Break the Cycle - An Intimate Partner Violence Conversation

Professor of Surgery and Walter A. Bloedorn Chair of Administrative Medicine, George Washington University Vice President for Health Affairs, Dean of the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and Chief Executive Officer of The GW Medical Faculty Associates

Dr. Bass leads the academic, clinical and research missions and provides strategic direction on all aspects of George Washington’s medical enterprise, including the university’s relationships with the GW MFA and the GW Hospital, building a unified, high performing, academic medical enterprise to serve the missions of education, research, clinical care, and community service. She is known for her contributions in surgical education innovation and policy. As chair of the department of surgery of the Houston Methodist Hospital, she was the founding executive director of the Houston Methodist Institute for Technology, Innovation and Education; a US first in concept simulation-based education and research facility purpose built to retool practicing surgeons and health care providers in evolving procedural technologies. As one of the first cohort of women to be promoted to Professor of Surgery in the US, to serve as a general surgery residency program director, to lead a funded research laboratory, and to chair an academic department of surgery, she has been a visible role model and passionate advocate and sponsor for equity for all who have historically had limited access to exceptional careers in surgery and medicine. A clinically busy academic surgeon for 40 years, Dr. Bass contributed to the training of hundreds of surgery residents and medical students. Dr. Bass holds many firsts, seconds, and thirds as a woman to hold national leadership roles, including service as president of the American College of Surgeons, the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, and the Society of Surgical Chairs, chair of the American Board of Surgery, and as treasurer of the American Surgical Association and the Association for Academic Surgery. Dr. Bass has been recognized for her advocacy by numerous organizations, including the Nina Starr Braunwald Award and the Olga Jonsson Award from the Association of Women Surgeons, and honorary fellowship in the Society of Black Academic Surgeons, and the 2022 2022 Distinguished Alumna of the University Virginia. She has served on the editorial boards or as associate editor for the leading surgical journals and served on NIH study section review and advisory boards. With funding from the National Science Foundation, the European Union, and industry, Bass’ complimentary research portfolio over the last 15 years has focused on application of computational tools to surgery including tissue modeling in breast conserving therapy for breast cancer, surgical skill acquisition, and augmented telehealth and procedural technologies.

Dr. Bass earned her BS, summa cum laude from Tufts University and MD from the University of Virginia where she was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha academic honor society. She trained in general surgery at George Washington University and completed a research fellowship at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, serving as a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. She held appointments as Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She holds honorary fellowships from the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, and the College of Surgeons of Southern, East, and Central Africa.

Clinical Professor and the Jim O’Brien Gross and Donnita Gross Chair in Ophthalmology, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Iowa

Erin Shriver, MD, FACS is a Clinical Professor and the Jim O’Brien Gross and Donnita Gross Chair in Ophthalmology within the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa. She is an oculoplastic surgeon who is actively involved in clinical practice, teaching, research, and advocacy. Dr. Shriver wears many hats in her subspecialty society, the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS), and currently serves as Immediate Past Chair of the Thesis Committee, Secretary of the Foundation, and their Delegate to the American Medical Association (AMA). She is also the Past President of Women in Ophthalmology and the Iowa Academy of Ophthalmology.  Her research interests are varied, but she is particularly passionate about increasing physician awareness and understanding of intimate partner violence. Over the past 8 years, Dr. Shriver and her team have published numerous publications and online resources on the topic (including a CME course with the American Academy of Ophthalmology) and she has lectured extensively on their work nationally and internationally. Her team’s most recent publication came out in JAMA Ophthalmology last year looking at the effectiveness of an Emergency Department educational and screening initiative in detecting and referring patients with orbital and ocular injuries from intimate partner violence.

Dr. Shriver completed her residency at the University of Iowa followed by a residency completing an American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS) fellowship at the University of Miami Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Dr. Shriver joined the University of Miami faculty after completion of her fellowship and established a full-time Oculoplastic service for Bascom Palmer’s Palm Beach office. She is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the ACS Intimate Partner Violence Task Force since 2019.

Assistant Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Washington University in St. Louis

Dr. Whitney Ross is an Assistant Professor of OB-GYN at Washington University in St. Louis and a Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgeon.  She completed her MD at East Tennessee State University, OB-GYN residency at Washington University in St. Louis, and Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery (MIGS) fellowship at Penn State Health.  Her clinical focus is on the management of endometriosis, fibroids, and chronic pelvic pain.  Her ongoing research focuses on multi-modal interventions for endometriosis, quality of life outcomes in MIGS, and the gynecologic needs and care preferences of survivors of sexual trauma. Dr. Ross is a member of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons.

Professor of Surgery & Chief, Division of Trauma, Critical Care, & Surgical Nutrition, Department of Surgery, Howard University College of Medicine 

Dr. Mallory Williams is Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Division of Trauma & Critical Care at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC.  He is a cum laude graduate of Morehouse College and completed his doctorate in medicine from the University of Maryland.  He completed his general surgery residency at Wayne State University/Detroit Medical Center as the Chief Administrative Resident and completed his Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.   Dr. Williams is a Commonwealth Fund Fellow in Minority Health Policy and Harvard University Presidential Scholar. Dr. Williams’ academic interests are at the intersection of trauma surgery and public health.  He serves as the Director of the Howard University Center of Excellence for Trauma and Violence Prevention and the Hospital Based Violence Intervention Program. He has over 60 peer reviewed manuscripts and 100 invited presentations. He is the Past Chair of the Surgical Section of the National Medical Association (NMA) and Past President of the Rocky Mountain Traumatological Society.  He serves as the Co-Chair of the Gun Violence Task Force of the NMA.  He is a Member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the William Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute. Dr. Williams is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons Committee  and a member of the ACS Intimate Partner Violence Task Force.  Dr. Williams is a Colonel in the United States Army Reserve and has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan theaters in the Global War on Terror.