Kaye M. Reid Lombardo, MD - Contributed

Dr. Kaye Reid Lombardo is a hepatobilary and pancreas surgeon at the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The Jamaican-born from May Pen, Clarendon, emigrated to the United States when she was 10 years old. But even before that age, she knew she wanted to become a doctor. "Since the age of eight, I wanted to become a doctor. Nothing else has given me that feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction that I receive when I am able to help a patient through a tough medical problem and I feel their appreciation for my work," she told Flair

Research on cancer of the pancreas

Dr. Lombardo has been a medical doctor for nine years. After graduating from John Jay High School in Brooklyn, New York, she attended Washington University School of Medicine and received her surgical training at the University of Pittsburgh. Lombardo was then awarded a fellowship in hepatobiliary and pancreas surgery at Mayo Clinic and is now a hepatobiliary and pancreas surgeon there.

Her area of surgery includes the liver, pancreas and biliary tree, mostly for cancer indications like pancreas, bile duct or liver cancers. "I chose the liver and the pancreas because they are the most challenging organs to operate on within the abdomen. I love challenges, they make life more interesting."

Dr. Lombardo is currently investigating whether inflammation- related genes increase the risk for pancreas cancer. Recently, she was awarded a National Institute of Health (NIH) faculty development research award. This provides the funding for her research on pancreatic cancer for the next five years.

Contributing to her roots

Though she left Jamaica at a very young age, she still has not forgotten her roots. Next February, she will join a team of doctors from Minnesota and other states in thesecond annual Advancement in Medicine 2008: A Caribbean and United States Perspective conference.

She noted that her interest in the conference is to, "share what I have learned about cancer of the pancreas and operating on the pancreas with my Jamaican colleagues."

She explained that cancer of the pancreas affects about 50,000 persons each year. "It is a highly aggressive cancer and most patients live only six months after diagnosis. Only 15-20 per cent of patients are eligible for a surgical re-section. Some risk factors for cancer of the pancreas (as far as is known) are family/genetic, chronic pancreatitis and smoking."

Apart from knowledge sharing with her colleagues, she would one day like to work in Jamaica.

"I would love to be able to practise in Jamaica. However, the funding for research is not as available there as it is in the United States, so that is primarily what keeps me here in the U.S. I certainly have not ruled out the possibility of returning to practise in Jamaica in the future."

Dr. Lombardo has been a medical doctor for nine years. After graduating from John Jay High School in Brooklyn, New York, she attended Washington University School of Medicine and received her surgical training at the University of Pittsburgh.