Faculty - Surgery Residency Program

Dr. Babin's practice involves Acute Care Surgery and Trauma/Critical Care, in addition to elective General Surgery. He has special interest in abdominal wall reconstruction, intensive care performance improvement, and Robotic Surgery. Resident education and training are a central part of his practice and he is heavily involved with resident didactics and simulation training. He believes resident autonomy is key to develop the clinical skills necessary to function independently and actively involves them in all phases of patient care.

Dr. Babycos earned his medical degree from Tulane where he also completed his surgical internship and residency. He completed a plastic surgery fellowship at Tulane followed by a fellowship with the Australian Craniofacial Unit in Adelaide, Australia. Dr. Babycos is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, and has been on staff at Ochsner since 1995. He is board certified in surgery and plastic surgery. Dr. Babycos specializes in plastic and reconstructive surgery with specific interests in craniofacial and cosmetic surgery including aesthetic, breast, and reconstructive surgeries.

Dr. Blackstock is a staff vascular surgeon and joined Ochsner in 2022. He earned his M.D. at the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans and completed his training in Vascular Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Blackstock offers surgical therapies for nearly all areas of vascular disease including thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms, carotid artery disease, peripheral arterial disease, chronic-limb threatening ischemia, thoracic outlet syndrome, hemodialysis access, and venous disease (including varicose veins). During his training at Penn, Dr. Blackstock gained a robust experience using cutting-edge technologies such as branched and fenestrated endografts for the treatment of thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms. Through his proficiency in performing open surgery, complex endovascular, and hybrid approaches, Dr. Blackstock is equipped to treat the most complex vascular disease and develop a surgical strategy tailored to the individual patient. In addition to being clinically active in offering advanced surgeries to his patients, Dr. Blackstock has a strong understanding and appreciation for vascular biology. Prior to medical school, Dr. Blackstock completed his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from Tulane University with a focus in atherosclerosis. His dissertation work helped elucidate the understanding of cell signaling pathways in human aortic smooth muscle and identified a novel mechanism by which insulin-like growth factor enhances collagen synthesis. These findings may have implications in treating major vascular pathologies including aneurysms and peripheral arterial disease. Dr. Blackstock has interest in continuing his studies in the biomedical sciences with aims to develop novel therapies that provide for more specific and effective treatments for patients.

Dr. Humberto Bohorquez, is a general surgeon with subsequent fellowship training in abdominal transplantation. He is the director of pancreas transplant surgery. He is lecturer with the University of Queensland. He has mentored trainees from first year medical school to final year residency. His areas of interests include organ allocation, liver, kidney, pancreas transplantation and liver surgery.

Dr. Nathan Bolton received his Doctor of Medicine from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans and completed his General Surgery residency at Ochsner, where he served as chief resident of the General Surgery program. He moved on to complete a Surgical Oncology fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York before returning home to Ochsner as a member of the Upper GI/HPB Surgical Oncology team. He is a member of the resident education committee and has an active interest in surgical resident training.

Dr. Russell Brown earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center School of Medicine located in Houston, TX. He then completed a General Surgery Residency at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation. Dr. Brown went on to complete a Surgical Oncology Fellowship at the University of Louisville. He is board certified by the American Board of Surgery.

Dr. Bruce has been a member of the Ochsner faculty since 2008. His clinical interests include liver, kidney, and pancreas transplantation, as well as robotic living donor nephrectomy. After graduating from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1985, he did his general surgery residency at University of Chicago, where he also completed a research fellowship in immunology and a clinical fellowship in liver and kidney transplant surgery. He was a member of the University of Chicago faculty from 1995 to 2000. Since 2012, Dr. Bruce has been active in medical informatics at Ochsner, and spends most of his non-clinical time working on Epic implementation for both the transplant program and the Ochsner health system as a whole.

Dr. Emily Bugeaud completed her undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Michigan. She then went on to complete her residency in General Surgery at the University of Chicago. During her clinical training, she simultaneously earned her doctorate in immunology from the University of Chicago studying the role of bacterial infections in transplantation tolerance. Dr. Bugeaud then went on to continue her clinical training in Abdominal Organ Transplantation, completing her fellowship at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Bugeaud joined the Ochsner Multi-Organ Transplant Institute in August 2014 with an interest in liver, kidney and pancreas transplant as well as organ donation, including living donation.

Dr. Ian C. Carmody is a general surgeon with subsequent training in abdominal transplantation, trauma and critical care. During his training he was awarded two teaching awards. He is an associate professor with the University of Queensland and the medical director of the Louisiana Organ Procurement Association. He has mentored trainees from first year medical school to final year residency. He is involved in the medical school curriculum as well as the abdominal transplant fellowship program. His areas of interests include organ allocation, biliary complications, hepatocellular carcinoma and history of transplantation.

Dr. Jessica Dahle completed her fellowship training in Endocrine Surgery at Duke University and is the faculty member of the Endocrine Surgery service. Fourth year surgical residents rotate on the Endocrine Surgery service, a one-on-one apprenticeship model service designed to teach senior level residents comprehensive understanding of endocrine disorders of the adrenal, parathyroid, and thyroid glands. Endocrine surgical techniques are taught with graduated responsibility to build operative skills in robotic and open adrenalectomy, minimally invasive surgery parathyroidectomy, thyroidectomy, and lymph node dissection. Dr. Dahle is also actively involved in resident recruitment, didactics, and medical student education.

Dr Dozier completed his general surgery internship and residency at Rutgers University NJMS in Newark, New Jersey. During his residency, he completed a two-year research fellowship focusing on immunotherapy for thoracic malignancies at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York. He completed his fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Dozier has been on staff at Ochsner since 2022. He specializes in removing both benign and malignant tumors of the lung, esophagus, mediastinum chest wall, trachea, and diaphragm. He has a special clinical interest in robotic surgery. Dr. Dozier's research interests include immunotherapy and healthcare disparities. He has published 10 peer-reviewed scientific papers and presented his work at several international conferences.

Dr. Elder is originally from Tulsa, OK. She received her medical degree from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine after completing a degree in Neurobiology at the University of Miami. She underwent general surgery training at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. She then completed subspeciality training in breast surgical oncology at Atrium Health/Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, NC.

Dr. Salim Hosein is a General and Bariatric Surgeon who returned to Ochsner in 2023 following several years of practice in Southern Illinois. He is a graduate of the Aga Khan University Medical College. He completed his Surgery Residency training at Brown University & Ochsner, before additional fellowship training in Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. His interests include bariatric (weight loss) and anti-reflux surgeries, hernia repair and resident education.

Dr. Jessie earned his undergraduate degree from Xavier University of Louisiana and his medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine. He subsequently completed his general surgery residency at the then National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda and his fellowship in Trauma/Surgical Critical Care at the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. Prior to joining the faculty at Ochsner, he was an Associate Program Director for nine years at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he was also the Chief of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. There he won multiple awards for resident education both in and outside of the operating room. He retired in 2023 after 21 years of active-duty service in the Navy. He has special interest in abdominal wall reconstruction, the use of robotics in Acute Care Surgery, and resident and medical student education.

Dr Johnston joined the Ochsner staff in 2017. He completed his General Surgery residency at the University of Virginia and a proceeded to train in Colon and Rectal Surgery at the Lahey Clinic. His interests are colon and rectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, diverticulitis, anorectal disorders, and abdominal wall reconstruction. Dr. Johnston is committed to fostering the residents’ exposure and interest in all aspects of Colon and Rectal surgery. He is also interested in working with the residents on any research projects to help develop critical thinking and appropriate project development.

Dr. Kethman earned his undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering and medical doctorate from Tulane University in New Orleans. He completed his general surgery residency at Stanford University and a colon and rectal surgery fellowship at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center - Case Western Reserve University. He completed a research fellowship at the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign, an organization dedicated to educating and empowering health technology innovators and leading the transition to a value-driven innovation ecosystem. He joined the staff at Ochsner Health in August 2020 and is interested in leveraging technology to improve the care we provide patients.

Dr. Charles Leithead is a native of Lake Charles, Louisiana and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences with a minor in French at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He received his Doctor of Medicine from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. He completed an Integrated Vascular Surgery Residency at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Leithead treats a wide variety of vascular conditions including aneurysms, carotid artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, DVT (blood clots), spider veins and varicose veins with both open surgery and minimally invasive procedures. He is the Medical Director of The Ochsner Vein Clinic. Dr. Leithead loves being a vascular surgeon because he has a passion for vascular surgery and treating patients from head to toe.

Dr. Jeffanne Millien received her medical degree with a focus on global health from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC. She then moved to New Orleans to complete her internship and residency at Ochsner Clinic Foundation. She successfully completed a fellowship in trauma and surgical critical care at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. She then returned to Ochsner in the Summer of 2020 to assume an acute care surgery position. Her interests include global health medicine, critical care surgery and medicine, and resident education.

Samuel R. Money attended the State University of New York College of Medicine – SUNY Downstate and graduated with distinction. He trained in vascular surgery at the Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans, Louisiana, under the tutelage of Larry H.Hollier and John Ochsner. He remained at Ochsner Clinic for 15 years where he rose through the ranks to be Division Head of Vascular Surgery. He then moved to Mayo Clinic in Arizona where he served as professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery. He has served in numerous leadership positions including presidency of the society for clinical vascular surgery, the southern association of vascular surgery and the vascular and endovascular society. He currently serves as the treasurer of the society for vascular surgery.

Dr. Andrew Newton received his medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He completed his general surgery residency at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. After residency, Dr. Newton completed a fellowship in complex general surgical oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He is board certified in General Surgery and Complex General Surgical Oncology by the American Board of Surgery. Dr. Newton's expertise is in hepatopancreaticobiliary malignancies, gastroesophageal malignancies, neuroendocrine tumors, peritoneal surface malignancies including HIPEC, sarcoma, and melanoma.

Ross Parkerson is a staff surgeon in the section of vascular surgery. He earned his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University. He then returned home to attend LSU school of Medicine in New Orleans where he earned his MD and was elected to the AOA Honor Medical Society. Afterward, he moved to Tampa where completed integrated vascular surgery residency at the University of South Florida. While in Tampa, Dr. Parkerson was able to participate in numerous clinical trials of novel endovascular devices designed for the treatment of complex thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms.

Dr Paruch earned her medical degree from the University of Michigan and completed her General Surgery Residency at the University of Chicago. While there, she earned an award for excellence in teaching from the junior residents. She completed her fellowship in Colon and Rectal Surgery at the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center. Dr Paruch is board certified in general surgery and colon and rectal surgery. She was in practice in Chicago for 2 years before joining Ochsner in the summer of 2019. She has been an instructor for several advanced endoscopy courses for residents and fellows.

The general thoracic section at the Ochsner Medical Center provides expert care in benign and malignant diseases of the thorax with a focus on lung and esophageal cancer. Minimally invasive techniques such as video assisted thoracoscopy (VATS) and robotic assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) are used for the management of all stages of lung cancer. These approaches are applied to minimize patient discomfort and expedite recovery. Our surgeons have an interest in airway surgery including tracheal resection and reconstruction as well as airway stenting and laser therapy.

Dr. David Pointer is a surgical oncologist at Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center. He completed medical school and general surgery residency from Tulane University School of Medicine. Dr. Pointer completed fellowship training in Surgical Oncology at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida. His clinical interests include gastrointestinal, hepatopancreaticobiliary, skin and soft tissue malignancies with a specific focus on the application of robotic techniques. Dr. Pointer has an interest in resident education, technical development, and mentorship.

Dr. Amy Rivere is originally from Napoleonville, LA. She graduated from Louisiana State University and earned her Doctor of Medicine from Louisiana State University Health Science Center in Shreveport, LA. She then completed general surgery residency at Ochsner Clinic and a fellowship in Breast Surgical Oncology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, AR. In 2016, she joined the faculty at Ochsner as a Breast Surgical Oncologist in the Department of General Surgery.

Dr Roybal is relatively new to Ochsner and is active in teaching residents in clinic, on the wards, and in the operating room. She helps give the SCORE lectures for pediatric surgery. In the coming year, her goal is to set up a pediatric surgery conference for residents and faculty to discuss interesting cases. She also hopes to get a few research projects started this coming year and will aim to get residents involved.

Dr. Seal is a staff surgeon in Abdominal Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery. He is actively involved in the General Surgery residency program through clinical rotations in Multi-Organ Transplantation and Critical Care, didactic lectures and weekly multi-disciplinary transplant conferences. During the transplant rotation, operative instruction is focused on nuances of abdominal anatomy and approaches through the organ recovery operation and technical skill development in vascular anastomoses.

Originally a Kansas native, Dr Smith joined that medical staff at Ochsner in 2022. He attended medical school at the Kansas City University of Medicine, then followed by General Surgery residency at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center in Spartanburg, SC. Afterwards, he completed his Plastic Surgery residency at Tulane University in New Orleans, where he received extensive training in all forms of breast reconstruction and microsurgery. He is board certified in General Surgery and board eligible in Plastic Surgery. Dr Smith's primary interests are implant based and microvascular breast reconstruction, complex extremity reconstruction, and aesthetic surgery. He serves as teaching faculty for the Tulane/Ochsner Plastic Surgery residency program, as well as surgical residents from Ochsner and students from the University of Queensland.

Dr. Dennis Sonnier is part of the Abdominal Transplant Surgery Service. He attended medical school at LSU school of medicine in New Orleans. He completed his surgical residency at the University of Cincinnati and his transplant surgery fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Sonnier’s areas of interest include organ allocation, liver, kidney and pancreas transplantation.

Dr. Stephen Spindel is a cardiothoracic surgeon at Ochsner Medical Center. He served eight years in the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard and graduated as an Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society member from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans. Afterwards, he completed an integrated residency fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. At Ochsner Medical Center, he specializes in mitral and tricuspid valve repair, particularly through a mini incision, and complex aortic root reconstructions.

Pediatric Surgery is perhaps the best specialty within general surgery. Specialties within General Surgery have flourished over the last two decades with fellowship trained individuals performing much of what a General Surgeon used to do routinely. This has certainly led to improved outcomes with the most difficult problems as these individuals are highly trained and competent. Pediatric Surgery broke away from General Surgery in the 1970s and there are about 600 practicing Pediatric Surgeons in North America, all fellowship trained.

Dr. Dennis Wells is a congenital cardiac surgeon specializing in the care of infants and children as well as adults with congenital heart disease. He earned his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He completed his cardiothoracic surgical training at the University of Cincinnati and congenital cardiac surgical fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. His clinical interests include neonatal surgery, single ventricle palliation, the Ross procedure, mechanical circulatory support, and transplantation. He enjoys opportunities to work with medical students, residents, and fellows.