Cooper Appointed Kessler Director of the Center for Surgery and Public Health

Zara Cooper

Zara Cooper, MD, MSc, FACS, will be the next Kessler Director of the Center for Surgery and Public Health (CSPH) in the Department of Surgery at the Brigham.

In her role as Kessler Director, Cooper will oversee the strategic and operational functions of the CSPH, a joint initiative of the Brigham, Harvard Medical School and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The CSPH is one of the world’s leading centers of its kind with more than $20 million in extramural research funding. The mission of the CSPH is to advance the science of surgery through research and research training that informs policy and program development for safe, high-quality and equitable patient-centered care.

Cooper is an acute care surgeon, trauma surgeon and surgical intensivist. She is also an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, associate faculty at Ariadne Labs and adjunct faculty at the Marcus Institute for Aging research. A graduate of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Cooper completed her General Surgery Residency and Critical Care Fellowship at the Brigham; a trauma fellowship at Harborview Medical Center and the University of Washington in Seattle; and training in hospice and palliative medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Brigham.

Her research aims to improve palliative and geriatric care for older, seriously ill surgical patients. A national leader in surgical palliative care and geriatric trauma, she has authored over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts, chapters, abstracts and lectures nationally about surgical care in complex older patients.

Cooper is a co-investigator on multiple federally funded grants. She also serves on numerous editorial boards and committees for professional societies, Partners HealthCare and the Brigham.

Karl Laskowski

Laskowski Named Executive Medical Director for Ambulatory Services

Karl Laskowski MD, MBA, has accepted the role of executive medical director for Ambulatory Services, a newly named position within Brigham Health.

Laskowski joins the ambulatory team from the Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization (BWPO), where he was most recently associate medical director and led a range of efforts in process improvement, population health and innovation.

In this new role, Laskowski will partner with members of the ambulatory team, including William C. Johnston, MPA, chief operating officer and treasurer of the BWPO and senior vice president of Ambulatory Services; Kelly Fanning, MBA, executive director of Ambulatory Services; and Danika Medina, MPA/HCA, RN, FACHE, NE-BC, CCTC, executive director of Ambulatory Nursing, to advance Brigham Health’s ambulatory strategy in collaboration with other hospital and physician organization leadership.

Pardon Kenney

Kenney Steps Down from BWFH Chief of Surgery Role

Pardon Kenney, MD, MMSC, will be stepping down from his role as chief of Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital (BWFH).

Kenney’s 30-year career as chief of Surgery spans an enormous amount of change, collaboration and growth, both within the organization and as part of the larger Brigham Health and Partners Healthcare System. He was a key member of the team that helped forge the partnership with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 1998; he helped to develop and build out surgical programs that have brought critical services to our surrounding communities; he led the charge to increase operating rooms from six to 16 to better meet growing demand; and he has trained and been a mentor to hundreds of surgical residents and medical students.  He has personally cared for thousands of patients who have come to BWFH for surgery over the years.

Prior to starting as chief of Surgery at BWFH in 1989, Kenney was an associate professor of surgery at Brown University School of Medicine, the Director of the Trauma Service at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence and was also the co-director of Brown University’s surgical residency program. He received his medical degree from Brown University School of Medicine in 1975 and completed his surgical residency at Rhode Island Hospital in 1980. A committed teacher and mentor, he has received numerous teaching awards from each of the four residency programs with which he has been affiliated, along with many medical student teaching awards.