New Faculty News Stories

Department of Surgery New Faculty: April 2024

This April, the Department of Surgery welcomes two new faculty members to the Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery and to the Division of Urology.

April New Faculty

Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery

The Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery welcomes Michelle L. Cowan, MD, as an associate professor of surgery. She is certified by the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ABCRS) and the American Board of Surgery (ABS). Cowan previously served as associate professor of surgery and co-director of the inflammatory bowel disease program at University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle.

Cowan earned her medical degree from Medical College of Virginia in 2007 after earning her master’s degree in immunology from the National Institutes of Health – Foundation for Advanced Education. In 2015 she completed a colon and rectal surgery fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, after completing a general surgery residency at University of Chicago Medicine.

Cowan has contributed to several peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. She has also served as a reviewer for Diseases of the Colon and Rectum, British Journal of Surgery and Colorectal Disease. She has presented research at meetings of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, American College of Surgeons Internal Medicine Conference, Rocky Mountain Bowel Disease Conference, and American Transplant Congress. Cowan has made over two dozen regional, national and poster presentations discussing resection, transplantation, pathology and recovery, and the development of minimally invasive techniques.

Division of Urology

Meredith Metcalf, MD, joins the Division of Urology as assistant professor of surgery.

Metcalf earned her medical degree from University of Tennessee Health Science Center in 2014, where she also received a certificate for serving the underserved and another for entrepreneurship in medicine. In 2019 she completed urology residency at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She completed fellowship in urologic oncology at The James Buchanan Brady Urology Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2021, where she also received a certificate in health finance and management.

Metcalf has contributed to over a dozen publications on various urologic topics, including cancer treatment, nutrition during treatment and trauma care.

From 2017 to 2019 Metcalf was chief of didactics and resident education at the University of Kansas urology residency program. She has also been an instructor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and most recently supervising physician at New York University Langone. During her time at Johns Hopkins, she served on the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Steering Committee and advocated for instrument innovation in the urologic robotics program during her fellowship.

The Department of Surgery welcomes Dr. Cowan to the Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery and Dr. Metcalf to the Division of Urologic Surgery.