Education

Biography

Dr. Sebastiano Cassaro has been involved with surgical education since his residency in surgery at Cabrini Medical Center of New York City, at the time a major teaching affiliate of New York Medical College. He completed his training in 1986, when he entered private practice, and has been in active clinical practice since. His main clinical interests are breast surgery, hernia abdominal wall repair, and hepatobiliary surgery.

Before his appointment as program director of the surgery residency at Kaweah Delta Health Care District (KDHCD) in 2013, he served in a number of leadership positions as surgical educator. After an initial appointment as director of surgical education at the Cabrini Mount Sinai surgery residency program in 2000, he became associate program director of the same program the following year. In 2004 he was named associate director of the department of surgery at Cabrini Medical Center. In 2007 he became associate chief of surgery of the Kings Highway Division of Beth Israel Medical Center, where he served as the site program director for the Albert Einstein at Beth Israel surgery residency program.

Dr. Cassaro held academic appointment to the surgical faculty of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University Medical School, and New York Medical College, and is currently associate clinical professor of surgery at the University of California (Irvine) School of Medicine.

Dr. Cassaro is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a member of the Association of Program Directors of Surgery, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, The Society of Lapro-endoscopic Surgeons, the Association of Academic Surgeons, The Surgical Infection Society, The South Western Surgical Congress and The New York Society of Vascular Surgery. He was a member of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract Resident Education Committee and currently serves as an invited manuscript peer reviewer for the Journal of the Society Laparoendoscopic Surgery, the Journal of Graduate Medical Education, and the World Journal of Gastroenterology.

Research Interests

• Surgical complications and quality improvement
• Surgical management of breast neoplasms
• Surgical education
•  Surgical simulation and skills laboratory

Scientific Activities

Teaching Experience

Professional Activities

• American College of Surgeons
• Association Program Directors in Surgery
• Society American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic
• Surgeons
• New York Society for Vascular Surgery
• Society Surgery Alimentary Tract
• Association for Academic Surgery
• Association Surgical Education
• Society Laparoendoscopic Surgeons
• Surgical Infection Society
• South Western Surgical Congress

Honors & Awards

Publications

1. Mortola GP, Anfossi A, Tallero G, Parodi E, Cassaro S, Berti Riboli E: [Postoperative functional evaluation and pharmacological study of the sphincter of Oddi by means of cholangiomanometry using a Kehr tube]. Chir Ital 33(4):837-851, 1981.
2. Secco GB, Cassaro S, Frascio M, Rollandi GA, Berti Riboli E: [The role of segmental transit time in the large intestine in the diagnosis of severe constipation]. Minerva Med 73(39):2633-2640, 1982.
3. Mortola GP, Arnulfo G, Reboa G, Pitto G, Masini R, Cassaro S, Spada A: Computer assisted clinical assessment (CACA) in gastroenterology: a decisional aid for the primary care physician. J Clin Comput 15(6):199-215, 1986.
4. Baron HC, Cassaro S: The role of arteriovenous shunts in the pathogenesis of varicose veins. J Vasc Surg 4(2):124-128, 1986.
5. LaRaja RD, Lobbato VJ, Cassaro S, Reddy SS: Intraoperative endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in penetrating trauma of the pancreas: a case report. J Trauma 26(12):1146-1147, 1986.
6. Mortola GP, Arnulfo G, Cassaro S, DiSomma C, Sganga F, Berti Riboli E: [Role of arteriovenous anastomoses in the pathogenesis of primary varicose veins of the lower extremity]. Chir Patol Sper 35(5):135-144, 1987.
7. Mortola GP, Arnulfo G, Reboa G, Pitto G, Masini R, DiSomma C, Cassaro S, Berti Riboli E: Clinical application of a computerized decisional aid in the initial evaluation of 250 outpatients with gastrointestinal complaints. J Clin Comput 16(3,4):93-103, 1988.
8. Mortola GP, Arnulfo G, Cassaro S, DiSomma C, Sganga F, Berti Riboli E: [Arteriovenous anastomoses as factor in pathogenesis of primary leg varices]. Minerva Med 80(8):855-856, 1989.
9. Cassaro S, Daliana M: Impaction of an ingested table fork in a patient with a surgically restricted stomach [Letter]. NY State J Med 92(3):115, 1992.
10.  Ridha JR, Cassaro S: Acute Small Bowel Obstruction Secondary to Ileal Endometriosis: Report of a Case. Surg Today 33(12):944-7, 2003.
11. Artuso D, Wayne M, Cassaro S, Cerabona T, Teixeira J, Grossi RJ: Hemodynamic Changes During Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass Procedures. Arch Surg 140(3):289:94, 2005.
12. Kahla PB, Cassaro S, Vladimir FG, Wayne M, Cammarata A: Bilateral Synchronous Breas Cancer in a Male. Mt Sinai J Med 72(2):120-3, 2005.
13. Leitman IM, Narang R, Martinez J, Abbadessa B, Avgerinos D, Dayan E, Cassaro S: Factors that predict clinical outcome after colectomy for fulminant Clostridium difficile colitis O J Gas, 2012, 2, 51-55 Published Online May 2012.
14. Cassaro S, Leitman IM. A Technique for Laparoscopic Peritoneal Entry After Abdominoplasty. J Laparoendosc Adv Surg Tech A. 2013 Oct 17.
15. Bernstein L, Sabat JE, Montgomery M, Nwoke F, Natcheva H, Sorrentino A, Holland C, Zeifer B, Cassaro S, Lucido D, Surick B, Leitman IM. Postoperative pneumoperitoneum: Clearing the Air. J Surgery 2013;1(2):4 Published Online November 2013.
16. Bruns SD, Davis BR, Demirjian AN, Ganai S, House MG, Saidi RF, Shah BC, Tan SA, Murayama KM; Society for Surgery of Alimentary Tract Resident Education Committee. Collaborators: Berger A, Bruns S, Calahane M, Davis B, Demirjian A, Ganai S, Gee D, House M, Kavic S, Luu M, Murayama K, Richardson W, Saidi R, Shah B, Tan S, Vollmer C, Vu H, Bardaro S, Cassaro S, Demirjian A, Grams J, Joyce D, Madani A, McNatt S, Suman P, Teitelbaum E, Ujiki M, Velasco J, Vollmer C Jr, Zarnegar R.J Gastrointest Surg. 2014 Aug;18(8):1523-31.
17. Bower M, Yu A, Park J, Leitman IM, Cassaro S, Patel RI, Karpeh MS. Tube cholecystostomy before cholecystectomy for treatment of cholecystitis. JSLS. 2015 Jan-Mar;19(1).
18.  Cassaro S. Delayed Manifestations of Laparoscopic Bowel Injury. Am Surgeon 2015; 81(5): 478-82.
19. Edwards SB, Leitman IM, Wengrofsky AJ, Giddins MJ, Harris E, Mills CB, Fukuhara S, Cassaro S. Identifying Factors and Techniques to Decrease the Positive Margin Rate in Partial Mastectomies: Have We Missed the Mark? Breast J. 2016 Feb 7.