Dr. Ron Weigel Is Named New ACS Cancer Medical Director

Renowned surgical oncologist, researcher, leader, and strategist Ronald J. Weigel, MD, PhD, MBA, FACS, is the new Medical Director for ACS Cancer Programs. He succeeds Heidi Nelson, MD, FACS, who retired in August after serving admirably for 5 years in that position.

Dr. Weigel is the E. A. Crowell Jr. Professor and chair of the Department of Surgery with the University of Iowa Health Care in Iowa City. He also is a prolific researcher whose lab has focused on determining the mechanisms of hormone response in breast cancer, as well as identifying transcriptional mechanisms regulating patterns of gene expression in breast and colon cancer. This work led to Dr. Weigel pioneering expression analysis techniques, helped prompt his 2018 election into the National Academy of Medicine, and makes him eminently qualified to the seven ACS Cancer Programs and drive forward the mission to improve the care of the cancer patient.

After earning his bachelor and master of science degrees in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Dr. Weigel received his medical degree and doctoral degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Following surgical training at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, he worked at Stanford University in California, Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and now the University of Iowa. While in Philadelphia, Dr. Weigel obtained his master of business administration degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

An ACS Fellow since 1995, Dr. Weigel has held several leadership positions within the College. They include Chair of the ACS Board of Governors (2019–2021) and President of the ACS Iowa Chapter (2011–2014). He also served on the Emerging Surgical Technology & Education Committee, Finance Committee, and Bylaws Committee.

You can read more about Dr. Weigel from a 2021 “Profiles in ACS Leadership” article published in the Bulletin in his final year as Chair of the Board of Governors.