Education

University of Kentucky Jefferson Community College

May 1992

Associates of Science

Presidents Scholar, summa cum laude

 

University of Louisville

May 1994

Bachelor of Arts, Chemistry

summa cum laude

 

University of Louisville School of Medicine

May 1998

Medical Doctor

 

Training

Internship

University of Louisville Department of Surgery, Louisville Kentucky, 1998-1999

 

Surgical Residency

University of Louisville Department of Surgery, Louisville, Kentucky, 1999-2003

 

Fellowship

Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Louisville, Louisville Kentucky, 2003- 2005

 

Board Certification

American Board of Surgery

American Board of Thoracic Surgery  

​

Practice Scope and Hospital Credentials

General Thoracic

General Surgery

Vascular Surgery (non cardiac, open and basic endovascular)

 

Appointments

Chief of Thoracic Surgery and Robotic Surgery

VA Medical Center Louisville Kentucky

July 2005-present

Project Director Lung Nodule Evaluation Team

VA Medical Center Louisville Kentucky

2007-present

Professor of Surgery

Division of Thoracic Surgery

University of Louisville Department of Surgery

July 2005-present

 

Military

Air National Guard, 123 Airlift Wing

Rank: LT Colonel

Critical Care Air Transport Team (CCATT) Physician

 

Courses and Certifications

ACLS 

BLS 

ATLS 

Concealed Carry Course Instructor, 2017

Tactical Casualty Combat Care (TCCC) Certification, NAEMT, 2017

Intuitive Surgery Thoracic Robotic Surgery Training 2018

 

Information Technology and Telemedicine

1. Palm Surgery.  August 2001 – Internet and palm computing interdepartmental system

2. Stereotactic Breast Biopsy Study Database. July 2000 – July 2002.  Data analysis of stereotactic breast registry.

3. North American Fareston Tamoxifen Assessment Trial (NAFTA), July 2000 - 2002. Data analysis and registry maintenance.

4. Quality Surgical Solutions.  2001-2005.  Information technology data analyst with critical review of surgical quality data.

 

Tactical Medicine

1. Advanced Causality Trauma Support Course (ACTS), 2017.  Director and Instructor.  Pilot program to train concealed carry permit holders to provide tactical medical care during and after a defensive engagement or mass casualty event.

2. Kentucky Concealed Carry Deadly Weapons (CCDW) Course Instructor, 2017-current

 

Awards and Merits

1. Price Institute of Surgical Research Summer Scholar, 1993, 1994, 1995

2. Student Research Day, November 8, 1994, University of Louisville School of Medicine.  First Place, Poster Division

3. Midwest Student Research Forum, February 17, 1995, Omaha, Nebraska. First Place, Poster Division

4. National Student Research Forum, April 7, 1995, Galveston, Texas.  Second Place, Sigma Xi Award for Excellence in Research

5. Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.  January 1998

6. Student Research Day, November 7, 1995 University of Louisville School of Medicine. First Place, Poster Division

7. University of Louisville Surgical Grand Rounds Basic Science Seminar, December 2, 1995.  Second Place

8. Midwest Student Research Forum, February 17, 1996, Omaha, Nebraska.   Second Place, Poster Division

9. National Institute of Health and American Medical Student Association, March 12, 1996, Washington D.C. First Place

10. Association for Academic Surgery Student Research Award.  May 1998

11. Charles M. Edelen Award for Exceptional Research Publication. June 19, 1999

12. Third Year Resident of the Year Award, Trauma Institute.  June 21, 2000

13. Charles M. Edelen Award for Best Paper of the Year.  June 24, 2004

 

Books

1. Pocket Surgery. William R. Wrightson, M.D.  Blackwell Science Publishing. 2001.

2. Current Concepts in General Surgery: A Resident Review. William R. Wrightson, M.D. Senior Editor. Landes Bioscience Publishing. 2006.

 

Book Chapters

1. Wrightson WR, Bousamra M.  Tumors of the Mediastinum.  Thoracic Surgery, Third Edition, Peterson et al.  Churchill Livingstone. 

2. Wrightson WR, Wong SL, Edwards MJ, McMasters KM.  Dermal injection for sentinel node biopsy in breast cancer.  Mastery of Lymphatic Mapping.  Hunt KK and Ross MI, editors.  New York: Springer-Verlag. 2002.

3. Wong SL, Wrightson WR, McMasters KM.  Sentinel node biopsy for breast cancer: the University of Louisville approach.  Sentinel Node Biopsy.  Cody et al.  Taylor & Francis, Inc. 2001. 

4. McMasters KM, Wong SL, Wrightson WR.  Clinical trials of sentinel node biopsy for melanoma.  Sentinel Node Biopsy.  Cody et al.  Taylor & Francis, Inc. 2001. 

5. Wong SL, Wrightson WR, Edwards MJ, McMasters KM. The University of Louisville Breast Sentinel Node Study.  Mastery of Lymphatic Mapping.  Hunt KK and Ross MI, editors.  New York: Springer-Verlag. 2002.

 

 

Peer Reviewed Publications

1. Galandiuk S, Wrightson WR, Marr L, Myers SR, and LaRocca RV.  Suppository Delivery of 5-Fluorouracil in Rectal Cancer. Annals of Surgical Oncology.  1996.  3(3):  270-276.

2. Wrightson WR, Myers SR, and Galandiuk S.  HPLC Analysis of 5-FU and FdUMP in Tissue and Serum. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.  1995.  216:  808-813. 

3. Galandiuk S, Wrightson WR, Young S, Myers SR, and Polk HC.  Absorbable Delayed Release Antibiotic Beads Reduce Surgical Wound Infection. The American Surgeon. 1997.  63:  831-835.

4. Wrightson WR, Myers SR, and Galandiuk S.  HPLC Analysis of Minocycline in Tissue and Serum. J Chromatogr B Biomed Sci App. 1998 Mar 20;706(2):358-61.

5. Pokorny R, Wrightson WR, Myers SR, Laroca RV, and Galandiuk S.  Chemotherapeutic Suppositories with Concomitant Radiation Preoperatively for Rectal Cancer.  Diseases of the Colon and Rectum.  1997. 12: 1414-1420.

6. Edwards MJ, Wrightson WR, Vaughan WP, and Gamel JW.  Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma of the Breast:  The Survival Impact of Race. J Clin Oncol. 1998 Aug; 16(8):2693-9.

7. Martin RC 2nd, Osborne DL, Edwards MJ, Wrightson WR, McMasters KM. Giant cell tumor of tendon sheath, tenosynovial giant cell tumor, and pigmented villonodular synovitis: defining the presentation, surgical therapy and recurrence. Oncology Reports. 7(2):413-9, 2000

8. Wrightson WR, Edwards MJ, McMasters KM. Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast presenting as a breast abscess. American Surgeon. 65(12):1153-5, 1999

9. Wrightson WR, McMasters KM and Edwards MJ.  The role of the ultrasonically activated shears and vascular cutting stapler in hepatic resection. Am Surg 2000 Nov;66(11):1037-40    

10. Wrightson WR, Edwards MJ, Albrecht J, Conrad AJ, and McMasters KM.  Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr) analysis of non-sentinel nodes following completion lymphadenectomy for melanoma.  Journal of Surgical Research.  Journal of Surgical Research 98(1):47-51, 2001. 

11. McMasters KM, Chao C, Wong SL, Wrightson WR, Ross MI, Reintgen DS, Noyes RD, Cerrito PB, Edwards MJ. Internal sentinel lymph nodes in melanoma.  Archives of Surgery 137(5):543-7, 2002.

12. Elliott MJ, Stilwell A, Dong YB, Yang HL, Wong SL, Wrightson WR, Martin RC, McMasters KM. C-terminal deletion mutan p21 (WAF1/CIP1) enhances E2F-1 mediated apoptosis in colon adenocarcinoma cells.  Cancer Gene Therapy 9(5):453-63, 2002.

13. Wrightson WR, Hahm TX, and Cheadle W.  Giant bilateral adrenal myelolipoma.  American Surgeon.  American Surgeon 68(6):588-9, 2002. 

14. Reed DN, Vitale GC, Edwards MJ, Wrightson WR, McMasters KM.  Decreasing mortality of bile leaks following elective hepatic surgery.  American Journal of Surgery. Am J Surg. 2003 Apr;185(4):316-8.

15. Wrightson WR, McMasters KM and Edwards MJ.  Complications associated with sentinel lymph node biopsy in melanoma.  Annals of Surgical Oncology.  Ann Surg Oncol. 2003 Jul;10(6):676-80.

16. Conn, A, Wrightson WR. Franklin G.  Penetrating rib injury to the heart after blunt trauma.  Am Surg. 2007 May;73(5):465-7.  

17. Schiffman SC, Boyd TG, Wrightson WR. Intercostal herniation of the gallbladder after thoracotomy with right lower lobe lung resection. Am Surg. 2013 Nov;79(11):E329-30.

18. Billeter AT, Druen D, Franklin GA, Smith JW, Wrightson W, Richardson JD. Langenbecks Video-assisted thoracoscopy as an important tool for trauma surgeons: a systematic review. Arch Surg. 2013 Apr;398(4):515-23.

19. Davis J, Wrightson W, Joiner T. Is chest wall reconstruction appropriate in McCune-Albright patients with impending respiratory failure? Am Surg. 2014 Dec;80(12)

20. Brown J, Lee TJ, Joiner T, Wrightson W Using Electromagnetic Navigation Bronchoscopy and Dye Injection to Aid in Video-Assisted Lung Resection. Am Surg. 2016 Nov 1;82(11):1052-1054.

21. Wrightson W. Robotic thoracic surgery: a support team to replace the bedside surgeon. J Robot Surg. 2019 Mar 5.

22. Wrightson WR, Gauhar U, Hendler F, Joiner T, Pendleton J. Centralized Lung Nodule Management at A Veterans Hospital Using A Multidisciplinary Lung Nodule Evaluation Team (LNET). Zhongguo Fei Ai Za Zhi. 2018 Nov 20;21(11):828-832.

 

Other Publications

1. Wrightson WR.  University of Louisville Department of Surgery Resident Work Hour Initiative.  University of Louisville Department of Surgery Web site. December 2002.

2.   Wrightson WR.  The Art of Surgery and Mower Mechanics.  Hospital Physician.  June 2002. 

 

Presentation History

1. Society of Surgical Oncology 48th Cancer Symposium, Boston, MA 1995. Suppository Administration of 5-Fluorouracil

2. National Student Research Forum, Galveston, TX 1996. Chemotherapeutic Suppositories with Concomitant Radiation for Rectal Cancer

3. American College of Physicians Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA 1998 Chemotherapeutic Suppositories with Concomitant Radiation for Rectal Cancer

4. Southeastern Surgical Conference.  Tampa, FL. 1999.  Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Breast. 

5. Society of Surgical Oncology, Orlando, FL 1999. Use of the UAS and Vascular Stapler Minimizes Blood Loss in Hepatic Resection.

6. Association for Academic Surgery, Tampa FL, 2000.  Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis of non-sentinel nodes following completion lymphadenectomy for melanoma. 

7. Society of Surgical Oncology, Washington, D.C., 2001.  Complications associated with sentinel lymph node biopsy in melanoma.

8. Shine the Light on Lung Cancer at the VA October 2016.  Lung Cancer and the VA.

9. University of Louisville Surgery Grand Rounds Guest Speaker, 2017.  Management of lung nodules and lung cancer. 

10. Association of VA Surgeons Annual Meeting, Houston, TX 2017.  Lung nodule management in the VA system thru a multidisciplinary team.