/div>

Huxley Smart, D.O.<\/h3>\n

Medical school:<\/strong> Western University of Health Sciences
\nUndergraduate school:<\/strong> University of Washington
\nHometown:<\/strong> Deer Harbor, WA
\nCareer interests\/fellowship interests<\/strong>: Surgical Oncology
\nLocation for research years<\/strong>: UConn and Yale
\nResearch Description: <\/strong>UConn Research resident working in collaboration with Yale with a focus on surgical oncology. Special interest in peritoneal surface malignancies and CRS\/HIPEC.
\nFavorite thing about UConn General Surgery?<\/strong> The Operating Room!
\nFavorite thing to do in the area\/restaurant to eat at:<\/strong> Operate, research, run, play with my dog.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hana Baig, M.D., M.S. Medical school:\u00a0Howard University College of Medicine Undergraduate school:\u00a0Stony Brook University Hometown: Long Island, NY Career interests\/fellowship interests:\u00a0Surgical oncology Location for research years:\u00a0University of Connecticut Research Description:\u00a0I am working on identifying the hallmarks and potential therapeutic targets for metabolic dysfunction associated liver disease and associated hepatocellular cancer. Favorite thing about UConn General […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":0,"parent":2872,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17662","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-30 20:30:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-medical-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-medical-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-medical-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-medical-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-medical-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17662"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-medical-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40044,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-medical-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17662\/revisions\/40044"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-medical-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/graduate-medical-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}