Date: Thursday, October 22, 2026
Time: 8:00pm Eastern/7pm Central/5:00pm Pacific
This event is part of the 2026 Video Mentorship Series. Register for the Series to participate in this event!
To participate in the live event, you must register for the series by 7:00pm Central on October 21, 2026. After this date and time, you will be able to access the recording in ASCRS U.
Call for Videos: Click HERE to Submit Videos!
Please make sure to read all video submission guidelines after clicking the "Click HERE to Submit Videos!" link above. ASCRS Members and Non-members can submit video files for review. All video files will undergo a single-blind review process and if selected they will be presented anonymously during the webinar.
Host: Abhineet Uppal, MD
Dr. Uppal is an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine. He joined Emory from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he served as an assistant professor in the Department of Colon and Rectal Surgery and Associate Medical Director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center. Dr. Uppal earned his medical degree from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and completed his General Surgery residency at the University of Chicago Hospitals. He pursued fellowship training in both Complex General Surgical Oncology at the John Wayne Cancer Institute / UC Irvine and in Colon and Rectal Surgery at UC Irvine. His clinical and research interests focus on optimizing outcomes in colorectal cancer surgery using machine learning, translational research into the biological underpinnings of locally advanced and metastatic colorectal cancer, and predicting risk of recurrence using circulating tumor DNA.
Moderator: Katherine Lee, MD
Dr. Lee is a colorectal surgeon at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She completed her colon and rectal surgery fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. She earned her medical degree and completed general surgery residency at UC San Diego.
Moderator: Cristopher Varela, MD, FACS, FASCRS
Dr. Varela is a Venezuelan general surgeon and coloproctologist at Hospital Domingo Luciani in Caracas, where he currently serves as Chief of Surgery and Head of the Polytrauma Unit. He is also a faculty member of the General Surgery Postgraduate Program at the Central University of Venezuela and an active member of the ASCRS, where he contributes to the Video-Based Education Committee. Dr. Varela completed advanced fellowship training in laparoscopic and robotic colorectal surgery at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. His academic and clinical interests include minimally invasive colorectal surgery, trauma care, and surgical education, with multiple peer-reviewed publications and active involvement in international collaborative research.