Welcome to the all-pancreas edition of Inside Tract.

We’re excited to bring you the “latest and greatest” in pancreatic research at our institution. This issue highlights the broad scope of clinical care and research offered by Johns Hopkins Medicine. We’re proud to offer patients the widest, most comprehensive range of pancreatic services in the U.S. and the world.

Our multidisciplinary clinics—both for cysts and for cancer—are something we’re proud of. We gather gastroenterologists, surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, genetic researchers and other specialists together to review clinical cases. Patients can be confident that they’re getting medically solid advice on how to proceed with their care.

This issue features an interview with surgeon Matthew Weiss, a member of the pancreas surgical team.

In the interview, Dr. Weiss ties today’s surgery to the long, storied history of pioneering pancreas surgery at Johns Hopkins.

Finally, we offer a short section on just a small sample of recent research here. We’re working to solve one of the toughest puzzles we face in pancreas cyst identification and diagnosis: a reliable algorithm to predict which cysts need immediate attention and which can merely be observed.

On behalf of my colleagues in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, as well as those across the spectrum of pancreas care, I hope you enjoy this issue of Inside Tract. As always, if you have questions or referrals, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 410-955-5800.