New Faculty Our Faculty Recognition

Department of Surgery New Faculty: September 2023

This September, the Department of Surgery welcomes six new faculty members to the Section of Acute and Critical Care Surgery, Section of HPB-GI Surgery, Division of Pediatric Surgery, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Section of Thoracic Surgery and Section of Transplant Surgery.

September New Faculty

Section of Acute and Critical Care Surgery

The Section Acute and Critical Care Surgery welcomes Grace Niziolek, MD, as an assistant professor of surgery. Niziolek earned her medical degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, then completed general surgery residency training at University of Cincinnati and a trauma, critical care and acute care surgery fellowship at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philedelphia. Niziolek has many specialty certification in trauma surgery, including Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma (ASSET) and Advanced Trauma Operative Management (ATOM).

Section of HPB-GI Surgery

Roheena Panni, MD, MPHS, joins the Section of HPB-GI Surgery as an assistant professor of surgery. Panni, who earned her medical degree from Aga Khan University Medical College in Pakistan, completed general surgery residency at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She also earned a master’s degree in population health sciences from the Division of Public Health Sciences within the Department of Surgery at Washington University. Panni completed a complex general surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where she served as Leslie H. Blumgart Fellow in Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery.

Division of Pediatric Surgery

Colin Martin, MD, a specialist in intestinal rehabilitation surgery and an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion in surgery, has been named chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery. He will also serve as surgeon-in-chief at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Martin earned his medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine. He completed his general surgery residency at the University of Cincinnati and a postdoctoral research fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital before completing his pediatric surgery fellowship at Vanderbilt University. Before joining Washington University, Martin was an associate professor of surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Heersink School of Medicine and surgical director of the Center for Advanced Intestinal Rehabilitation at Children’s of Alabama and UAB. He also served as the surgery department’s vice chair for diversity, equity and inclusion and co-director of the department’s Pre-College Research Internship for Students from Minority Backgrounds. Read more about Martin in this School of Medicine news release.

Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

The Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery welcomes Neha Datta, MD, as an assistant professor of surgery. Datta received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology before completing her plastic surgery residency at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She completed her craniofacial and facial plastic and reconstructive surgery fellowship at SUNY Upstate Medical University.

Section of Thoracic Surgery

Whitney Brandt, MD, joins the Section of Thoracic Surgery as an assistant professor of surgery. Brandt earned her medical degree from Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood, Illinois. She completed residency training at Yale New Haven Hospital and a research fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Brandt completed cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Section of Transplant Surgery

The Section of Transplant Surgery welcomes Darren Cullinan, MD, MSCI, as an assistant professor of surgery. Cullinan earned his medical degree from University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine in Memphis. He then completed general surgery residency, a surgical oncology research fellowship and a master’s degree in clinical investigation, all at Washington University. Cullinan then completed his abdominal transplant fellowship at Washington University.

The Department of Surgery welcomes Dr. Niziolek to the Section of Acute and Critical Care Surgery, Dr. Panni to the Section of HPB-GI Surgery, Dr. Martin to the Division of Pediatric Surgery, Dr. Datta to the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Dr. Brandt to the Section of Thoracic Surgery and Dr. Cullinan to the Section of Transplant Surgery.