UAB Department of Surgery Division of Surgical Oncology Assistant Professor Kimberly Kopecky, M.D., MSCI, was selected as the 2025 recipient of the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) Young Investigator Award.

The award is an honor given to those who have made significant contributions to the field of surgical oncology. The award is open to surgical oncologists within five years of completing their fellowship or training and was created to encourage innovative research in surgical oncology.

Dr. Kopecky will receive up to $25,000 of funding for her research project, titled "Aligning Preoperative Expectations with Postoperative Recovery for Patients Considering CRS/HIPEC: A Mixed Methods Intervention Development Study."

“I’m honored to have been selected this award,” Kopecky said. “This funding will allow me to advance my research, with the hope that the findings will enable future studies of patient clinician communication that can advance goal-concordant decision-making.”

Kopecky received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed her residency at Stanford Hospital. She completed a hospice and palliative medicine fellowship at UW Health University Hospital and a surgical oncology fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Kopecky earned a Master of Medical Science in Clinical Investigation from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Her areas of interests include peritoneal surface malignancies, HIPEC, gastric cancer, small bowel cancer, colorectal cancer, health services research, and palliative care. Since joining the faculty of the UAB department of surgery in 2024, Kopecky has been nominated as a UAB Center of Palliative and Supportive Care (CPSC) Scholar. Kopecky’s work is also published in The Oncologist.

This article was written by Catherine James Wilson, Communications Intern for the UAB Department of Surgery.