Leadership

The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) is a community of health care professionals who are dedicated to advancing the understanding, prevention and treatment of disorders of the colon, rectum and anus. This mission could not be carried out without the dedication and commitment of the ASCRS Executive Council and committee members.

Executive Council

ASCRS Officers

Untitled-(150-×-150-px)-(5).pngPresident: Matthew G. Mutch, MD 
Dr. Matthew Mutch is the current Chief of the Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, MO.  He completed his colorectal surgery fellowship at Lahey Clinic. He currently serves on the ASCRS Executive Committee and Research Foundation Board of Trustees. Dr. Mutch is a board member of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and is an associate editor for Diseases of the Colon & Rectum.   
 

Untitled-(150-×-150-px)-(6).pngPresident-Elect: Sonia Ramamoorthy, MD 
Dr. Sonia Ramamoorthy is Chief of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery and Professor of Surgery at UC San Diego Health System. She completed her colorectal surgery fellowship at Washington University. She currently serves on the ASCRS Executive Committee, is Chair of the Credentials Committee and founding director of the ASCRS Leadership and Professional Development Program. Dr. Ramamoorthy is completing her MBA at the Radys School of Management at UCSD.   

 

8.pngPast President: Conor P. Delaney, MD, MCh, PhD 
Dr. Conor Delaney is CEO and President for the Cleveland Clinic Florida Region having previously served as Chairman of the Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. He completed his colorectal surgery fellowship at Cleveland Clinic. He currently serves on the ASCRS Executive Committee and Research Foundation Board of Trustees. Dr. Delaney has lectured and published extensively in colorectal surgery, and currently holds the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Distinguished Chair in Healthcare Innovation.


2.pngVice President: Najjia N. Mahmoud, MD 
Dr. Najjia Mahmoud is Chief of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her colorectal surgery fellowship at the University of Minnesota. She currently serves on the ASCRS Executive Committee and previously served on the Research Foundation Board of Trustees. Dr. Mahmoud is past President of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery.



Untitled-(150-×-150-px)-(10).pngSecretary: Charles M. Friel, MD
Dr. Charles Friel is Professor of Surgery, General Surgery Program Director, and Chief of the Section of Colorectal Surgery at the University of Virginia. A graduate of Harvard Medical School he did his general surgery training at the BI Deaconess Medical Center before completing his colorectal surgery fellowship at the University of Minnesota. He currently serves on the ASCRS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and the Membership Committee. Dr. Friel is also a member of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery. Dr. Friel previously served on the ASCRS Executive Council as a Member-at-Large from 2019-2022 in addition to being the former chair of the Self-Assessment Committee and the Committee on Committees. He also serves as Associate Editor for Diseases of the Colon & Rectum. 


1.pngTreasurer: Kirsten B. Wilkins, MD 
Dr. Wilkins went to medical school at Johns Hopkins University and completed her general surgery residency at Duke University. She has lived in New Jersey since completing her colon and rectal residency at Robert Wood Johnson in 2003. Since that time, she has been honored to train the colorectal residents of that same program. She currently serves as the Assistant Program Director and is head of Resident Research. She serves as the current President of the Eugene P. Salvati Alumni Society.  Besides running a very busy clinical practice and training the fellows, she has been very active in the New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania Societies of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. She is Past-President for both the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Societies. She has served on numerous committees of the American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS). She was the Program Chair for the ASCRS Annual Meeting in Los Angeles in 2016. She served as the Chair of the ASCRS Self-Assessment Committee. She is the current Treasurer for ASCRS. In addition, she is the Vice-Chair of the ASCRS Leadership Task Force and also serves as a Dean for ASCRS U. 


Untitled-(150-×-150-px)-(7).pngPresident, Research Foundation of the ASCRS: Elizabeth C. Wick, MD 
Dr. Elizabeth Wick is a professor of surgery, Vice Chair of Quality and Safety in the Department of Surgery, and Co-chair of the Department's Research Committee at University of California San Francisco. She completed her colorectal surgery fellowship at Cleveland Clinic. She is an ex-officio ASCRS Executive Council member and Research Foundation Board of Trustees President. Dr. Wick recently led an AHRQ-funded national collaborative to improve surgical safety and reduce surgical site infections in 250 hospitals across the US and abroad.  
  


Members-at-Large
2021-2024 

Untitled-(150-×-150-px)-(8).pngDebra H. Ford, MD is Associate Professor of Surgery, Head of the Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery and the Sr. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC.  In addition, she is the founding medical director of the Howard University Health Sciences Simulation and Clinical Skills Center (ACS AEI). She completed her colorectal surgery fellowship at the University of Texas Health Science Center. She currently serves on the ASCRS Credentials Committee and is Council representative to several ASCRS committees. Dr. Ford was recently inducted as a member of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Academy of Master Surgeon Educators.


7.pngJonathan A. Laryea, MD is a Professor of Surgery and the Nolie & Norma Mumey Endowed Chair in Surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). He is also the Chief of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery and the Vice Chair for Quality in the Department of Surgery. He is also the Medical Director of the Cancer Service Line at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at UAMS. He completed his colorectal surgery fellowship at Georgia Colon and Rectal Surgery Clinic in Atlanta. He is Vice Chair of the DEI Committee of ASCRS, and serves on the ASCRS Engagement Committee, Self-Assessment Committee and Program Committee. He is also Council representative for DEI, History and International Committees. 


3.pngScott R. Steele, MD, MBA serves as the Chair of Department of Colorectal Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH. He completed his colorectal surgery fellowship at the University of Minnesota. He serves on the ASCRS Inflammatory Bowel Disease Committee, Governance Committee, and is incoming Committee on Committees Chair, and Council representative to numerous ASCRS committees. Dr. Steele is Past President of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery and serves as a Co-Editor for Diseases of the Colon & Rectum. 



2022-2025 

9.pngGlenn Thomas Ault, MD, MSEd serves as the Physician Director of Graduate Medical Education and the Designated Institutional Official at Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California. He is also a Professor of Surgery (Educational Scholar). He completed his colorectal surgery fellowship at the University of Southern California. He currently serves on the ASCRS Continuing Education Committee and Governance Committee and is Council representative to several ASCRS committees. Dr. Ault is Past-President of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery and Chair of the CRS Review Committee at the ACGME.


4.pngJennifer S. Davids, MD is the Chief of Colon and Rectal Surgery in the Department of Surgery at Boston Medical Center. She completed her colorectal surgery fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, where she was in practice for a decade. The former Chair of the Young Surgeons Committee, Dr. Davids currently serves on the Clinical Practice Guideline Committee and is the Executive Council Representative to the Rectal Cancer Committee, Pelvic Floor Committee, and New Technology Committee.  In 2019, Dr. Davids was the recipient of the ASCRS Traveling Fellowship to the ACPGBI in Great Britain.  Dr. Davids is on the editorial board of Techniques in Coloproctology and Clinics in Colon & Rectal Surgery, and is an Associate Examiner for the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.


Untitled-(150-×-150-px)-(9).pngAlessandro Fichera, MD is the Vice Chair for Safety and Quality, Division Chief of Colorectal Surgery and the Surgery Safety and Quality Officer at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He completed his colorectal surgery fellowship at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York. He currently serves on the ASCRS Inflammatory Bowel Disease Committee and is the Executive Council representative to the ASCRS Video Based Education, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Quality and Safety committees. Dr. Fichera is the Section Editor of the Didactic Video Collections for Diseases of the Colon & Rectum.  

 


2023-2026 

6.pngKarim Alavi, MD, MPH is Associate Professor of Surgery in the Department of Surgery/Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and Program Director of the Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship at University of Massachusetts Medical School. He also serves as the Director of Research for the Department of Surgery. He completed his colorectal surgery fellowship at the University of Minnesota. He currently serves as Chair of the ASCRS Operative Resource and Competency Committee and Member/Incoming Advisor to the Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee. Dr. Alavi serves as Section Editor, Current Status Reviews, of Diseases of the Colon & Rectum.  


Sean-Langenfeld_rec-2023_outdated-per-Sean.jpgSean J. Langenfeld, MD is a Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He completed his colorectal surgery fellowship at the University of Texas in Houston. He currently serves as member of the ASCRS Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee and is the Section Editor of Selected Abstracts for Diseases of the Colon & Rectum.  




5.pngKelly M. Tyler, MD is Division Chief, Colorectal Surgery and Associate Professor of Surgery, at University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School - Baystate. She completed her colorectal surgery fellowship at Robert Wood Johnson/University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Brunswick, New Jersey. She currently serves as Chair of the ASCRS Healthcare Economics Committee and a member of the Rectal Cancer Committee, Quality and Safety Committee and Governance Committee. She also serves as the AMA RUC Advisor for the ASCRS.