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Upstate surgeon to head regional vascular society

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Vivian Gahtan, M.D., who holds an endowed professorship at Upstate Medical University and serves as chief of division of vascular surgery and endovascular services at Upstate University Hospital, will be the first woman ever to head the largest regional vascular society in the United States when she becomes president of the Eastern Vascular Society (EVS) in October 2011.

Gahtan was nominated at the organization's annual meeting Oct. 1 to serve as president-elect of the EVS through 2011, and as president from 2011 to 2012.

The Eastern Vascular Society is the largest regional vascular society in the US with over 575 members who are primarily vascular surgeons representing both major academic medical centers and community hospitals in the eastern United States and Canada. The society seeks to promote the exchange of scientific and technologic advances among its members.

Gahtan, the Lloyd S. Rogers Professor of Surgery at Upstate, is a director of the Vascular Surgery Board of the American Board of Surgery. She is a former president of the Association of Women Surgeons. She specializes in surgery to treat aortic aneurysms, carotid artery disease, peripheral arterial disease, varicose veins, diabetic foot problems, and dialysis access needs. In addition to her clinical work, Gahtan maintains a significant research agenda with federal grant funding from the Veterans Administration.

Gahtan, who joined the Upstate faculty in 2003, resides in Jamesville.

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