On today's episode of Deep Cuts Exploring Equity in Surgery, we sit down with Dr. Ashley Suah and Dr. Andrea Liu to explore the field of transplant surgery from the personal past that led them to the specialty to the ethical dilemmas behind organ allocation and the ongoing work to make transplant care more equitable. We discuss what it actually takes to get a patient onto the waiting list and through transplant, the persistent racial and socioeconomic disparities that shape who gets access to care and how those biases show up at every stage of the process, and why growing diversity in the surgical and transplant workforce is essential to building trust and better serving minority patients. We also dig into what meaningful representation looks like in practice. Not just at the bedside, but in research, leadership, and the decisions that shape policy, and why public trust in the system remains essential to its survival. This conversation highlights both the deep challenges and the profound life-changing impact of transplant care.

Dr. Ashley Suah is a board-certified transplant surgeon who specializes in kidney and liver transplant. She is an advocate for eliminating racial and gender disparities with regards to transplant surgery, and post-transplant care. Dr. Andrea Liu is a general surgery resident at the University of Chicago, with interests in transplant surgery.

Deep Cuts comes to you from the Department of Surgery at the University of Chicago, which is located on Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi land. Our senior editors are Alia Abiad, Caroline Montag, and Chuka Onuh. Our editorial team includes Megan Teramoto, Elizabeth Yearsley, Faiza Shaik, Azeem Saifee, and Aman Saiju. Our senior producer is Nihar Rama. Our production team includes Krupa Hegde. The intro song you hear at the beginning of our show is “Love, Money Part 2” from Chicago’s own Sen Morimoto off of Sooper Records. Our cover art is from Ethan Epstein. Special thanks to Dr. Tony Liu, our founding producer/editor. If you’ve liked this podcast, please leave a rating, comment, and review wherever you get your podcasts. Please reach out to us as well — let us know what have you most enjoyed about our podcast, and where you see room for improvement. You can reach out to us on Instagram @deepcutssurgery. Find out more about our work at deepcuts.surgery.uchicago.edu.

In this episode of Deep Cuts, we hear from Dr. Courtney Cripps, a surgeon who specializes in plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Chicago. Dr. Cripps details her journey to surgery, and specifically surgery in gender-affirming care. In talking to Dr. Anthony Douglas, she discusses how gender-affirming care encompasses medication, surgery, and psychological therapy, which allows it to be a continually evolving field. Dr. Cripps also discusses the immediate impact that gender-affirming care can provide people, and considers the intersection of policy within her medical practice.

Dr. Courtney Cripps is a surgeon and Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago. She completed a residency in plastic surgery at New York University and is double board-certified in both plastic and general surgery. She also serves as the director of the Resident Cosmetic Clinic at the University of Chicago. Her clinical expertise lies in gender affirming facial, chest, body, and genitourinary reconstruction, and she is passionate about patient care and the education of resident physicians.

Deep Cuts comes to you from the Department of Surgery at the University of Chicago, which is located on Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi land. Our senior editors are Alia Abiad, Caroline Montag, and Chuka Onuh. Our editorial team includes Megan Teramoto, Elizabeth Yearsley, Faiza Shaik, and Azeem Saifee. Our senior producer is Nihar Rama. Our production team includes Krupa Hegde. The intro song you hear at the beginning of our show is “Love, Money Part 2” from Chicago’s own Sen Morimoto off of Sooper Records. Our cover art is from Ethan Epstein. Special thanks to Dr. Tony Liu, our founding producer/editor. If you’ve liked this podcast, please leave a rating, comment, and review wherever you get your podcasts. Please reach out to us as well — let us know what have you most enjoyed about our podcast, and where you see room for improvement. You can reach out to us on Instagram @deepcutssurgery. Find out more about our work at deepcuts.surgery.uchicago.edu.

What happens when the patient and the surgeon sit down together?

In this episode of Deep Cuts, we hear from Chloe, a gun violence survivor, and Dr. Ken Wilson, the trauma surgeon at UChicago medicine who fought to save her life. Their conversation is raw, honest, and deeply human — a reminder that behind every statistic is a name, a story, and a community that feels the weight of gun violence every single day.

Kenneth Wilson, MD, has more than a decade of experience as a trauma, acute care and critical care surgeon for both adult and pediatric patients. He treats all related conditions, including giant ventral hernias, a condition that can occur after abdominal trauma and requires an extremely complex surgical approach.

Dr. Wilson is an active researcher, and has been widely published on topics including military trauma and trauma surgical outcomes. He is interested in the association between race and socioeconomic status on trauma-related health outcomes.

Deep Cuts comes to you from the Department of Surgery at the University of Chicago, which is located on Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi land.

Our senior editors are Alia Abiad, Caroline Montag, and Chuka Onuh. Our editorial team includes Megan Teramoto, Elizabeth Yearsley, Faiza Shaik, and Azeem Saifee.

Our senior producer is Nihar Rama. Our production team includes Beryl Zhou and Krupa Hegde.

The intro song you hear at the beginning of our show is “Love, Money Part 2” from Chicago’s own Sen Morimoto off of Sooper Records. Our cover art is from Ethan Epstein.

Special thanks to Dr. Tony Liu, our founding producer/editor.

If you’ve liked this podcast, please leave a rating, comment, and review wherever you get your podcasts. Please reach out to us as well — let us know what have you most enjoyed about our podcast, and where you see room for improvement. You can reach out to us on Instagram @deepcutssurgery. Find out more about our work at deepcuts.surgery.uchicago.edu.