Edwin C. James Lectureship & Surgical Resident Research Colloquium
The Edwin C. James Lectureship was established in honor of Edwin James, M.D., FACS, professor and chair of the UND Department of Surgery, founder of the UND Surgical Residency Program, and former dean of the SMHS.
Edwin C. James Lectureship
The 2025 Edwin C. James Lectureship will be held on June 27, 2025, at the SMHS Southeast Campus in Fargo and will feature Demetrius E.M. Litwin, M.D., M.B.A., FRCSC, FICS, FACS.
Demetrius E.M. Litwin, M.D., the Harry M. Haidak Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, is an internationally recognized authority in the field of endoscopic, or minimally invasive surgery (MIS).
In 1997, Dr. Litwin joined the University of Massachusetts Medical School and UMass Memorial Medical Center as Associate Professor of Surgery, Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery Services, and as the first Director of the UMass EndoSurgery Center, a teaching and research resource in the field of minimally invasive surgery designed for developing new surgical devices and new procedures for minimally invasive techniques. Dr. Litwin was a key member of the UMass group that developed Handport™ a hand assist device for MIS. He has performed a number of “firsts” including minimally invasive operative approaches to the stomach and hand-assisted approaches to the aorta. Dr. Litwin has published numerous articles and book chapters highlighting laparoscopic surgery and has been a speaker at more than 200 proceedings worldwide. In 2004, Dr. Litwin was appointed the Harry M. Haidak Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Since then, he has doubled the size of the Department of Surgery, expanded the general surgery residency training program, and established two fully integrated training programs in Vascular Surgery and Plastic Surgery.
The colloquium will begin at 8 a.m.
Surgical Resident Research Colloquium
The purpose of the annual Surgery Resident Research Colloquium is for the presentation of each general surgery resident’s research project for the academic year. First- and second-year residents present posters of their projects in development. Third, fourth and fifth year residents give oral presentations of their projects. Presentations are judged by a panel of clinical and basic science faculty with the winning projects in each category awarded at the Chief Resident Graduation Banquet. Many of the research projects will be presented at regional or national meetings, and submitted for peer-reviewed publication.