Dr. Shariq S. Raza is an Assistant Professor of Surgery in Trauma Surgery & Surgical Critical Care at the Penn Medicine. He additionally serves as the Director of the Surgical ICU at Pennsylvania Hospital, and as the Director of Penn Acute Care Education (PACE) at Penn Trauma. Dr. Raza earned his medical degree at the University of Karachi's Baqai Medical College in Pakistan. He completed a General Surgery Residency at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA, where he served as chief resident during his final year of training. During residency, he completed a Surgical Critical Care research fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. Following residency, he completed his Trauma Surgery & Surgical Critical Care fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital of the Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. Dr. Raza's research interests include ischemia reperfusion injury following aortic occlusion, chest trauma and lung injury, and integration of smartphone technology in trauma care. He is a member of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, Association for Academic Surgery, International Society of Surgery, Society for Simulation in Healthcare, Society of Critical Care Medicine, American College of Surgeons, and American Medical Association, has served as a reviewer for the World Journal of Surgery and The American Journal of Surgery, and is a member of the Editorial Research Panel for Healthcare Informatics Magazine.

Dr. Taghavi is double board certified in General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia. He attended Tufts University School of Medicine where he received his Medical Degree and Masters of Public Health. He completed his general surgery residency at Temple University School of Medicine, where he served as the administrative chief resident. He spent two years as a research fellow at the Temple University Cardiovascular Research Center, investigating the therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells and different modes of ventilation in hemorrhagic shock. During this time, he was funded by the NIH as a Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) winner. Dr. Taghavi completed a fellowship in Surgical Critical Care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard University School of Medicine.

Dr. Taghavi serves as the Section Chief of Acute Care Surgery at Tulane Medical Center and is a faculty trauma surgeon at University Medical Center-New Orleans. In addition, he is a faculty member of the Tulane Violence Prevention Institute. He serves as a co-investigator and member of the research core for the Tulane Center for Youth Equity, which is independently funded as a CDC National Center of Excellence for Youth Violence Prevention. This program started the first dedicated hospital-based gun violence prevention program in the state of Louisiana. Dr. Taghavi has led a large 25 institution, multicenter trial examining the role of prehospital procedures in urban, penetrating trauma. He is currently leading the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) practice management guidelines for prehospital procedures in urban penetrating trauma.

Dr. Taghavi has presented his research at several national conferences and has authored numerous peer-reviewed original research manuscripts, review articles, and textbook chapters. He won an honorable mention at the Raymond H. Alexander Paper Competition at the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma and was a finalist for the American Heart Association (AHA) Cournand and Comroe Young Investigator Award. In addition, he won first place for best basic science paper at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Pennsylvania Committee on Trauma (COT), Annual Resident Paper Competition. His research interests include gun violence prevention, improving the pre-hospital care of severely injured trauma patients, and mitigation of the inflammatory response after recovery from hemorrhagic shock. He was selected for the Tulane School of Medicine Physician-Scientist Pipeline Program for his research on acute lung injury. In addition, he was awarded the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) Trauma Research Scholarship. He was recently awarded the 2022 Early Career/Emerging Faculty Recognition Award for the Tulane University School of Medicine and was named a 2023 Healthcare Hero by the New Orleans City Business Journal. Dr. Taghavi is a member of the Society of University Surgeons, American College of Surgeons, Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and the American Association for Academic Surgery.

Dr. Watras is an acute care surgeon and the medical student clerkship director for surgery at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk Connecticut. She has 14 years of experience in both Level 1 and Level 2 trauma centers and has extensive teaching experience. She has served on numerous committees in both her hospital and nationally. In her time away from the hospital, she enjoys spending time with her husband, 2 children, and 2 dogs.

Britney Beumeler is a nurse practitioner working with the Division of Trauma at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, an ACS Level 1 Facility since 2015. In this role, she is responsible for team rounds, developing care plans, discharge planning, quality improvement, and education. Additionally, she serves as the Medical Director for the Trauma/Progressive Care Unit and holds a position as adjunct faculty in the College of Nursing. She will be completing her Doctorate of Nursing Practice in May, with a primary research focus on frailty in geriatric trauma patients.