Stephen J. Kovach, III, MD joins the University of Pennsylvania Health System as an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Prior to joining the University of Pennsylvania faculty, Dr. Kovach completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania and medical school at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. Dr. Kovach completed his general surgery training and basic science research fellowship at the University of Rochester Medical Center and is Board Certified in General Surgery. Dr. Kovach went on to complete his plastic surgery training at Duke University Medical Center.

Dr. Kovach has appointments at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn-Presbyterian Medical Center, Pennsylvania Hospital, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. His practice includes both reconstructive and cosmetic surgery with a special interest in reconstructive microsurgery of oncologic and traumatic defects.

Surgical Resident
Georgetown University Medical Center
Washington, DC

Basic Science Research Fellowship
University of Rochester Medical Center
Laboratory of Dr. James V. Sitzmann
Rochester, New York

Surgical Resident
University of Rochester Medical Center
Rochester, New York

Chief Surgical Resident
University of Rochester Medical Center
Rochester, New York

2004 - 2006

Resident in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, North Carolina

2006 - 2007

Chief Resident in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, North Carolina

• American College of Surgeons (Candidate Member)
• American Society of Plastic Surgeons (Candidate Member)
• American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery (Candidate Member)

1. Alessio Baccarani, MD, Koji Yasui, MD, Kevin C. Olbrich, PhD, Ahmed El-Sabbagh, MD, Stephen Kovach, MD, Keith E. Follmar, BA, Detlev Erdmann, MD, L. Scott Levin, MD, Jonathan S. Stamler, MD1, Bruce Klitzman, PhD, and Michael R. Zenn, MD: Efficacy of Ethyl Nitrite in Reversing Surgical Vasospasm. J Recon Microsurgery, in press, 2007.
2. Kovach SJ, Koger KE, Klitzmann B, Germann, G, Levin LS: Advantages of Minimally Invasive, Balloon Dissector Assisted Tissue Expander Placement: A Clinical and Experimental Study. Ann Plast Surg, in press 2007.
3. Kovach SJ, Georgiade GS. The “Banked” TRAM: A method for insuring mastectomy flap survival. Ann Plasc Surg. 57(4):366-9, 2006 Oct.
4. Scheufler O., Farhadi J., Kovach S.J., Kukies S., Pierer G., Levin L.S., Erdmann D.: Anatomical Basis and Clinical Application of the Infragluteal Perforator Flap. Plas Recon Surg. 118(6):1389-400, 2006 Nov..
5. SJ Kovach, AC Fischer, PJ Katzman, R Salloum, SE Ettinghausen, and LG Koniaris. Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors. J Surg Oncol. 2006 Sep 11;94(5):385-391.
6. D Erdmann, SJ Kovach, RD Lawson. A modification of the ipsilateral reversed free fibula transfer for segmental femoral shaft defect reconstruction. Ann Plast Surg, Feb; 56(2):216-9, 2006.
7. Kovach SJ, Price JA, Shaw CM, Theodorakis NG, McKillop IH. Role of cyclic-AMP responsive element binding (CREB) proteins in cell proliferation in rat model of hepatocellular carcinoma. J Cell Physiol, 18;206(2):411-419, 2005.
8. Tan HP. Madeb R. Kovach SJ. Orloff M. Mieles L. Johnson LA. Bozorgzadeh A. Marcos A. Hypophosphatemia after 95 right-lobe living-donor hepatectomies for liver transplantation is not a significant source of morbidity. Transplantation. 76(7):1085-8, 2003 Oct 15.
9. Galaria II. Marcos A. Orloff M. Mieles L. Bozorgadeh A. Kovach S. Tan HP. Pulmonary actinomycosis in solid organ transplantation. Transplantation. 75(11):1914-5, 2003 Jun 15.
10. Koniaris LG. Schoeniger LO. Kovach S. Sitzmann JV. The quick, no-twist, no-kink portal confluence reconstruction. Journal of the American College of Surgeons. 196(3):490-4, 2003 Mar.
11. Price JA, Kovach SJ, Johnson T, Koniaris LG, Cahill PA, Sitzmann JV, McKillop IH. Insulin-like growth factor I is a comitogen for hepatocyte growth factor in a rat model of hepatocellular carcinoma.Hepatology 2002 Nov;36(5):1089-97
12. Sayeed S, Koniaris LG, Kovach SJ, Hirokawa T. Torsion of a wandering spleen. Surgery 2002 Sep;132(3):535-6.
13. Hendrickson RJ, Koniaris LG, Kovach SJ, Johnson JA. Gamma probe-confirmed laparoscopic accessory splenectomy. Surg Endosc 2002 Sep;16(9):1364
14. Kovach SJ, Hendrickson RJ, Cappadona CR, Schmidt CM, Groen K, Koniaris LG, Sitzmann JV. Cryoablation of unresectable pancreatic cancer. Surgery 2002 Apr;131(4):463-4.
15. Kovach SJ, Sitzmann JV, McKillop IH. Inhibition of alcohol dehydrogenase blocks enhanced Gi-protein expression following ethanol treatment in experimental hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2001 Oct;13(10):1209-16.

1. Stephen J. Kovach, and L. Scott Levin. “Treatment of Venous and Combined Ulcers with Free Tissue Transfer for Limb Salvage “ in Venous Ulcers, Elsevier, Ltd., editors: Cynthia Shortell, John Bergan, in press, 2007.

1. SJ Kovach, AC Fischer, PJ Katzman, R Salloum, SE Ettinghausen, LO Schoeniger, LG Koniaris. Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumors. Annals of Surgical Oncology. 11(2), supplement 120, 2004.
2. JA Price, SJ Kovach, JV Sitzmann, IH McKillop. Insulin-like growth factor-I stimulates proto-oncogene expression in experimental HCC. Hepatology, AASLD Proceedings, 34(4) 493A, 2001.
3. SJ Kovach, JA Price, NG Theodorakis, JV Sitzmann, and IH McKillop. Regulation of c-AMP responsive element binding protein (CREB) expression and activity in experimental hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Hepatology, AASLD Proceedings, 34(4) 262A, 2001.
4. SJ Kovach, IH McKillop, JV Sitzmann. Regulation of cyclic-AMP (cAMP) responsive elements (CRE's) in a rat model of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), American College of Surgeons Surgical Forum, Owen Wangenstein Surgical Forum, 2001.
5. SJ Kovach, RJ Hendrickson, CR Cappadona, CM Schmidt, K Groen, and JV Sitzmann. Safety and Efficacy of Intraoperative Ultrasound (IOUS) Guided Cryoablation for Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer. American Society of Clinical Oncology Proceedings, 2001.

1. American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery, Puerto Rico, 2006: SJ Kovach, A Baccarani: Efficacy of Ethyl Nitrite in Reversing Surgical Vasospasm.
2. North Carolina Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, Charleston, SC, 2005: SJ Kovach, GS Georgiade. The “Banked TRAM”: A method of insuring mastectomy skin flap survival.
3. SSO, New York, 2004: SJ Kovach, AC Fischer, PJ Katzman, R Salloum, SE Ettinghausen, LO Schoeniger, LG Koniaris. Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumors.

1. Gormley RH, Kovach SJ, Zhang PJ: Pencil core granuloma: An unusual role for trauma in inducing delayed foreign body reaction: A case report and review of the literature. Am Acad Dermatology, in press, 2010
2. Melvin J, Dombroski D, Torbert J, Esterhai J, Kovach SJ, Mehta S: Open fractures of the tibial shaft: Part II. J Am Acad Orthopedic Surg, in press, 2010
3. Melvin J, Dombroski D, Torbert J, Esterhai J, Kovach SJ, Mehta S: Open fractures of the tibial shaft: Part I. J Am Acad Orthopedic Surg in press, 2010
4. Jesse C. Selber, Meredith Bergley, Seema Sonnad, Stephen Kovach, Liza Wu, Joseph Serletti. Free Flap Reconstruction in Advanced Age: Is It Safe? Plas Recon Surg, 124(4), 1015-1022, 2009
5. Kovach SJ, Koger KE, Klitzmann B, Germann, G, Levin LS: Advantages of Minimally Invasive, Balloon Dissector Assisted Tissue Expander Placement: A Clinical and Experimental Study. Ann Plast Surg, 60(1), 89-97, 2008
6. Alessio Baccarani, MD, Koji Yasui, MD, Kevin C. Olbrich, PhD, Ahmed El-Sabbagh, MD, Stephen Kovach, MD, Keith E. Follmar, BA, Detlev Erdmann, MD, L. Scott Levin, MD, Jonathan S. Stamler, MD1, Bruce Klitzman, PhD, and Michael R. Zenn, MD: Efficacy of Ethyl Nitrite in Reversing Surgical Vasospasm. Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery. 23(5):257-62, 2007 Jul.
7. Kovach SJ, Georgiade GS. The “Banked” TRAM: A method for insuring mastectomy flap survival. Ann Plasc Surg. 57(4):366-9, 2006 Oct.
8. Scheufler O., Farhadi J., Kovach S.J., Kukies S., Pierer G., Levin L.S., Erdmann D.: Anatomical Basis and Clinical Application of the Infragluteal Perforator Flap. Plas Recon Surg. 118(6):1389-400, 2006 Nov..
9. SJ Kovach, AC Fischer, PJ Katzman, R Salloum, SE Ettinghausen, and LG Koniaris. Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors. J Surg Oncol. 2006 Sep 11;94(5):385-391
10. D Erdmann, SJ Kovach, RD Lawson. A modification of the ipsilateral reversed free fibula transfer for segmental femoral shaft defect reconstruction. Ann Plast Surg, Feb; 56(2):216-9, 2006.
11. Kovach SJ, Price JA, Shaw CM, Theodorakis NG, McKillop IH. Role of cyclic-AMP responsive element binding (CREB) proteins in cell proliferation in rat model of hepatocellular carcinoma. J Cell Physiol, 18;206(2):411-419, 2005.
12. Tan HP. Madeb R. Kovach SJ. Orloff M. Mieles L. Johnson LA. Bozorgzadeh A. Marcos A. Hypophosphatemia after 95 right-lobe living-donor hepatectomies for liver transplantation is not a significant source of morbidity. Transplantation. 76(7):1085-8, 2003 Oct 15.
13. Galaria II. Marcos A. Orloff M. Mieles L. Bozorgadeh A. Kovach S. Tan HP. Pulmonary actinomycosis in solid organ transplantation. Transplantation. 75(11):1914-5, 2003 Jun 15.
14. Koniaris LG. Schoeniger LO. Kovach S. Sitzmann JV. The quick, no-twist, no-kink portal confluence reconstruction. Journal of the American College of Surgeons. 196(3):490-4, 2003 Mar.
15. Price JA, Kovach SJ, Johnson T, Koniaris LG, Cahill PA, Sitzmann JV, McKillop IH. Insulin-like growth factor I is a comitogen for hepatocyte growth factor in a rat model of hepatocellular carcinoma.Hepatology 2002 Nov;36(5):1089-97
16. Sayeed S, Koniaris LG, Kovach SJ, Hirokawa T. Torsion of a wandering spleen. Surgery 2002 Sep;132(3):535-6
17. Hendrickson RJ, Koniaris LG, Kovach SJ, Johnson JA. Gamma probe-confirmed laparoscopic accessory splenectomy. Surg Endosc 2002 Sep;16(9):1364
18. Kovach SJ, Hendrickson RJ, Cappadona CR, Schmidt CM, Groen K, Koniaris LG, Sitzmann JV. Cryoablation of unresectable pancreatic cancer. Surgery 2002 Apr;131(4):463-4
19. Kovach SJ, Sitzmann JV, McKillop IH. Inhibition of alcohol dehydrogenase blocks enhanced Gi-protein expression following ethanol treatment in experimental hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2001 Oct;13(10):1209-16.

1. Stephen J. Kovach, and L. Scott Levin. “Treatment of Venous and Combined Ulcers with Free Tissue Transfer for Limb Salvage “ in Venous Ulcers, Elsevier, Ltd., editors: Cynthia Shortell, John Bergan. Publication date 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0-12-373565-2

1. Joshua Fosnot, John Fischer, James Smartt, Stephen Kovach, Liza Wu, Joseph Serletti. Preoperative Radiation Therapy and Vascular Complications in Autologous Breast Reconstruction, Academic Association, 2010
2. Theresa Y. Wang, Joseph M. Serletti, Sharon L. Kolasinski, David W. Low, Benjamin Chang, Stephen J. Kovach, Liza C. Wu. Connective Tissue Disorders: To Flap or Not to Flap?. Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgeons Program, 2009
3. Shareef Jandali, Stephen J. Kovach, Liza Wu, Stephen Vega, Joseph Serletti. 1000 Consecutive Venous Anastamoses Using the Microvascular Anastamotic Coupler in Breast Reconstruction. American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery Program, 166, 2009
4. SJ Kovach, AC Fischer, PJ Katzman, R Salloum, SE Ettinghausen, LO Schoeniger, LG Koniaris. Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumors. Annals of Surgical Oncology. 11(2), supplement 120, 2004
5. Stephen J Kovach, Richard J Hendrickson, Leonidas G Koniaris, and James V. Sitzmann. Does Venous Resection During Whipple Procedure Safely Increase Resectability Rates and Improve Outcomes? J Gastrointestinal Surg, Volume 7 (2), 2003, p. 294-5
6. JA Price, SJ Kovach, JV Sitzmann, IH McKillop. Insulin-like growth factor-I stimulates proto-oncogene expression in experimental HCC. Hepatology, AASLD Proceedings, 34(4) 493A, 2001.
7. SJ Kovach, JA Price, NG Theodorakis, JV Sitzmann, and IH McKillop. Regulation of c-AMP responsive element binding protein (CREB) expression and activity in experimental hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Hepatology, AASLD Proceedings, 34(4) 262A, 2001.
8. SJ Kovach, IH McKillop, JV Sitzmann. Regulation of cyclic-AMP (cAMP) responsive elements (CRE's) in a rat model of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), American College of Surgeons Surgical Forum, Owen Wangenstein Surgical
   Forum, 2001
9. SJ Kovach, RJ Hendrickson, CR Cappadona, CM Schmidt, K Groen, and JV Sitzmann. Safety and Efficacy of Intraoperative Ultrasound (IOUS) Guided Cryoablation for Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer. American Society of Clinical Oncology Proceedings, 2001.
10. SJ Kovach, IH McKillop, and JV Sitzmann: Ethanol metabolites enhance Gi-protein dependent mitogenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). American College of Surgeons Surgical Forum, Owen Wangenstein Surgical Forum, 2000
11. SJ Kovach, IH McKillop, and JV Sitzmann:. Inhibition of Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH) Blocks Enhanced Gi-Protein Expression Following Chronic Ethanol Exposure in Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Rats. American Association for Cancer Research Proceedings, Volume 41, 2000
12. R Gorti, SJ Kovach, E Roztocil, SS Okada, MG Davies. Urokinase (uPA) activation of an unique G-protein associated urokinase receptor (uPAR) induces smooth muscle cell proliferation. FASEB, 2000.

1. Kovach SJ, Georgiade GS. Skin banking closure technique in immediate autologous breast reconstruction [letter], Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 2008, 121(6), p. 2177-2178.
2. Reviewer for KCI study VAC2006-19 Diabetic Foot Amputation Wound

1. The American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery, Boca Raton, FL, 2010. Stephen J. Kovach, Complex Case Presentation: Lower Extremity
2. American Society of Plastic Surgery Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, 2009: SJ Kovach: The Clock is Ticking: When Should You Close the Lower Extremity Wound
3. Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Society Annual Meeting, Farmington, PA, 2009: SJ Kovach: Management of Complex Lower Extremity Trauma
4. American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery, Puerto Rico, 2006: SJ Kovach, A Baccarani: Efficacy of Ethyl Nitrite in Reversing Surgical Vasospasm
5. North Carolina Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, Charleston, SC, 2005: SJ Kovach, GS Georgiade. The “Banked TRAM”: A method of insuring mastectomy skin flap survival.
6. SSO, New York, 2004: SJ Kovach, AC Fischer, PJ Katzman, R Salloum, SE Ettinghausen, LO Schoeniger, LG Koniaris. Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumors.
7. AHPBA Miami, 2003; Stephen J Kovach, Richard J Hendrickson, Leonidas G
   Koniaris, James V Sitzmann: Does Venous Resection During Whipple Procedure Safely Increase Resectability Rates and Improve Outcomes?
8. The American Association for the Study of Liver Disease, Dallas, 2001; SJ Kovach, JA Price, NG Theodorakis, JV Sitzmann, and IH McKillop: Regulation of c-AMP responsive element binding protein (CREB) expression and activity in experimental hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
9. The American College of Surgeons, New Orleans, 2001; SJ Kovach, IH McKillop, JV Sitzmann; "Regulation of cyclic-AMP (cAMP) responsive elements (CRE's) in a rat model of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)", American College of Surgeons Surgical Forum, Owen Wangenstein Surgical Forum, 2001
10. The American College of Surgeons, Chicago, IL 2000; SJ Kovach, IH McKillop, JV Sitzmann; “Ethanol Metabolites Enhance Gi-protein Dependent Mitogenesis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma HCC
11. The American Association for Cancer Research, San Francisco, CA 2000; SJ Kovach, IH McKillop, and JV Sitzmann; “Inhibition of Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH) Blocks Enhanced Gi-protein expression Following Chronic Ethanol Exposure in Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Rats”.