UMMC surgeons take on new roles

Published on Thursday, September 19, 2019

By: Cynthia Wall

Dr. Shannon Orr, associate professor of surgery, has been named chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology, a new division in at the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Department of Surgery.

Orr leads the UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute Gastrointestinal Cancer Care Program and works with the CCRI hepatobiliary, melanoma and sarcoma programs as well.

In making the announcement, Dr. Christopher Anderson, chair of the UMMC Department of Surgery, said his department has needed a focused surgical oncology group. “We recruited Dr. Orr with this in mind and we considered many iterations of what this would look like and how it would overlap with other Divisions that provide cancer care,” he said.

Creating the new division aligns with CCRI strategic growth goals and further helps streamline patient services, Anderson said.

Anderson announced other changes involving surgical members of CCRI teams including:

• Naming Dr. Pierre de Delva, associate professor of surgery, as Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs.

De Delva leads the CCRI Interdisciplinary Thoracic Cancer Program.

• Naming Dr. Mark Earl, associate professor of transplant surgery, chief of the Division of Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery. Earl is in the CCRI Interdisciplinary Hepatobiliary Cancer Program.
• Naming Dr. Laura Vick, associate professor of surgery, medical director of the Wound Care Service and clinic. Vick is in the CCRI Interdisciplinary Breast Cancer Program.
• Naming Dr. Felicitas Koller, assistant professor of transplant surgery, medical student Clerkship Director in the Department of Surgery. Koller is in the CCRI Interdisciplinary Hepatobiliary Cancer Program.