Research/Areas of Interest
Clinical Veterinary Soft Tissue Surgery
Cardiothoracic Surgery & Physiology
Ischemia tolerance: Ischemic metabolism
Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus Syndrome
Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome
Biography
Dr. Raymond Kudej is a board-certified small animal surgeon and instructor at the Cummings School, with special interests in nasal, reconstructive, thoracic and gastrointestinal surgery.
As a child growing up on a farm in north central Iowa, Dr. Kudej (pronounced KOO-gee) was always around animals and developed an interest in veterinary medicine at a very young age. He pursued a veterinary degree, PhD and surgical residency at Iowa State University before undertaking post-doctoral studies at Harvard Medical School, where he met his wife. He was an assistant professor at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, PA, prior to coming to Tufts in 2000.
In addition to his clinical and teaching duties, Dr. Kudej is also a cardiovascular researcher with special interests in ischemia tolerance and associated metabolic mechanisms. Prior to becoming an American Heart Association fellow in 2001, he was honored with the prestigious association's Young (1998) and New Investigator (1999) Awards. He was given the Tufts Pfizer Research Award by the Cummings School in 2005, and was the school's invited speaker at the V'07 & V'13 Graduation and V'08 & V'18 White Coat Ceremonies. Dr. Kudej was recently a guest on the CBS daytime television series, "The Drs.", for his innovative corrective surgery for a dog suffering from muscular dystrophy-associated macroglossia.
Dr. Kudej teaches small animal surgery to second- and third-year students and helps to oversee their experience in the spay lab. He directs the surgery residency program at the Cummings School and frequently gives pathophysiology lectures to the residents and interns. What I like most about teaching is interacting with the students. They are all very impressive individuals, he says. I enjoy teaching in the clinics the most, where the students are "putting everything together and getting a chance to perform". "I enjoy meeting the clients and watching the students develop their skills and confidence."
One of Dr. Kudej's recent (Nov, 2024) memorable cases was "Penny", an 8-year-old mixed breed dog with a large, right adrenal tumor that had grown into the nearby vena cava and up into the chest. The surgery required both a thoracic and abdominal approach to remove the mass from the blood vessel. Penny recovered rapidly from the procedure and was ready to home the next day. "Intravascular mass removal surgeries are technically difficult and require a well-coordinated team effort", said Dr. Kudej. "We have had over a 95% success rate with intracaval invasive adrenal masses with our new team over the last 3 years, and will soon have over 10 successful in a row."
Dr. Kudej lives with his wife, Amy (a biomedical engineer) and their two girls (Ellie and Emma) in nearby Westborough, MA. The family has two pet dachshunds (Cocoa and Elton) and a miniature aussiedoodle (Dori). Dr. Kudej enjoys history, restoring his 1886 Victorian home and is a member of the Westborough Historical Society. He loves spending time with his family and friends, working out, hiking and reading.
As a child growing up on a farm in north central Iowa, Dr. Kudej (pronounced KOO-gee) was always around animals and developed an interest in veterinary medicine at a very young age. He pursued a veterinary degree, PhD and surgical residency at Iowa State University before undertaking post-doctoral studies at Harvard Medical School, where he met his wife. He was an assistant professor at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, PA, prior to coming to Tufts in 2000.
In addition to his clinical and teaching duties, Dr. Kudej is also a cardiovascular researcher with special interests in ischemia tolerance and associated metabolic mechanisms. Prior to becoming an American Heart Association fellow in 2001, he was honored with the prestigious association's Young (1998) and New Investigator (1999) Awards. He was given the Tufts Pfizer Research Award by the Cummings School in 2005, and was the school's invited speaker at the V'07 & V'13 Graduation and V'08 & V'18 White Coat Ceremonies. Dr. Kudej was recently a guest on the CBS daytime television series, "The Drs.", for his innovative corrective surgery for a dog suffering from muscular dystrophy-associated macroglossia.
Dr. Kudej teaches small animal surgery to second- and third-year students and helps to oversee their experience in the spay lab. He directs the surgery residency program at the Cummings School and frequently gives pathophysiology lectures to the residents and interns. What I like most about teaching is interacting with the students. They are all very impressive individuals, he says. I enjoy teaching in the clinics the most, where the students are "putting everything together and getting a chance to perform". "I enjoy meeting the clients and watching the students develop their skills and confidence."
One of Dr. Kudej's recent (Nov, 2024) memorable cases was "Penny", an 8-year-old mixed breed dog with a large, right adrenal tumor that had grown into the nearby vena cava and up into the chest. The surgery required both a thoracic and abdominal approach to remove the mass from the blood vessel. Penny recovered rapidly from the procedure and was ready to home the next day. "Intravascular mass removal surgeries are technically difficult and require a well-coordinated team effort", said Dr. Kudej. "We have had over a 95% success rate with intracaval invasive adrenal masses with our new team over the last 3 years, and will soon have over 10 successful in a row."
Dr. Kudej lives with his wife, Amy (a biomedical engineer) and their two girls (Ellie and Emma) in nearby Westborough, MA. The family has two pet dachshunds (Cocoa and Elton) and a miniature aussiedoodle (Dori). Dr. Kudej enjoys history, restoring his 1886 Victorian home and is a member of the Westborough Historical Society. He loves spending time with his family and friends, working out, hiking and reading.