SAGES 2023-2024 Official Ballot

The President and President-Elect will each serve a one-year term, from April 2, 2023 through April 1, 2024. The 1st and 2nd Vice Presidents will each serve a two-year term (the 2nd VP has one year left in her term). The Secretary and Treasurer each serve a three-year term (each candidate will begin their three-year terms following this vote).

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Patricia Sylla, MD
New York, NY
President

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

Current Hospital Title: System Chief, Colorectal Surgery Division, Mount Sinai Health System; Attending Surgeon, Department of Surgery, Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Dr. Sylla has served on SAGES Board since 2015 and previously Chaired SAGES Conflict of Interest Task Force and Colorectal Committee, and was the 2019 Annual Meeting Program Chair. She currently serves on the Alternative Funding Solutions Task Force, the Education and Technology Councils, the Awards, Research, Surgical Data Science and AI Committees. She won the SAGES IRCAD Fellowship Travel Award in 2008, SAGES Young Researcher award in 2013, and was the SAGES sponsored recipient of the SUS Leadership Agility Program in 2019. She previously served as Co-Chair of the NOSCAR Joint Committee with ASGE and subject editor for Surgical Endoscopy.

She received the Columbia University Department of Surgery Blakemore Award in 2005, and Blakemore Prize in 2006 and the SLS Young Educator Award in 2014. She served as Chair of the New Technology Committee for ASCRS and a member of the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC) Accreditation Committee. She also serves as Section Editor for the Disease of Colon and Rectum Online New Technology Section.

She is the System Chief of the Colorectal Division at the Mount Sinai Hospital Health System. .

Areas of Research and Publication: Minimally invasive surgery for rectal cancer (laparoscopic, robotic and transanal endoscopic) Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Diverticulitis, Transanal NOTES. She currently serves as the Lead PI for the North American Multicenter Phase II Study of Transanal TME for rectal cancer, sponsored by SAGES and the ASCRS Research Foundation. She was recently awarded an ASCRS grant to organize an international multi-society project on consensus on reporting and grading colorectal anastomotic leaks.

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Christopher Schlachta, MD
London, Ontario, Canada
President-Elect

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Professor of Surgery / Professor of Oncology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University

Current Hospital Title: Chief of Surgery, University Hospital Site, London Health Sciences Centre. Medical Director, CSTAR (Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics)

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Dr. Schlachta has been a member of SAGES since 1997, has served on SAGES Board since 2011, and the Executive since 2019. He is currently SAGES Treasurer. He currently chairs the SAGES Technology Council and the Finance Committee and serves as a member of the Artificial Intelligence Task Force and Education Council. He is a founding officer of SAGES Ingenuity Inc. He has served the SAGES program for years as a speaker and faculty instructor, but also as PG Course Chair for Building Surgical Entrepreneurism through Innovation and Investment (2022), The Surgical Entrepreneur: Innovation and Investment Strategies (2021), Current Common Dilemmas in Colorectal Surgery (2015), Equipping the Surgeon/Training the Jedi (2008). He also served as Chair of SAGES Technology Luncheon: Industry/Surgeon Partnerships in Promoting Surgical Innovation (2009), Technology into Meeting (2012), Ultimate SAGES (2013), Presidential Debates (2015), Telementoring – A new paradigm in surgical training (2016), Wild Cases presented in the Wild West (2017), Image is Everything: Near Infrared Fluorescence in Every OR? (2018), SAGES Shark Tank (2021, 2022), Co-Chair of Adopting Innovations in the OR: What Lies Beneath (2019), and Chair of SAGES Webinar: Returning to Operations after COVID-19 (2020). In 2010, he was program Co-Chair (CAGS) of the 12th World Congress of Endoscopic Surgery (Washington, DC), Chair of the SAGES Project 6 Summit (Los Angeles, 2015), Chair of the Next Big Thing Summit (Houston, 2020) and Chair of SAGES Innovation Weekend (Houston, 2021, 2022). He brought SAGES resident workshops to Canada, with 31 offerings (over 500 attendees) since 2008.

Dr. Schlachta is past president of the Canadian Association of General Surgeons (CAGS) and a past Governor of the American College of Surgeons. He is a past section editor for Surgical Endoscopy. He has served on multiple SAGES committees including Global Affairs, Open to MIS, Program, Research, Resident Education, Curriculum Task Force, Co-Chair of Education Resources and Chair of the Telementoring Taskforce force.

Areas of Research and Publication: Simulation training and health technology assessment of minimally invasive computer assisted surgery and technologies.

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Brent Matthews, MD
Charlotte, NC
1st Vice President

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Professor and Chair of Surgery, Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Current Hospital Title: Surgeon-in-Chief, Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC; Senior Academic Chair of the Atrium Health Medical Group Surgery Care Division

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Dr. Matthews has been a member of SAGES since 1998 and has served on SAGES Board since 2013. He is an active member of the Acute Care Surgery Task Force, Finance, Leadership and Professional Development Task Force (formerly We R SAGES) and RAFT Committees. He previously Chaired the Bylaws and RAFT Committees and was Co-Chair of the Program Committee. He received the SAGES Young Investigators Award in 2003 and the Inaugural SAGES Excellence in Medical Leadership Award in 2011. He has been the Principal Investigator or Co-investigator on 8 SAGES research grants.

Dr. Matthews is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Past President of the Americas Hernia Society, and a member of the American Surgical Association and Southern Surgical Association. He serves 1st Vice President on the Board of Directors for the Fellowship Council. In 2020, Dr. Matthews was elected as a Director of the General Surgery Board of the American Board of Surgery while also serving as Vice Chair of the Qualify Examination Committee. Recently, he co-led the creation of a IRCAD North America, a partnership with IRCAD headquartered in Strasbourg, France, to be in the Innovation District (The Pearl) in Charlotte, North Carolina. Dr. Matthews is co-founder and on the Board of Directors for Surgical Outreach for the Americas, a nonprofit organization that provides surgical services in developing countries of Central America. Surgical Outreach for the Americas has completed 19 brigades and performed more than 1,630 operations in partnership with Hospital Santo Hermano Pedro in Catacamas, Honduras, Hospital Maternidad La Divina Providencia in Santiago Texacuangos, El Salvador and ILAC in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.

Areas of Research and Publication: Dr. Matthews has received seven faculty teaching/mentoring awards. He has authored or co-authored 204 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 58 of these publications in Surgical Endoscopy, 399 scientific abstracts and 24 book chapters. His clinical and basic research has focused on biomaterial for abdominal wall reconstruction, connective tissue biologic response to hernia repair and clinical outcomes and quality improvements in hernia and emergency general surgery. Dr. Matthews has been funded by the National Institute of Health for the evaluation of photoacoustic imaging of Barrett’s esophagus.

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Dana Telem, MD, MPH
Ann Arbor, MI
2nd Vice President

Current Teaching/Academic Title:Lazar J. Greenfield Professor of Surgery

Current Hospital Title: Lazar J. Greenfield Professor of Surgery Section Chief, General Surgery Vice Chair, Quality and Safety, Department of Surgery Associate Professor of Surgery Department of Surgery University of Michigan

SAGES Professional Activities and Areas of Distinction: Dr. Telem serves has served the SAGES Executive since 2022 as the Second Vice President. Prior to that she served on the SAGES Board of Governors since 2016. She had the privilege of serving as the Program Chair for the 2021 SAGES meeting, previous Chair and Co-Chair of the Safe Cholecystectomy Task Force, and as the previous Chair and current member of the Diversity, Leadership and Professional Development Task Force (formerly We R SAGES). She is a member of the Education Council, Program and QOS Committees. She was the recipient of the SAGES Researcher in Training Award (2012), Career Development Award (2014), Young Researcher Award (2016) and Advocacy Summit (2017) Award. She has also has received funding through SAGES grants and has published her work extensively in Surgical Endoscopy and also serves as an Editor.

Areas of Research and Publication:Dana Telem, MD, MPH is the Lazar J Greenfield Professor and Chief of General Surgery at the University of Michigan. As Chief, she oversees 7 surgical divisions comprised of 44 surgeons and 109 staff. She is also the Vice Chair for Quality and Safety. Clinically, her practice is focused on advanced laparoscopy, including foregut, hernia, and bariatrics. Academically, she is PI on R01 funded work (NIH/NIDDK) that combines implementation science and policy to advance evidence-based practice across multi-hospital collaboratives. She has authored over 170 peer-reviewed publications. She is Associate Editor for 4 specialty journals: Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases, Surgical Endoscopy, American Journal of Surgery, and Hernia; and on the Annals of Surgery editorial board. She is the Second Vice President of SAGES, holds leadership positions across several professional societies and founded the Michigan Women’s Surgical Collaborative. She was elected to the American Surgical Association in 2022.

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Robert Lim, MD
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Retired, United States Army, Medical Corps
Treasurer

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Professor of Surgery, Oklahoma University School of Medicine Tulsa Vice Chair of Education

Current Hospital Title: Residency Program Director, Oklahoma University Physicians.

Professional Activities and Distinctions: Dr. Lim is currently an Executive Committee member of SAGES and the Chair of the Immunofluorescence Task Force. In response to the COVID crisis, he co-authored the SAGES primer on mechanical ventilation management and the SAGES repository for safe smoke evacuation, while also moderating and chairing a virtual conference on safe care of emergent patients during the COVID-19 crisis. He was Program Co-Chair for the World Congress of Endoscopic Surgery in 2018 and former Chair of the Acute Care Surgery and the Military Committees. He previously served as Program Chair for the SAGES-Society of Military Surgeons Military Surgical Symposium in 2014-2016. He was President of the ACS Excelsior Surgical Society in 2019-20 and co-Chaired several combined educational conferences on the subject of Acute Care Surgery with SSAT, EAST, AAST, ASMBS, and ASCRS. He is actively involved in committees and/or faculty for SAGES, ACS, ASMBS, SSAT, ASE, and the Oklahoma chapter of ACS. He represents SAGES on the Emergency General Surgery Task Force of ACS. He represents SSAT on the Fellowship Council. He also serves on the Executive Committee for the Society of Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgeons. He has served six Combat Duty tours and earned the Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit, 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). He won the SAGES Excellence in Clinical Care (Arnold P. Gold Foundation) Humanism award in 2015 and the SAGES Military Service Award in 2021. He serves as the Vice-President for the non-profit Global Surgical and Medical Support Group and traveled to L’viv, Ukraine days after the Russian invasion to assist their healthcare system with combat casualty care.

Areas of Research and Publication: Editor, Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Examination and Board Review textbook, published in 2022, Mc-Graw-Hill Publisher, Inc. Editor, General Surgery Examination and Board Review textbook, published 2017 and updated 2022, McGraw-Hill Publisher, Inc. Editor, Surgery during Combat, Natural Disasters, Terrorist Attacks, and Crisis Situations, Published 2016, Springer, Inc. Editor, Multidisciplinary Approaches to Common Surgical Problems textbook, published in 2019, Springer, Inc. Co-Editor, The SAGES Manual of Acute Care Surgery, published 2020, Springer, Inc. Editor, Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Board Review, expected publication 2022. Contributing author to SESAP 16, 17, and 18 Author, monograph, “Minimally Invasive Techniques in Acute Care Surgery” Current Problems in Surgery, Feb 2022, 59(2):101031. Author, monograph, “Benchmarking Best Practices in Weight Loss Surgery” Current Problems in Surgery, Feb 2010, 47(2):69-176. Author, monograph, “Minimally Invasive Techniques in Acute Care Surgery” Current Problems in Surgery, expected publication in winter 2022. Obesity Care, Bariatric Surgery, Simulation Training, Robotic Surgery, NOTES Surgery, Military and Combat Surgery, Patient Safety

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Adnan Alseidi, MD, EdM
San Francisco, CA
Board Member- Reappointment

CURRENT TEACHING/ACADEMIC TITLE: Vice Chair for Education, University of California, San Francisco

CURRENT HOSPITAL TITLE: HPB & Endocrine Surgery, University of California, San Francisco

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND DISTINCTIONS: Dr. Alseidi currently Chairs SAGES HPB Committee and serves as a member of the Education Council, Guidelines, Oncology, RPS and Program Committees. He co-chaired the SAGES 2021 Annual Meeting.

Dr. Alseidi attended medical school at Pennsylvania State University and completed his general surgery residency at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He then served as a general/trauma/thoracic surgeon in the US Navy and as Co-director of the Surgery Department at the US Naval Hospital in Okinawa, Japan. Dr. Alseidi completed a HPB and advanced GI fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis, MO and earned a master’s degree in surgical education at Southern Illinois

Dr. Alseidi is an attending surgeon on the HPB and Endocrine Surgery Service. Nationally, he serves in multiple leadership roles including President of The Fellowship Council, Immediate Past President of the Association for Surgical Education (ASE), and membership on multiple education and leadership committees within AHPBA and ACS.

AREAS OF RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION: Dr. Alseidi’s research interests include global assessment of psychomotor skills, linkages between surgical education and patient outcomes, complex MIS training, and surgical performance improvement. His clinical interests are in expanding surgical therapies for patients with locally advanced pancreas cancer, splenic preservation techniques, immunology studies, and minimally invasive HPB surgery.

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Michael M. Awad, MD, PhD
St. Louis, MO
Board Member- Reappointment

Current Teaching/Academic Title: Professor of Surgery, Section of Minimally Invasive Surgery; Director, Washington University Institute for Surgical Education (WISE), Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Current Hospital Title: Director of Robotic Surgery, Barnes-Jewish HealthCare

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND DISTINCTIONS: Dr. Awad is Chair of the Resident and Fellow Training (RAFT) Committee, Co-Chair of the Education Council Curriculum Committee, and serves on the Awards and Robotics Committees. He previously served on the FES and We R SAGES committees. He received the SAGES Career Development Award in 2011, the Young Researcher Award in 2014 and was SAGES rep to the Surgical Council on Resident Education (SCORE).

Dr. Awad’s academic interests are primarily in the fields of surgical and medical education, surgical ergonomics and laparoscopic, robotic and endoscopic foregut surgery. In surgical/medical education, he has focused on the reformation of surgical residency training in the United States and the transition from medical school to residency. At Washington University in St. Louis, he has served as the Program Director for the General Surgery Residency, Surgery Clerkship Director, and Associate Dean for Medical Student Education, and now serves as Director of the Washington University Institute for Surgical Education (WISE), WISE Education Fellowship Director and Director of Robotic Surgery at BJC HealthCare. Nationally he has held leadership positions in the American Board of Surgery (ABS), and the Association of Program Directors in Surgery (APDS). He is the current president-elect of the Association of Surgical Education (ASE).

AREAS OF RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION: Dr. Awad’s research interests have similarly focused on the development of online curriculum development tools; new paradigms in surgical training including OSATS, REACTS, ACES, and the Academy Model; and the ergonomics of operating using laparoscopic, robotic, endoscopic and open surgical platforms. Clinically, his research has focused on the advancement of minimally invasive approaches to benign diseases of the foregut including achalasia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hiatal hernias and gastroparesis. Notable accomplishments in this area include the first general surgery robotic surgery in the state of Missouri, the establishment of the POEM program (an incision-less, natural orifice technique for the treatment of achalasia), and the maintenance of the Enterra gastric neurostimulator program for the treatment of medically refractory gastroparesis. These educational, research and clinical efforts have been supported by over $5 million in grants from federal, society, and industry sources. He has been recognized for this work through invited presentations at the national and international levels, and through several publications and book chapters in these fields

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S. Scott Davis, Jr., MD
Atlanta, GA
Board Member- Reappointment

CURRENT TEACHING/ACADEMIC TITLE: Professor of Surgery, Director, Emory Endosurgery Unit; Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs, Department of Surgery

CURRENT HOSPITAL TITLE: Co-Medical Director, Emory Perioperative Services

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND DISTINCTIONS: Dr. Davis has been a SAGES member since 2004 and currently serves as Chair of the Publications Committee. He also serves on the Education Council and Communications committee. He is the 2019 Annual Meeting Poster Co-Chair, 2020 Annual Meeting Poster Chair, and previously served as Learning Center Chair.

Dr. Davis has several editorial roles for our society, serving as the Foregut Surgery Subject editor for Surgical Endoscopy. He is also a member of the Joint Journal Committee overseeing the editorial process for the journal. In other professional activities, Dr. Davis is Editor of Surgical Laparoscopy, Endoscopy, and Percutaneous Techniques, and serves on the Editorial Board for Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases.

Locally at Emory, he is the Director of the Emory Endosurgery Unit, the longest standing fellowship in Minimally Invasive Surgery, and is Co-Medical Director of Perioperative Services for Emory University Hospital, overseeing operations and strategy for the operating rooms and endoscopy suites. He also is Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs for the Department of Surgery.

AREAS OF RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION: Dr. Davis has over 70 published manuscripts and more video abstract presentations covering topics in hernia, foregut, and bariatric surgery. He was also co-Editor for the SAGES Manual of Hernia surgery, volume 2, published in 2018, including 49 chapters from international authors covering all modern hernia techniques and with over 28,000 downloads to date. He has been invited to be guest faculty for several surgical society programs and hands-on courses.

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Jacob A. Greenberg, MD, EdM
Durham, NC
Board Member- Reappointment

CURRENT TEACHING/ACADEMIC TITLE: Associate Professor of Surgery

CURRENT HOSPITAL TITLE: Chief, Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery Duke University Durham, NC

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND DISTINCTIONS: Dr. Greenberg currently Co-Chairs the Business and Technology arm of the Education Council, and also serves as the Co-Chair of the Resident and Fellow Training (RAFT) Committee. He previously served on the Publications Committee, the Hernia Task Force, and the Communications Committee, and has chaired several panel sessions for the SAGES annual meeting. He served as the Program Chair for the SAGES 2022 annual meeting in Denver, CO.

In other professional activities, Dr. Greenberg is a Governor for the Americas Hernia Society and a Member-at-Large for the Executive Board of the Abdominal Core Health Quality Collaborative. He is also the AHS representative to the Board of the Fellowship Council. He is actively involved in the Association for Program Directors in Surgery as well as the Association for Academic Surgery and the Society of University Surgeons.

AREAS OF RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION: Dr. Greenberg has authored 86 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and 18 book chapters. He has co-authored 61 abstracts/posters for presentation at national and international meetings. He has been an invited guest speaker at over 50 national and international meetings, including meetings in Europe as well as Australia. His publications have been in the areas of surgical education, minimal access surgery, benign foregut disease, and ventral and inguinal hernia repair.

Maria Altieri MD, MS
Philadelphia, PA
Board Member- New

CURRENT HOSPITAL TITLE: Section Chief of GI Surgery

CURRENT TEACHING/ACADEMIC TITLE: Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND DISTINCTIONS: Within SAGES, Dr. Altieri is currently serving as the SAGES Membership Committee Chair since 2020 and is serving on several committees including Research and Career Development, Artificial Intelligence Task Force, and Surgical Data Science Task force. She was the Co-Chair of the poster session for the program for SAGES 2021 and the Chair of the poster session for the program for SAGES 2022. She has participated in multiple other committees, task forces and sub-committees; among them: Alternative Funding, FUSE, Candidate member, WeRSAGES (currently the Diversity, Leadership and Professional Development Task Force). Dr. Altieri also served as the Candidate Member to the Board of Governors from 2018-2020.

AREAS OF RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION: Dr. Altieri has authored over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters, and peer- reviewed surgical videos. Her publications have been in the areas of minimally invasive and bariatric surgery, education, and access to care.

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Marylise Boutros, MD
Montreal, QC Canada
Board Member- New

CURRENT HOSPITAL TITLE: Colorectal Surgeon at Jewish General Hospital

CURRENT TEACHING/ACADEMIC TITLE: Associate Professor of Surgery at McGill University and the Program Director of the Colon & Rectal Surgery Residency at McGill

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND DISTINCTIONS: Within SAGES, Dr. Boutros is currently serving as the Program Co-Chair for the 2024 Annual Meeting in Cleveland, OH. She is the Co-Chair for the Colorectal Surgery Task Force, a sub-committee lead and member of the Research Committee, and a member of the Guidelines Committee. Dr. Boutros has previously been a member of the OpiVoid Taskforce (2019-2021). She made many contributions to SAGES through her committee work and annual participation in the scientific meeting for over 15 years. Dr. Boutros had a leading role in the first SAGES/EAES Diverticulitis consensus and is now leading the update of this guideline. Dr. Boutros is involved in the development of the Colorectal Masters Pathway. She is also currently leading a sub-task force to create a SAGES membership Research interest database. In other professional activities, Dr. Boutros is the Program Director for Colon & Rectal Surgery at McGill University and she is an active member on the McGill General Surgery Residency Program Committee for over 10 years. Dr. Boutros is a member of the ASCRS Guidelines committee, and has served on the video committee and self-assessment committee within ASCRS. She is the Research Chair for the Canadian Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (CSCRS), where she serves on the executive council, and is the Program Co-Chair for the Canadian Surgical Forum in 2024 and 2025. Dr. Boutros served on the Editorial Board of Surgical Endoscopy (2018-2022) and is on the editorial advisory board for Colorectal Disease (2020 to present). She is an active ad-hoc peer reviewer for over surgical journals. Dr. Boutros is a member of over 10 surgical societies including the American College of Surgeons and an expert panelist in multiple international consensus projects.

AREAS OF RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION: Dr. Boutros has authored over 123 original peer-review manuscripts, book chapters, and peer-reviewed surgical videos. She has also been author or co-author of over 263 peer-reviewed abstract/poster presentations at national and international meetings. She has been invited as Guest Speaker to over 50 national and international surgical meetings in North America, Asia and Europe. Dr Boutros leads a clinical outcomes research lab focused on recovery and functional outcomes after colorectal cancer surgery. As part of her research lab, Dr Boutros has supervised two PhD students, 11 MSc students, 14 Colorectal and General Surgery residents and 12 medical students. To date, she has held 4 prestigious research salary awards, including two provincial renewable research salary awards, and has been awarded 17 peer-reviewed operating grants from international and renowned surgical and cancer societies for her research program (>$1.2 million in total), including a CIHR Spring Project Grant in 2022 ($558,000).

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Kevin El-Hayek, MD, FACS
Cleveland, OH
Board Member- New

CURRENT TEACHING/ACADEMIC TITLE: Associate Professor of Surgery, Case Western Reserve University School (CWRU) of Medicine; Associate Professor of Surgery, Northeast Ohio University School of Medicine (NEOMED)

CURRENT HOSPITAL TITLE: Section Head, Endoscopic Surgery, Division of General Surgery Section Head, Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, The MetroHealth System

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND DISTINCTIONS: Dr. El-Hayek has been active with SAGES since he joined as a resident member in 2006. He joined the HPB/Solid Organ Committee in 2018 and was named co-chair in 2020. Dr. El-Hayek then joined the Communications Committee in 2020 and the Education Council in 2021. In these roles he guided the development of the pancreas master’s pathway and is a co-editor of the upcoming textbook, The SAGES Manual of Evolving Techniques in Pancreatic Surgery. He is also a founder and co-host of SAGES Stories—the official podcast of SAGES.

Outside of SAGES, Dr. El-Hayek is a member of over 10 surgical societies, and he served as the President of the Cleveland Surgical Society from 2021-2022. Dr. El-Hayek has a passion for education and is currently the third-year medical school clerkship director for both CWRU and NEOMED. He also works closely with the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) and GEANCO. Through these organizations, he travels regularly to Africa to provide free surgical care while training local surgeons and residents in both minimally invasive and HPB Surgery.

AREAS OF RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION: Dr. El-Hayek has authored over 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters and is the co-editor of 3 textbooks. He has also been author or co-author of over 130 peer-reviewed abstracts/poster/oral presentations at national meetings. Dr. El-Hayek is a peer-reviewer for over 10 surgical journals and serves on 2 editorial boards. In addition, he has been invited to multiple regional, national, and international surgical meetings as a visiting professor and hands-on course faculty and director.

Dr. El-Hayek’s research include diseases of the foregut, liver, pancreas, and biliary tract. He also performs clinical research on endoscopic, laparoscopic, and robotic surgery techniques.

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Matthew Kroh, MD,
Cleveland, Ohio
Board Member- New

CURRENT TEACHING/ACADEMIC TITLE:

Professor of Surgery, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine

CURRENT HOSPITAL TITLE: Vice Chair, Innovation and Technology, Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute; Division Chief, Foregut Surgery and Surgical Endoscopy, Department of General Surgery, Cleveland Clinic

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND DISTINCTIONS: Within SAGES, Dr. Kroh is currently serving as Chair of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Committee, a position held since 2018. He has previously served as Co-Chair of the Endoscopic Bariatric Surgery Task Force and he was core member of the group that created the BE-SAFE (Bariatric Endoscopy Skills Acquisition Focused Exam) didactic and hands-on curriculum, a co-sponsored program by SAGES and the ASMSBS. He also currently is a member of the Education Council and he actively serves on the Publications, Foregut, and Digital Surgery Committees.

In other professional activities, Dr. Kroh is the Vice Chair of Innovation and Technology in the Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute at Cleveland Clinic. He is the Division Chief of Foregut Surgery and Surgical Endoscopy in the Department of General Surgery, and Professor of Surgery in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. He most recently served as Chair, Digestive Disease Institute at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, developing clinical, operational, educational, and research programs in the United Arab Emirates. He has previously held the positions of the Program Director for the Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery and Flexible Surgical Endoscopy Fellowship at Cleveland Clinic, the Clerkship Director for Surgery in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, and the Surgical Director of both the Advanced Endoscopy Center and the Esophageal Center. He has also held the role of Director of the Center for Advanced Skills Training in the Cleveland Clinic Simulation Center. He is a member of multiple surgical societies, including the American Surgical Association.

AREAS OF RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION: Dr. Kroh has authored more than 130 peer-reviewed articles, 30 book chapters, and 5 textbooks. He has lectured widely, including more than 200 invited presentations and 100 labs and course directorships. He is a co-investigator on a NIH R01 research grant in addition to multiple competitive research grants. Dr. Kroh is committed to clinical excellence and patient-centered care, with a particular focus on surgical and endoscopic innovation. He is licensed by the State Medical Board of Ohio and board-certified by the American Board of Surgery. His clinical and research interests include surgical innovation, advanced laparoscopic surgery, bariatric surgery, gastrointestinal surgery, surgical endoscopy, endoluminal procedures, and robotic surgery.