Member News March 2024

Higgins Returns to RUSH University as President

Robert S. D. Higgins, MD, MSHA, FACS, will serve as president and chief academic officer at RUSH University and chief academic officer and senior vice president at RUSH University System for Health in Chicago, Illinois. Most recently, Dr. Higgins—a heart and lung transplant surgeon—was president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and executive vice president at Mass General Brigham in Boston, Massachusetts. From 2003 to 2010, he served as the Mary and John Bent Professor and chair of the Department of Cardiovascular-Thoracic Surgery at RUSH.

Humphries Is Elected President of VESS

Vascular surgeon Misty D. Humphries, MD, FACS, has been elected president of the Vascular & Endovascular Surgery Society (VESS). She is an associate professor in the Department of Surgery and interim chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery at the University of California (UC) Davis Health in Sacramento, as well as interim director of the UC Davis Vascular Center and UC Davis Advanced Wound Care Center.

Hameed Joins Stanford Surgery as Trauma Chief

S. Morad Hameed, MD, MPH, FACS, FRCSC, is the new chief of trauma and critical care surgery at Stanford Surgery in California. Dr. Hameed previously was chief of the Division of General Surgery at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

Romano Leads The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Jennifer C. Romano, MD, MS, was elected president of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Dr. Romano is a congenital heart surgeon at the University of Michigan Health C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital and service chief of the Section of Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor.

Griffith Is Vice Chair for Innovation in Maryland

Heart and lung transplant surgeon Bartley P. Griffith, MD, has been appointed the first vice chair for innovation in the Department of Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) in Baltimore. In this role, Dr. Griffith will expand the integration of related sciences into surgical practice. He also serves as the director of the Cardiac and Lung Transplant Programs and the Thomas E. and Alice Marie Hales Distinguished Professor of Transplant Surgery at UMSOM.

Raval Takes Pediatric Surgery Reins at Lurie’s

Mehul V. Raval, MD, MS, FACS, is the division head of pediatric surgery and holds the Orvar Swenson Founders’ Board Chair in Pediatric Surgery at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago in Illinois. He also is the vice chair of quality and safety in the Department of Surgery at Lurie’s and a professor of pediatric surgery and pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois.

Wren Is Honored with VA Presidential Citation

Sherry M. Wren, MD, FACS, is the recipient of a Presidential Citation from the Association of VA Surgeons. This honor is in special recognition for her dedication to championing care for traditionally underserved populations and for her outstanding contributions to furthering the well-being of US veterans. Dr. Wren has served as chief of general surgery at the VA Palo Alto Health Care in California since 1997. She also is the ACS Secretary.

Pugh Receives Trailblazer Award

Carla M. Pugh, MD, PhD, was awarded the 2023 Society of University Surgeons Trailblazer Award. The award recognizes individuals who have developed a new area of academic pursuit or opened new avenues of investigation or academic thought that have the potential to be groundbreaking for years to come. A general surgeon, Dr. Pugh is the director of the Technology Enabled Clinical Improvement Center and the Thomas Krummel Professor of Surgery at Stanford Medicine in California.