SAGES 2018-2019 Official Ballot

Jeffrey M. Marks, MD
Cleveland, OH
President

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Professor, Director of Surgical Endoscopy, Program Director, Case General Surgery Residency, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Dr. Marks was appointed to the Board in 2001, is current Chair of SAGES Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery (FES) Committee and serves on the Conflict of Interest Task Force, Program and Flexible Endoscopy committees. He previously chaired the SAGES Resident Education and Flexible Endoscopy Committees. He has been a member of the SAGES Exec Committee since 2015 serving as secretary. He has chaired numerous courses at the annual meeting, and regional resident courses. He was Program Co-Chairman for the 2014 SAGES Annual Meeting held in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was President for the Cleveland Surgical Society in 2000 and Northeastern Ohio Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy from 2008-2010. He is the program director for the Case general surgery program and director of the GI Surgery/MIS Fellowship at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. In addition to running a complex clinical practice in minimally invasive surgery and advanced therapeutic endoscopy, Dr. Marks spearheads an active lab researching numerous endoscopic techniques and provides endoscopic training courses for surgeons, gastroenterologists, and allied health care. He serves on editorial boards for numerous medical journals, and leadership committees for many Surgical and GI organizations. In 2016 he was appointed the Jeffrey L. Ponsky, MD Professor of Surgical Education.

Aurora D. Pryor, MD
Stony Brook, NY
President-Elect

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Professor and Vice Chair of Surgery, Director of the Advanced GI/MIS/Bariatric fellowship, Stony Brook University

Current Hospital Title: Vice Chair of Surgery, Chief of Bariatric, Foregut and Advanced GI Surgery, Director of the Bariatric and Metabolic Weight Loss Center at Stony Brook, Director of the Advanced GI/MIS/Bariatric fellowship at Stony Brook

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Dr. Pryor has been a SAGES member since early in her residency. She is currently SAGES Treasurer and Finance Chair, serving in both of those roles since 2015. She chaired the Membership committee from 2013-2016. She was Co-Chair of the Research Committee in 2007 and then chaired that committee from 2008-2013. During her time on the Research Committee it expanded to the Research and Career Development Committee and now helps young researchers to foster their academic careers. In her role as Research and Career Development Chair, the SAGES Career Development seminars and Career development awards were initiated. She has also served on the Endomlumenal Taskforce, NOSCAR Research Committee, I3 Taskforce, Program Committee, and the Resident Education Committee. She has served as the meeting video co-chair, poster chair and as the meeting Program Chair in 2015. She has also served as the SAGES Representative to the Fellowship Council from 2010-2016 and now serves as the SAGES Representative to the GI Surgery Advisory Council for the American Board of Surgery.
In addition to her work at SAGES, Dr. Pryor has been actively involved in several other surgical societies. She served the ASMBS on the Program and Emerging Technology committees, both of which she eventually served on as chair. She served on the Executive Council of the ASMBS as a Council person at Large from 2014-2017. In that role, she provided oversight for Emerging Technologies, Membership, and the Obesity Prevention committees. She is also co-chair of the General and Foregut Surgery committee. She is also the NY ASMBS chapter Treasurer. She has been active in the Fellowship Council Board where she served as Secretary/Treasurer, Second Vice-President and is now First Vice President. She is an Associate Editor for Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases, Subject Editor for Bariatric Surgery for Surgical Endoscopy and serves on the editorial boards of Annals of Surgery and Bariatric Times.

Areas of Research and Publication: Dr. Pryor’s work has appeared in more than 100 publications, and she has co-edited four books. She has given more than 200 presentations worldwide, has received a number of research grants and holds patents for several surgical technologies. Her current research efforts focus on advancing laparoscopic bariatric and GI surgery techniques and outcomes, and on new technology in surgery. Her clinical care focuses on individualized treatment options of patients with gastroesophageal diseases, obesity and hernia. She offers a range of laparoscopic, endoscopic and traditional surgical approaches. She is actively engaged in several FDA trials and offers the latest available treatment options to her patients. She is very excited for this opportunity and looks forward to working with all of you to help keep SAGES the most innovative and exciting surgical society.

John D. Mellinger, MD
Springfield, IL
1st Vice President

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Professor and Chair of General Surgery; Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

Current Hospital Title: J. Roland Folse Endowed Chair in Surgery; Vice Chair, Department of Surgery; Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Current SAGES Board of Governors Member; current member of Curriculum Task Force, Educational Resources Committee, FES Committee, and Mentor/Co-chair Resident and Fellow Training Committee. Former Co-Chair FES Committee and Resident Education Committee. Former member Standards of Practice Committee, Flexible Endoscopy Committee, Ethics Committee, Hernia Task Force, and Fellowship Council Upper GI Task Force. Former SAGES liaison to Association of Program Directors in Surgery (APDS). Past president APDS. Director, American Board of Surgery (ABS), Chair of ABS General Surgery Residency Committee. Member American Surgical Association, Southern Surgical Association, Central Surgical Association, Association for Surgical Education, and American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. National teaching awards including Association for Surgical Education (ASE) Outstanding Teacher Award and Educator of the Year Award, Christian Medical and Dental Association; over 30 institutional teaching awards. Co Editor-in-Chief ACS Resources in Surgical Education. Past Chair ACS Flexible Endoscopy Postgraduate Course.

Areas of Research and Publication: Surgical education, surgical endoscopy including ERCP, minimally invasive surgery, international surgery.

Horacio J. Asbun, MD
Jacksonville, FL
2nd Vice President

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Professor of Surgery, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Chairman, General Surgery at Mayo Clinic Florida.

In other professional activities, Dr. Asbun is the Editor-in-Chief of the American College of Surgeons Multimedia Atlas of Surgery, he has served in the Executive Council of AHPBA and was the Chair of the AHPBA Development Committee. He has also chaired the Video-Based Education Committee of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Asbun is on the Editorial Board of Surgical Endoscopy and is an ad-hoc peer reviewer for several surgical journals. Dr. Asbun holds honorary membership of several international surgical associations. He is part of multiple international expert groups in Pancreas and Liver surgery. He is also a panel member of NCCN Pancreas Cancer guidelines group.

Areas of Research and Publication: Dr. Asbun has authored over 250 peer-review papers, book chapters, and surgical videos. He has also been author or co-author of over 170 peer-reviewed abstract/poster presentations at national meetings. He has been invited as Guest Speaker to multiple national surgical meetings and to over 140 international surgical meetings in Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, Central and South America.

His publications have been in the areas of minimal access surgery, hepatobiliary, pancreas and endocrine surgery, as well as basic science research in the field of surgical oncology. Currently, his basic science research is in the area of pancreatic cancer.

Liane S. Feldman, MD
Montreal, QC, Canada
Treasurer

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Professor of Surgery, McGill University

Current Hospital Title: Director, Division of General Surgery- McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and McGill University

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Dr. Feldman is Professor of Surgery and Director of the Division of General Surgery at McGill University. She holds the Steinberg-Bernstein Chair of Minimally Invasive Surgery and Innovation at the McGill University Health Centre and Co-chairs the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Clinical Pathways Program. She is Director of the McGill MIS Fellowship, McGill University Health Centre Research Institute Researcher, member of the Examination Board of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, and was the James IV Traveller for Canada (2010). She received the Canadian Association for Medical Education Junior award for distinguished contribution to medical education (2008). Currently, she is Chair of the SMART Enhanced Recovery Task Force, and is past co-chair of Fundamental Use of Surgical Energy and Quality, Outcomes and Safety committees, and is a member of the Guidelines committee.

Areas of Research and Publication: Surgical Care Pathways to improve quality of surgical care, measurement and improvement of patient-centered outcomes of surgical recovery, assessment of surgical performance, surgical simulation

Fredrick J. Brody, MD, MBA
Washington, DC
Secretary

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Professor of Surgery, Washington D.C. Veterans Administration Medical Center

Current Hospital Title: Chair of Surgery, Washington D.C. Veterans Administration Medical Center

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Dr. Brody has been a SAGES Board member since 2008 and currently serves as Secretary. Previously, he chaired the Membership, Communications and Development Committees. He was the Program Chair for the 2013 Annual SAGES Meeting in Baltimore, MD. He has also served as Chair of the Annual Meeting Video session, Learning Center and multiple Hands-on courses.

Areas of Research and Publication: Over 100 diverse peer reviewed publications regarding laparoscopic treatment of foregut, biliary, hernia, median arcuate ligament disease and solid organ disorders. He has been a member of the Fellowship Council since its inception and has trained 20 clinical Fellows in Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery.

Robert Lim, MD
United States Army, Medical Corps
Honolulu, HI
Re-Appointed Board Member

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Associate Professor of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Current Hospital Title: Chief of Metabolic and Advanced Laparoscopy, Tripler Army Medical Center

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Dr. Lim is currently Program Co-Chair for the World Congress of Endoscopic Surgery which SAGES is hosting in Seattle this April, and Chair of the Acute Care Surgery Committee. He previously served as Program Chair for the SAGES-Society of Military Surgeons Military Surgical Symposium in 2014, 2015 & 2016. He was Vice-President and President-elect of the ACS Excelsior Surgical Society, and co-chaired the recent GI Winter Course with SAGES, SSAT and AAST. He is actively involved in committees and/or faculty for SAGES, ACS, ASMBS, SSAT, ASE, and the Hawaii Bariatric Society. He has served six Combat Duty tours and earned the Bronze Star, Combat Medic Badge and Combat Action Badge, as well as the Military Alpha Designator, the military’s highest academic award. He is a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit (O2M3).

Areas of Research and Publication: Editor, General Surgery Examination and Board Review textbook, published 2017, McGraw-Hill Publisher, Inc. Editor, Surgery during Combat, Natural Disasters, Terrorist Attacks, and Crisis Situations, Springer, Inc. Obesity Care, Bariatric Surgery, Simulation Training, Robotic Surgery, NOTES Surgery, Military and Combat Surgery, Patient Safety

Patricia Sylla, MD
New York, NY
Re-Appointed Board Member

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Associate Professor of Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, NY;
Associate Director, Colorectal Surgery Fellowship Program

Current Hospital Title: Attending Surgeon, Department of Surgery, Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City, NY

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Blakemore Award (2005), Department of Surgery, Columbia University Medical Center
Blakemore Prize (2006), Department of Surgery, Columbia University Medical Center
1st Prize for Poster (2007), New York Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons
IRCAD Travel Fellowship Award (2007), SAGES
SAGES Young Researcher Award (2013), SAGES
SLS Young Educator Award (2014), SLS
Co-Chair, New Technology Committee, ASCRS (2017-present)
Chair Conflict of Interest Task Force, SAGES (2014-2017)
Chair, Colorectal Task Force (2017-present)
Member of We are Surgery Committee, SAGES
Member of Development committee, SAGES
Member of Research Committee, SSAT
Member of Research Foundation Research Committee, ASCRS

Areas of Research and Publication: Minimally invasive surgery for rectal cancer (laparoscopic, robotic and transanal endoscopic)
Transanal endoscopic surgery
Transanal NOTES

Robert D. Fanelli, MD
Sayre, PA
New Board Member

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Chair, Clinical Competency Committee and Core Faculty Member, Robert Packer Hospital / Guthrie Clinic Residency Program in General Surgery. Clinical Professor of Surgery, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Current Hospital Title: Chief, Minimally Invasive Surgery & Chief, Surgical Endoscopy; The Guthrie Clinic

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Dr. Fanelli has been a SAGES member since 1988, and has served on numerous SAGES Committees, including the Board of Governors, Guidelines (former Chair), Ethics, FES, Flexible Endoscopy, ERAS, Legislative Review, and TAVAC; he currently serves as co-chair of the Resident and Fellow Training Committee, as a member of the Flexible Endoscopy Committee, and as a member of the HPB Solid Organ Committee. He remains actively involved with the Safety in Cholecystectomy Project, which he helped launch under the guidance of then President L. Michael Brunt, MD. Dr. Fanelli is involved with EPA creation for the Fellowship Council and other organizations, and was the Program Chair for the SAGES 2016 Annual Meeting in Boston. He has been awarded SAGES Leadership Coins, and has received the SAGES Brandeis Scholarship Award. Dr. Fanelli has represented SAGES on joint projects with ASMBS, ASGE and ASCRS, and recently served as the SAGES liaison with the AGA in planning two consecutive GI Technology Summits held jointly by SAGES and the AGA. Dr. Fanelli currently serves as a Director for the American Board of Surgery, Inc., and is Chair of the ABS General Surgery Advisory Council, and a member of the ABS Gastrointestinal Surgery Advisory Council, the General Surgery Residency Committee, and the Certifying Examination Committee.

Areas of Research and Publication: Dr. Fanelli has contributed more than 8 book chapters, 180 publications and 140 presentations to date. Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines as drivers of efficient care. Flexible GI and biliary-pancreatic endoscopy in surgical practice. Improving efficiency through specialist integration. Problem-specific patient-focused care. Intraoperative endoscopy. Combined endoscopic-laparoscopic procedures for GI diseases.

Gretchen Purcell Jackson, MD
Nashville, TN
New Board Member

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Associate Professor of Surgery, Pediatrics, and Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; Acting Director of Graduate Studies in Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University

Current Hospital Title: Associate Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Gretchen Purcell Jackson was a candidate member of the SAGES Board of Governors from 2002-2004 and member of the Board from 2011-2017. She is currently Chair of the Development Committee, and previously chaired the Pediatric Liaison Group from 2010-2014. She has served as a member of the SAGES Program; Quality, Outcomes and Safety; Technology and Value Assessment; Fundamentals for the Use of Safe Energy; and Resident Education Committees. She has also served at the SAGES annual meetings as the Equipment Co-Czar (2010), Emerging Technology Session Co-Chair (2009), Poster Chair (2008), and Learning Center Chair (2007). Dr. Jackson has taught at various SAGES resident courses, and she volunteered in the Learning Center for nearly a decade. Dr. Jackson is a consumer health informatics researcher with work supported by a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and a T15 Biomedical Informatics Training grant supported by the National Library of Medicine. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the American Medical Informatics Association. Dr. Jackson is an elected Fellow of the International Society of Intelligent Biological Medicine and the American College of Medical Informatics.

Areas of Research and Publication: Surgical education, consumer-health informatics, patient and family information needs, patient portals, electronic publishing, surgical palliative care, and decision models.

Leena Khaitan, MD
Cleveland, OH
New Board Member

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Associate Professor of Surgery, University Hospitals, Cleveland, Ohio; Fellowship Director, MIS/Bariatrics, University Hospitals, Cleveland Ohio

Current Hospital Title: Associate Professor of Surgery, University Hospitals, Cleveland, Ohio

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Leena Khaitan was a candidate member of the SAGES Board of Governors from 2001-2004 and member of the Board from 2012-2016. She served as Chair of the Resident Education Committee from 2009-2012 and is currently Chair of the newly formed Foregut Task Force. She has served as a member of several committees including the Grant Review Committee, Membership Committee, Outcomes Committee, Research Committee, Publications Committee, Communications Committee, Guidelines Committee, FUSE Task Force, Flexible Endoscopy Committee, Bariatric Endoscopy Task Force, and Program Committee. She currently serves as the SAGES liason to the Bariatric Endoscopy committee for ASMBS. Dr. Khaitan has chaired and participated in numerous resident courses and fellow courses for the last 20 years. She has also served at the SAGES annual meetings as Hands on Equipment Czarina (2012) and as chair or cochair for several sessions in the topics of endoscopy, bariatric and foregut diseases. She has also helped to run several of the Hands on Courses and is Chairing the Bariatric Hands On Course at the 2018 Annual Meeting. Dr. Khaitan is Director of the Bariatric and Metabolic Nutrition Center at University Hospitals and Director of the Center for Esophageal and Swallowing Disorders. She serves on the Video Executive Committee for the American College of Surgeons. In 2006, Dr. Khaitan received the coveted Young Researcher Award from SAGES.

Areas of Research and Publication: New technologies in GERD, Management of GERD, Esophageal motility disorders, Clinical research in bariatric surgery, Outcomes in bariatric surgery

John H. Marks, MD
Philadelphia, PA
New Board Member

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Director of Minimally Invasive Colorectal Surgery and Rectal Cancer, Management Fellowship, Lankenau Medical Center, Main Line Healthcare; Professor, Lankenau Institute of Medical Research

Current Hospital Title: Chief of Colorectal Surgery, Lankenau Medical Center, Main Line Healthcare

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Dr. Marks is Chair of the World Congress of Endoscopic Surgery, which SAGES will host in Seattle this April. He currently serves on the Curriculum Task Force, Development Committee, and Program Committee, and was previous Co-Chair of Membership & Development. He is SAGES representative to IFSES, and active in ASCRS.

Areas of Research and Publication: Minimally Invasive Colorectal Surgery
Surgical Management of Rectal Cancer
Treatment of Rectal Cancer
Transanal Endoscopic Microsurgery
Transanal Total Mesorectal Excision
Robotic Minimally Invasive Colorectal Surgery
Natural Orifice Specimen Extraction
Surgical Management of Benign Disease
Minimally Invasive Sphincter Preservation for Rectal Cancer

Carla M. Pugh, MD
Madison, WI
New Board Member

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Susan Behrens Professor of Surgery – University of Wisconsin, (As of March 1, 2018 – Professor of Surgery with Tenure – Stanford University)

Current Hospital Title: Director of Clinical Simulation – University of Wisconsin, (As of March 1, 2018 – Director of the Technology Enabled Clinical Improvement Center – Stanford University)

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Dr. Pugh previously served as Co-Chair of SAGES Hernia Task Force, and is a current member of Development Committee and Alternative Funding Solutions Task Force. She is current Secretary of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons.

Areas of Research and Publication: Use of Sensors and Motion Tracking Technology to Measure Clinical Skills
Use of Cognitive Task Analysis Techniques to Explore Intra-Operative Decision Making and Errors
Surgical Data Science.

Donald J. Selzer, MD
Indianapolis, IN
New Board Member

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Dr. Selzer is the Willis D. Gatch Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Division of General Surgery at Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana. In addition, Dr. Selzer is the Program Director of the IU Health North Advanced Gastrointestinal and Bariatric Surgery Fellowship.

Current Hospital Title: Dr. Selzer maintains leadership roles at both facilities in which he performs the bulk of his general and bariatric surgical procedures. At the IU Health University Hospital, he is Chief of the Surgery Section. At IU Health North Hospital, he is Chair of the Surgery Section Peer Review Committee and President-Elect of the Medical Staff.

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Dr. Selzer chaired SAGES Advocacy & Health Policy Committee for several years, was SAGES rep to the AMA CPT committee, and is currently SAGES rep to the AMA RUC committee. In addition to Advocacy, he serves on SAGES Continuing Education and Program Committees, and was instrumental serving as editor for several CME activities within SAGES University.

Areas of Research and Publication: Dr. Selzer’s area of clinical research focus is complex incisional hernia repair, diseases of the foregut, and surgical treatment for obesity. In addition, Dr. Selzer has significant interest in political advocacy, health policy, and regulatory aspects of surgical practice.

Dana A. Telem, MD
Ann Arbor, MI
New Board Member

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Associate Professor of Surgery, University of Michigan

Current Hospital Title: Associate Chair for Clinical Affairs, Director, Comprehensive Hernia Program, University of Michigan

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Dr. Telem serves as Chair of the We R SAGES (Diversity/inclusion) Task Force, and as a member on the HPB/Solid Organ, i3 and QOS Committees. She was the recipient of the SAGES Researcher in Training (2012), Career Development (2014), Young Researcher (2016) and Advocacy Summit (2017) Awards.

Areas of Research and Publication: Health services research with a focus in the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based surgical practice

David R. Urbach, MD
Toronto, ON, Canada
New Board Member

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Professor of Surgery and Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto

Current Hospital Title: Surgeon-in-Chief and Medical Director, Perioperative Services, Women’s College Hospital

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Dr. Urbach served previously as Chair of SAGES Research & Career Development Committee and Delphi Task Force, and currently serves on the Awards, Communications, Flexible Endoscopy & Research Committees. He also serves as President of CAGS.

Areas of Research and Publication: Surgical Outcomes Research, Health Services Research, Health Policy, Health Technology Assessment. Dr. Urbach is an internationally recognized scientist whose research on the evaluation of surgical procedures and quality of care has influenced research and clinical care around the world. Dr. Urbach’s current research program focuses on the cost, quality, and sustainability of surgical care. His clinical focus is bariatric surgery, foregut surgery and adrenal surgery.

Changes are in bold

ARTICLE IV. Meetings Section 1. Annual Meeting

The Members of the Society shall meet for the purpose of conducting matters of business at least once annually. The members shall have the option of attending the annual business meeting either in person or virtually. The time and place thereof shall be determined by the Board, and notice shall be mailed to every Member at least 30 days prior to such meeting. The notice shall contain an agenda and any member wishing to ask questions or raise any issues at the annual business meeting are required to provide those in writing to the Society no later than seven days before the scheduled annual business meeting. In conjunction with the annual business meeting, there will be, on most occasions, an annual scientific session.

ARTICLE VI. Committees

Section 1. Standing committees shall be selected by the President and may include the following: Advocacy and Health Policy Committee, Awards Committee, Bylaws Committee, Communications Committee, Conflict of Interest Committee, Continuing Education Committee, Development Committee, Educational Resources Committee, Ethics Committee, Finance and Assets Management Committee, Flexible Endoscopy Committee, Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery (FES) Committee, Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) Committee, Fundamental Use of Surgical Energy (FUSE) Committee, Global Affairs Committee, Guidelines Committee, Liaison Committee, Liaison Groups, Membership Committee, Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Committee, Nominating Committee, Pediatric Committee, Program Committee, Publications Committee, Quality Outcomes Safety Committee, Research and Career Development Committee, Resident and Fellow Training Committee, Robotics Committee and Technology and Value Assessment Committee (TAVAC). The Executive Committee is a standing committee whose composition is described in Article XV, Section 4.

Article XIII (Membership) Section 10.

Medical Student Members (United States and Canada)
The requirements for Medical Student membership status shall be:

1. Proof of enrollment in an accredited medical school acceptable to SAGES.
2. A letter of sponsorship from a current SAGES member.

Medical Students will pay dues fee as set by the Board of Governors. Medical Student members in good standing, upon graduation from medical school, and at the beginning of residency or fellowship program (whichever comes first), shall automatically be inducted to Candidate membership upon providing evidence satisfactory to the Society. Medical Student status may continue for up to three years following completion of medical school or until acceptance in a residency program, whichever is first.