Mission Statement: “Improving health through multidisciplinary surgery research”

 General Goals

• To establish research collaborations among investigators in the 8 surgical departments on campus and to encourage interactions with basic scientists from other departments on campus
  
  
• To facilitate and increase translational research in surgical departments on campus. To provide guidance (mentoring) and collaborations for investigators who wish to engage in translational research, but who are not currently involved in this endeavor.
  
  
• Have significant input in identifying and recruiting the Director of the Center for Surgical Research.
  
  
• To foster collaboration and communication among the leaders of 8 surgical departments. To optimize our participation in the formation and the development of the Center for Surgical Research that will come into existence in 2010-2011.
  
  
• To increase the level of awareness of research activities in the surgical departments.
  
  
• To promote the development of novel surgical clinical alternatives through synergistic collaborations with bioengineering and other relevant programs at UTD and UTA.
  
  
• To facilitate sharing of resources among the surgical departments (e.g., equipment, technological expertise)
  
  
• To increase the number of NIH grants awarded to investigators in surgical departments on campus. This may occur through increased collaborations and increased awareness of the resources and scientific expertise.
  
  
• To establish a mechanism for securing a “point of contact” for fostering future translational and corporate interactions with SRA members.
  
  
• To identify and prioritize areas of mutual interest and to invite prominent investigators from each of these areas to visit our campus, present seminars, and consult with members of the SRA.
  
  
• Engage and train residents and fellows and increase their interest and competency in research.