Pediatric injury research and control; chest-wall deformities; minimally invasive surgery (use of the laparoscope and thoracoscope to diagnose and treat surgical diseases); surgical weight loss; minority health care
 

MD: University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 1974.

Residency: Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC, 1978. 

Fellowship: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA. 

Certification: Surgery, 1979; Pediatric Surgery, 1982; Surgical Critical Care, 1991.

Garcia V. Comment on: Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass versus laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding: five years of follow-up. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2010 Sep-Oct;6(5):475-6.

Chatoorgoon K, Huezo K, Rangel E, François N, Schweer L, Daugherty M, Koehn M, Ricketts C, Brown RL, Garcia VF, Falcone RA Jr. Unnecessary imaging, not hospital distance, or transportation mode impacts delays in the transfer of injured children. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2010 Jul;26(7):481-6.

Martin CA, Care M, Rangel EL, Brown RL, Garcia VF, Falcone RA Jr. Severity of head computed tomography scan findings fail to explain racial differences in mortality following child abuse. Am J Surg. 2010 Feb;199(2):210-5.

Inge TH, Jenkins TM, Zeller M, Dolan L, Daniels SR, Garcia VF, Brandt ML, Bean J, Gamm K, Xanthakos SA. Baseline BMI is a strong predictor of nadir BMI after adolescent gastric bypass. J Pediatr. 2010 Jan;156(1):103-108.e1.

Inge TH, Miyano G, Bean J, Helmrath M, Courcoulas A, Harmon CM, Chen MK, Wilson K, Daniels SR, Garcia VF, Brandt ML, Dolan LM. Reversal of type 2 diabetes mellitus and improvements in cardiovascular risk factors after surgical weight loss in adolescents. Pediatrics. 2009 Jan;123(1):214-22.

Falcone RA Jr, Martin C, Brown RL, Garcia VF. Despite overall low pediatric head injury mortality, disparities exist between races. J Pediatr Surg. 2008 Oct;43(10):1858-64.

Falcone RA Jr, Daugherty M, Schweer L, Patterson M, Brown RL, Garcia VF. Multidisciplinary pediatric trauma team training using high-fidelity trauma simulation. J Pediatr Surg. 2008 Jun;43(6):1065-71.

Ippisch HM, Inge TH, Daniels SR, Wang B, Khoury PR, Witt SA, Glascock BJ, Garcia VF, Kimball TR. Reversibility of cardiac abnormalities in morbidly obese adolescents. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008 Apr 8; \51(14):1342-8.

Rangel SJ, Martin CA, Brown RL, Garcia VF, Falcone RA Jr. Alarming trends in the improper use of motor vehicle restraints in children: implications for public policy and the development of race-based strategies for improving compliance. J Pediatr Surg. 2008 Jan;43(1):200-7.

Falcone RA Jr, Brown RL, Garcia VF. Disparities in child abuse mortality are not explained by injury severity. J Pediatr Surg. 2007 Jun;42(6):1031-6; discussion 1036-7.