“As babies we are trapped in a strange alien world, unable to see properly, constantly surprised at our bodies, alarmed by hunger and wind and bowel movements, overwhelmed by our feelings. We need our mother to soothe our distress and make sense of our experience. As she does so, we slowly learn how to manage our physical and emotional states on our own. But our ability to contain ourselves directly depends on our mother’s ability to contain us.”

—Alex Michaelides, The Silent Patient

A phoenix rises from the glowing ashes of its predecessor, emerging from the rubble of a damaged past resilient, resolute and radiant as it ascends beyond the threshold of what once was. As it is a mythical occurrence, one could presume that the ashes could be those of its creator, forever embedded in its feathers and amalgamated in its blood.

Behind the meek demeanor of Andrew Benjamin, MD, MS, is a foreboding and painful past that he rose out of and transformed into his purpose. Through experiencing his mother succumb to a heroin addiction and learning to detach her wounding and troubling actions from her (still) maternal heart, he acquired the valuable skill to understand a patient’s holistic trauma inside and out, and harvest respect and trust. He landed on the realization that most of his patients have stories similar to his own.

Trauma is a unique specialty in that most patients arrive at the bay under extreme life-or-death conditions. Our trauma center is situated in the heart of a disenfranchised ecosystem, where many don’t have the access, advocacy or agency to find their way out of fatal situations.

Dr. Benjamin holds that the best “complete” trauma surgeon must not only possess expert critical care and surgical skills, but also social skills, as they treat weathered patients who often are—and understandably so—encased within a protective shell and not trusting enough to shed it. Many providers aren’t willing to pull aside the superficial veil, remove the white coat and help detach the shell—at which point they may uncover the circumstances that influence a patient’s (sometimes) violent actions. Most people have good (yet fragile) hearts and long for a soul to confide in.

“Their journeys were etched into their faces, impossible to miss.”

—Alex Michaelides, The Silent Patient

Our sit-down with Dr. Benjamin was a raw, bittersweet, and breathtaking experience. We were joined by his dad, Henry Benjamin, who solemnly watched from the rear of the dark studio as his son avowed the unadulterated appreciation and unconditional love he holds for his father. When Henry sat beside Dr. Benjamin, his heart was heavy—bristled with poignant memories and full of pride, for in that moment, as he looked into his son’s eyes, it seemed he saw a luminous hero and thought to himself, “Job well done.”

“The nature of impending fatherhood is that you are doing something that you’re unqualified to do, and then you become qualified while doing it.”

—John Green

Interweaved amidst the threads of Dr. Benjamin’s moral fibers is a heartrending superpower like no other—the power to see beyond the opaque fog of a painful past and sustain a powerful sense of faith in humankind.

This is Andrew Benjamin, Behind the Mask.

Trauma & Acute Care Surgery

The current team of the Section of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery at the University of Chicago Medicine is made up of 13 trauma and acute care surgeons, which we have expanded from an initial count of seven to better support the trauma patient population. Our level 1 trauma center has become one of the busiest in the state, with over 19,000 activations since its inception and 40 percent of activations due to firearm injury, one of the highest rates in the United States. The section continues to support the South Side community by developing—with the Urban Health Initiative—the Violence Recovery Program, which is designed to provide wraparound services to assist patients and their families with holistic recovery. The Section of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery strives to have the premier academic trauma center in the country, leading in patient care, innovation, education, trauma-related research and advocacy to improve the lives of all patients.

Selwyn O. Rogers, Jr., MD, MPH
Professor of Surgery
Chief, Section of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery
Founding Director, Trauma Center
Executive Vice President, Community Health Engagement
Learn More & Contact

faculty listing

Professor of Surgery
Selwyn O. Rogers, Jr., MD, MPH, Professor of Surgery; Chief, Section for Trauma and Acute Care Surgery; James E. Bowman, Jr. Professor in the Biological Sciences; Founding Director, Trauma Center; Executive Vice President, Community Health Engagement
Susan Rowell, MD, MCR, Professor of Surgery; Co-Director, Surgical ICU; Program Director, Adult Surgical Critical Care Fellowship
Brian Williams, MD, Professor of Surgery
Kenneth L. Wilson, MD, Professor of Surgery; Trauma Medical Director
Tanya L. Zakrison, MD, MPH, Professor of Surgery; Director, Critical Trauma Research

Associate Professor of Surgery
Andrew Benjamin, MD, MS, Assistant Professor; Associate Program Director, General Surgery Residency
Ryan Boudreau, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery
Jennifer T. Cone, MD, MBA, MHS, Assistant Professor of Surgery; Associate Program Director, General Surgery Residency
David Hampton, MD, MEng, Assistant Professor of Surgery; Associate Clerkship Director, Surgery; Assistant Program Director, Adult Surgical Critical Care Fellowship
Abid Khan, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery
Priya Prakash, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery; Program Director, Trauma Fellowship and Acute Care Surgery Fellowship

Clinical Associate of Surgery
Nicholas Jaszczak, MD, Clinical Associate of Surgery
Timothy Plackett, DO, MPH, Clinical Associate of Surgery

faculty honors

Andrew Benjamin, MD, MS, was a 2023 Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma Trauma Research Scholarship finalist. He was promoted to Associate Program Director, General Surgery Residency Program.

Jennifer T. Cone, MD, MBA, MHS, FACS, appeared on the Women Surgeons Committee Honor Roll.

David Hampton MD, MEng, FACS, was a 2022 Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma John M. Templeton, Jr., MD Military Call to Service Scholarship winner. He is Associate Co-Director of the Adult Surgical Intensive Care Unit. He completed a fellowship in medical education research, innovation, teaching, and scholarship at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Dr. Hampton was an awardee of the Association of Academic Surgery and the Society of University Surgeons Junior Underrepresented Mentorship and Promotion (JUMP) Start program. He completed the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open’s Peer Review Mentoring Program. He presented, as a co-author, “Identifying Modifiable Variables to Increase Underrepresented Minority Students’ Medical School Admission Rates” at the 31st Annual Society of Black Academic Surgeons Meeting, St. Louis, MO (virtual); the paper won third place–the Onyekwere Emmanuel Akwari MD, Medical Student Award.

Timothy Plackett, DO, MPH, FACS, received a University of Chicago Department of Surgery Golden Apple Teaching Award.

Priya Prakash, MD, FACS, was a 2023 Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma Trauma Research Scholarship finalist. She received a University of Chicago Department of Surgery Golden Apple Teaching Award. She has appeared on the Women Surgeons Committee Honor Roll and was nominated for the honor roll for the 2022 Spring Quarter.

Selwyn O. Rogers, Jr., MD, MPH, received an American College of Surgeons Innovative Grant for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism.

Kenneth L. Wilson, MD, FACS, was named Swedish Teacher of the Year Award by Swedish Medical Center.

Tanya L. Zakrison, MD, MPH, FACS, FRCSC, received research funding and training for the project “Using Crime Victim Compensation for Structural Reparations” from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She won a Chicago Committee on Trauma grant to investigate “Unique Stressors and Strengths of Female Violence Interrupters in Chicago—How to Support Trauma Responsive Care.” Dr. Zakrison was awarded an American College of Surgeons Innovative Grant for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism. She also received an Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention grant for “Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Plus for Youth—Legal Aid for Victim Compensation in Survivors and Families of Trauma.”

faculty promotions

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select publications

Andrew Benjamin, MD, MS

Imran, Jonathan & Benjamin, Andrew & Bass, Gary & Hornor, Melissa & Cannon, Jeremy & Seamon, Mark & Bloom, Matthew & DuBose, Joseph & Raza, Shariq. (2021). Factors Predicting Conversion to Resuscitative Thoracotomy after Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta Placement for Aortic Occlusion: An Analysis of the Aorta Database. Journal of the American College of Surgeons. 233. S277. 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2021.07.572.

Jennifer T. Cone, MD, MBA, MHS

Keskey RC, Hampton DA, Biermann H, Cirone J, Zakrison TL, Cone JT, Wilson KL, Slidell MB. Novel Trauma Composite Score is a more reliable predictor of mortality than Injury Severity Score in pediatric trauma. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2021 Oct 1;91(4):599-604. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003235. PMID: 33871405.

Keskey RC, Slidell MB, Bohr NL, Biermann H, Cirone J, Zakrison T, Cone J, Wilson K, Hampton D. Novel Trauma Composite Score is superior to Injury Severity Score in predicting mortality across all ages. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2021 Oct 1;91(4):621-626. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003340. PMID: 34225345.

David Hampton, MD, MEng

Keskey RC, Hampton DA, Wilson KL, Slidell MB. Patient age must be incorporated into future paediatric injury severity scoring systems. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2021 Oct;5(10):e39. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(21)00246-7. Epub 2021 Aug 13. PMID: 34399088.

Tatebe LC, Schlanser V, Hampton D, Chang G, Hanson I, Doherty J, Issa N, Ghandour H, Kingsley S, Stewart A, Anstadt M, Dennis A. The tight rope act: A multicenter regional experience of tourniquets in acute trauma resuscitation. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 May 1;92(5):890-896. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003491. Epub 2021 Dec 6. PMID: 34882594.

Georgette N, Keskey R, Mbadiwe N, Hampton D, McQueen A, Slidell MB. Alternative shock index cutoffs for pediatric patients outperform the Shock Index Pediatric Age-adjusted (SIPA) on strength of association with adverse outcomes in pediatric trauma patients. Surgery. 2022 Jul;172(1):343-348. doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2022.01.028. Epub 2022 Feb 21. PMID: 35210102.

Fouché TW, Zakrison TL, Schneider JA, Kaufman EJ, Plackett TP, Velopulos C, Slidell MB, Voisin D, Hampton DA, Carmichael HE, Valdés DM, Parker C, Ross B, Chaudhary M, Cirone J. Demographic and Regional Factors Associated With Reporting Homicides of Transgender People in the United States. J Surg Res. 2022 Nov;279:72-76. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2022.05.029. Epub 2022 Jun 17. PMID: 35724545.

Georgette N, Keskey R, Hampton D, Alberto E, Chokshi N, Zakrison TL, Wilson K, McQueen A, Burd RS, Slidell MB. Derivation and validation of an improved pediatric shock index for predicting need for early intervention and outcomes in pediatric trauma. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 Oct 1;93(4):474-481. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003727. Epub 2022 Jun 24. PMID: 35749746.

Abid Khan, MD

Lee JS, Khan AD, Dorlac WC, Dunn J, McIntyre RC Jr, Wright FL, Platnick KB, Brockman V, Vega SA, Cofran JM, Duero C, Schroeppel TJ. The patient’s voice matters: The impact of advance directives on elderly trauma patients. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 Feb 1;92(2):339-346. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003400. PMID: 34538829.

Lee JS, Khan AD, Brockman V, Schroeppel TJ. A “GAP” in Activation: A Better Way to Manage Geriatric and Anticoagulated Patients with Head Trauma. Am Surg. 2022 Jul;88(7):1437-1441. doi: 10.1177/00031348221080436. Epub 2022 Mar 10. PMID: 35266401.

Lee JS, Khan AD, Schlitzkus L, Schmoekel N, Stassinopoulos J, Brockman V, Schroeppel TJ. Evaluation of the Nelson Criteria as an Indicator for Nonsurgical Admission in Trauma Patients. Am Surg. 2022 Jul;88(7):1537-1540. doi: 10.1177/00031348221082272. Epub 2022 Mar 25. PMID: 35337211.

Schroeppel TJ, Clement LP, Douville AA, Schmoekel NH, Stassinopoulos J, Decker C, Stillman ZE, Rodriquez J, Brockman VP, Hennessy E, Heise H, Khan AD, Time is of the Essence: Impact of a More Aggressive Chemical Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis Regimen on Trauma Patients. Am Surg. 2022 Mar;88(3):455-462. doi: 10.1177/00031348211050839. Epub 2021 Nov 19. PMID: 34797198.

Khan AD, Lee J, Galicia K, Billings JD, Dobaria V, Patel PP, McIntyre RC, Gonzalez RP, Schroeppel TJ. A multicenter validation of the modified brain injury guidelines: Are they safe and effective? J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 Jul 1;93(1):106-112. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003633. Epub 2022 Apr 1. PMID: 35358157.

Lee JS, Khan AD, Wright FL, McIntyre RC Jr, Dorlac WC, Cribari C, Brockman V, Vega SA, Cofran JM, Schroeppel TJ. Whole Blood Versus Conventional Blood Component Massive Transfusion Protocol Therapy in Civilian Trauma Patients. Am Surg. 2022 May;88(5):880-886. doi: 10.1177/00031348211049752. Epub 2021 Nov 27. PMID: 34839732.

Lee JS, Finch H, Higa K, Khan AD, Millar J, O’Neil J, MacIndoe C, Brockman V, Stringer D, Schroeppel TJ. STRAUMA: A Novel Alert System for a Combined Stroke and Trauma. Am Surg. 2022 Jun 30:31348221111510. doi: 10.1177/00031348221111510. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35773229.

Timothy Plackett, DO, MPH

Priya Prakash, MD

McKinley W, Ayoub F, Prakash P, Shammugarajah K, Siddiqui UD. Delayed small-bowel perforation after EUS-guided gastroenterostomy. Gastrointest Endosc. 2022 Apr;95(4):806-807. doi: 10.1016/j.gie.2021.12.005. Epub 2021 Dec 16. PMID: 34922938.

Selwyn O. Rogers, Jr., MD, MPH

Dicker RA, Thomas A, Bulger EM, Stewart RM, Bonne S, Dechert TA, Smith R, Love-Craighead A, Dreier F, Kotagal M, Kozyckyj T, Michaels H; ISAVE Workgroup; Members of the ISAVE Workgroup. Strategies for Trauma Centers to Address the Root Causes of Violence: Recommendations from the Improving Social Determinants to Attenuate Violence (ISAVE) Workgroup of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. J Am Coll Surg. 2021 Sep;233(3):471-478.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2021.06.016. Epub 2021 Jul 30. PMID: 34339811.

Chang DC, Oseni TO, Strong BL, Molina G, Ortega G, Chen H, Rogers SO Jr, The Other Global Pandemic: Scientific Racism and the Normality Bias. Ann Surg. 2021 Dec 1;274(6):e646-e648. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000005168. PMID: 34387208.

Susan Rowell, MD, MCR

Newgard CD, Braverman MA, Phuong J, Shipper ES, Price MA, Bixby PJ, Goralnick E, Daya MR, Lerner EB, Guyette FX, Rowell S, Doucet J, Jenkins P, Mann NC, Staudenmayer K, Blake DP, Bulger E; NTRAP Prehospital and Mass Casualty Preparedness Panel Group. Developing a National Trauma Research Action Plan: Results from the prehospital and mass casualty research Delphi survey. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 Feb 1;92(2):398-406. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003469. PMID: 34789701.

Harmer JW, Dewey EN, Meier EN, Rowell SE, Schreiber MA. Tranexamic acid is not inferior to placebo with respect to adverse events in suspected traumatic brain injury patients not in shock with a normal head computed tomography scan: A retrospective study of a randomized trial. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022 Jul 1;93(1):98-105. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003635. Epub 2022 Mar 28. PMID: 35358154; PMCID: PMC9232971.

Moore K, Barton CA, Wang Y, Ran R, Chi A, Rowell S, Schreiber M. Early initiation of thromboembolic prophylaxis in critically ill trauma patients with high-grade blunt liver and splenic lacerations is not associated with increased rates of failure of non-operative management. Trauma. 2022;0(0). doi:10.1177/14604086211046099.

Brian Williams, MD

Brasel K, Berry C, Williams BH, Henry SM, Upperman J, West MA. Lofty goals and strategic plans are not enough to achieve and maintain a diverse workforce: an American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee conversation. Trauma Surg Acute Care Open. 2021 Nov 8;6(1):e000813. doi: 10.1136/tsaco-2021-000813. PMID: 34805547; PMCID: PMC8576479.

Matchett G, Gasanova I, Riccio CA, Nasir D, Sunna MC, Bravenec BJ, Azizad O, Farrell B, Minhajuddin A, Stewart JW, Liang LW, Moon TS, Fox PE, Ebeling CG, Smith MN, Trousdale D, Ogunnaike BO; EvK Clinical Trial Collaborators. Etomidate versus ketamine for emergency endotracheal intubation: a randomized clinical trial. Intensive Care Med. 2022 Jan;48(1):78-91. doi: 10.1007/s00134-021-06577-x. Epub 2021 Dec 14. PMID: 34904190.

Hoops K, Fahimi J, Khoeur L, Studenmund C, Barber C, Barnhorst A, Betz ME, Crifasi CK, Davis JA, Dewispelaere W, Fisher L, Howard PK, Ketterer A, Marcolini E, Nestadt PS, Rozel J, Simonetti JA, Spitzer S, Victoroff M, Williams BH,, Howley L, Ranney ML. Consensus-Driven Priorities for Firearm Injury Education Among Medical Professionals. Acad Med. 2022 Jan 1;97(1):93-104. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000004226. PMID: 34232149.

Gonzalez L, Pawlik TM, Kibbe MR, Williams B, Vicente D, O’Leary MP, Velopulos CG, Funk LM. The 2020 Pandemics: Lessons Learned in Academic Surgery and Beyond. J Surg Res. 2022 Aug;276:A1-A6. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2022.01.032. Epub 2022 Mar 18. PMID: 35314073; PMCID: PMC8932549.

Kenneth L. Wilson, MD

Keskey RC, Hampton DA, Wilson K, L, Slidell MB. Patient age must be incorporated into future paediatric injury severity scoring systems. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2021 Oct;5(10):e39. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(21)00246-7. Epub 2021 Aug 13. PMID: 34399088.

Tanya L. Zakrison, MD, MPH

Santos A, Morris DS, Rattan R, Zakrison T. Double-blinded manuscript review: Avoiding peer review bias. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2021 Jul 1;91(1):e39-e42. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000003260. PMID: 33901050.

residents & fellows

View the Surgical and Critical Care Residents and Fellows here.