News Items

The AMA House of Delegates (HOD) is the legislative and policy-making body of the AMA and includes State medical associations, national medical specialty societies, national societies, AMA sections, professional interest medical associations and federal services.
 
The American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) holds 2 delegate and 2 alternate delegate seats in the House of Delegates (HOD) of the American Medical Association (AMA) and is currently seeking applicants for the alternate delegate positions.
 
The ASCRS HOD seat(s) sits within the Section Council of Digestive Disease which includes delegates from ASCRS, SAGES, and other GI/Medical organizations who are “subject experts.”
 
The delegates and alternate delegates each serve a 3 year term, and the alternate delegate is expected to become the delegate after serving in the alternate role for 3 years (a total 6 year commitment).
 
The delegates and alternate delegates are expected to attend and participate in the Annual Meeting of the HOD which takes place in June each year in Chicago, and the Interim meeting of the AMA HOD which takes place in November of every year at varying locations throughout the U.S. Travel and lodging are sponsored by ASCRS. At times, additional ad-hoc meetings may be called on an as-needed basis.
 
Additional responsibilities include a review of motions/proposals brought to the Section Council and the House of Delegates in preparation for the meetings. Participation in the Surgical Caucus held by the American College of Surgeons is also expected, although this is not a formal section of the AMA HOD. The delegates and alternate delegates will represent the interests of the ASCRS as a member to the AMA House of Delegates. They will also serve as members of the ASCRS Healthcare Economics Committee and will report periodically to that Committee with updates from the HOD that are pertinent to the ASCRS.
 
Delegate roles & responsibilities
 
The delegate role
Members of the AMA House of Delegates (HOD) serve as an important communications, policy and membership link between the AMA and grassroots physicians. The delegates and alternate delegates are a key source of information on activities, programs and policies of the AMA. The delegates and alternate delegates are also a direct contact for the individual member to communicate with and contribute to the formulation of AMA policy positions, the identification of situations that might be addressed through policy implementation efforts and the implementation of AMA policies.
 
Delegates and alternate delegates to the AMA are expected to foster a positive and useful two-way relationship between grassroots physicians and the AMA leadership.
 
To fulfill these roles, AMA delegates and alternate delegates are expected to make themselves readily accessible to individual members by providing the AMA with their addresses, telephone numbers and email so that the AMA can make the information accessible to individual members through the AMA website and through other communication mechanisms.
 
Qualifications to be a delegate

• Be an AMA member
• Elected or selected by the principal governing body or the membership of the sponsoring organization
• At least 1 member of each delegation is encouraged to be involved in the governance of their sponsoring organization

 
Delegate responsibilities

• Regularly communicate AMA policy, information, activities and programs to constituents so the delegate will be recognized as the representative of the AMA.
• Relate constituent views and suggestions, particularly those related to the implementation of AMA policy positions, to the appropriate AMA leadership, governing body or executive staff.
• Advocate constituent views within the HOD or other governance unit, including the executive staff.
• Attend and report highlights of HOD meetings to constituents, for example, at hospital medical staff, county, state and specialty society meetings.
• Serve as an advocate for patients to improve the health of the public and the health care system.
• Cultivate promising leaders for all levels of organized medicine and help them gain leadership positions.
• Actively recruit new AMA members and help retain current members.
• Participate in the AMA Membership Outreach Program.

 
To Apply:
Send your cover letter and CV to the selection committee at [email protected] and include “AMA Delegate” in the subject line.
 
To learn more about the AMA House of Delegates please visit the HOD website at:
https://www.ama-assn.org/house-delegates
https://www.ama-assn.org/house-delegates/hod-organization/delegate-roles-responsibilities
 

Becoming a Fellow or International Fellow of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons is a rigorous process befitting the remarkable achievements of this highest class of membership. ASCRS Fellows enjoy the right to vote, hold office, serve on any committee of the Society, attend and appear on scientific programs and participate in discussions of scientific papers. Fellows are alternatively known as  “voting members” of ASCRS. Each year the current voting members are asked to give formal approval to applicants for Fellow and International Fellow membership in ASCRS, who have met the rigorous requirements.
 
The following members have been found qualified for consideration for ASCRS Fellow member status:

Fellow
Nechol Allen, MD
Armit Argawal, MD
Jed Froilan Calata, MD
Arielle Dubose, MD
Garrett Friedman, MD
Daniel Galante, MD
Emily Huang, MD
Rakesh Hedge, MD
Mohummed R. Khani, MD
Ramesh Kumar, MD
Kevin Carl Long, MD
William Main, MD
Peter Miller, MD
Justin Monroe, MD
Ashlee N. Ruggles, MD
Rachel Sabo, MD
Vlad Simianu, MD MPH
Irlna Ingrid Tantchou, MD
Zachary Torgensen, MD
Avery Walker, MD

International Fellow
Vladimir Bolshinsky, MD
Argyrios L. Ioannidis, MD, PhD
Nikolaos Zampitis, MD
Mirzafaraz Saeed, MD

Draft as of 3/28/2022


The ASCRS Annual Business Meeting and State of the Society Address will take place Tuesday, May 3 at 1:30 PM EDT

^*NOTE: Subject to approval by the Executive Council at their meeting, the member applicants above will be added to the list of Fellows for official approval during the 2022 Annual Business Meeting.

Each year the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) recognizes up to six (6) Honorary Fellows. Honorary Fellowship is designed to honor individuals, regardless of specialty, recognizing outstanding achievements and contributions made to fields related to Colon and Rectal Surgery. Nominees for Honorary Fellow should have significantly contributed to peer-reviewed literature and/or introduced, fostered and/or advanced innovation and/or education in the specialty of colorectal surgery; demonstrated significant and/or sustained leadership within their national or regional society; developed and promulgated significant clinical and/or research and/or technological advances in the field of colon and rectal surgery.

The ASCRS Nominating Committee submits the following slate of 2022 Honorary Fellows for election at the Society's Annual Business Meeting.

Professor Susan Clark

• Adjunct Professor of Surgery Imperial College, London. Consultant Surgeon St. Mark’s Hospital
• Director of St. Mark’s Hospital Polyposis Registry. Administrative Director of International Society of GI Heredity Tumours.
• Clinical focus in that area and complex reconstructive surgery
• Extensive research publications in colon cancer genetics including desmoid tumours, colon cancers and ileoanal pouch.
• President of Section of Coloproctology, Royal College of Medicine 2020-21

Professor Garcia-Granero

• Professor of Surgery University of Valencia, Spain. Chair of Digestive and General Surgery
• President of Spanish Association of Coloproctology (2006- 2007) and Spanish Association of Surgeons (2018-2020)
• Multiple research trials and publications (approximately 175 publications)
• Involved in Spanish and European surgical education and certification exams

Professor Peter Sagar

• Professor of Colorectal Surgery, The University of Leeds; Consultant General and Colorectal Surgeon, St James’s University Hospital, Leeds, England.
• President Association of Coloproctology of GB & Ireland 2021., member of James IV Association of Surgeons
• Research interests: locally advanced and recurrent rectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease. management of retrorectal tumours. Chief investigator Laparoscopic emergency colorectal surgery (LaCES 2 study – NIHR grant £1.6million)
• Over 300 national or international presentations. 200 + papers published in peer reviewed journals and 30 book chapters.

Dr. Francis Seow-Choen

• Senior Consultant Surgeon, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Singapore General Hospital, 1996-2004
• Head, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Singapore General Hospital, 1994-2004
• Medical Director, Seow-Choen Colorectal Centre, 2004-present
• President, Eurasian Colorectal Technology Association 2008-09, Re-elected 2009-13, President 3rd Biennial Congress of the ECTA Singapore Raffles Convention Centre Nov 6-9 2013, President, Society of Colorectal Surgeons Singapore, 2005-6, President, Asian Federation of Coloproctology, 2004-2005
• Member of 17 Editorial Boards of surgical journals
• Ran and published 14 randomized clinical trials

Professor Robert Steele

• Chair Department of Surgery University of Dundee 2003-2017, Senior Research Professor 2017- present
• Past President of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland. Member of the James IV Association of Surgeons, named Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2018.
• PI of QUASAR and MRC CR07/NCIC-CTG C016 trials.
• 327 publications (H index 80) with focus on colon cancer and screening
• Advisor to health systems and governments in 8 countries about screening programs.

The ASCRS Nominating Committee submits the following slate of Executive Council Officers and Members-at-Large for election at the Society’s Annual Business Meeting on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. 



President: Conor P. Delaney, MD, PhD
Dr. 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 has served on many ASCRS committees, in addition to terms on Council, and as Treasurer. Dr. Delaney also serves on committees for many national and international societies and editorial boards, and was president of the Midwest Surgical Association and the International Society of Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgery. He has lectured and published extensively in colorectal surgery, and currently holds the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Distinguished Chair in Healthcare Innovation.

President-Elect: 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 also serves as the Secretary for ASCRS, is a board member of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and is an associate editor for Diseases of Colon and Rectum.  He has also served as the Chair of the Committee on Committees and Self-Assessment committees, and was the Program Chair for the 2010 ASCRS Annual Meeting.


Past President: Thomas E. Read, MD
Thomas E. Read, MD serves as the Cracchiolo Family Professor and Chief, Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery at the University of Florida College of Medicine. Dr. Read has served as Chair of several ASCRS committees, including as Program Chair for the 2007 annual meeting, and represented our specialty at the American College of Surgeons, serving as Chair of the Advisory Council and as specialty Governor.  He has also served as President, and Chair of the Examination Committee, of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery. Dr. Read has an interest in editorial work, having served as Co-Editor of Diseases of the Colon, and currently serves as the colorectal Associate Editor for Annals of Surgery and Editor-in-Chief of Seminars in Colon and Rectal Surgery. Dr. Read has been fortunate to participate in the training of many outstanding physicians and is grateful to have been the recipient of 20 awards for teaching, education and mentorship.

Vice President: Sonia Ramamoorthy, MD
Dr. Sonia Ramamoorthy is the Chief of the Division of Colorectal Surgery at UC San Diego Health System. She served as Member-at-Large on the ASCRS Executive Council from 2016-2019 and as ASCRS/Research Foundation Treasurer from 2020-2021. She is the founding director of the ASCRS Leadership and Professional Development Program and has served on several ASCRS committees including New Technology where she was Chair from 2013-2016 and as Assistant Program Chair of the Tripartite meeting in 2017. Dr. Ramamoorthy is currently completing her MBA at the Radys School of Management at UCSD.  

Secretary: Najjia N. Mahmoud, MD
Dr. Najjia Mahmoud is Chief of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. She is immediate past President of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery and is a current Member-at-Large of the Executive Council of ASCRS.  She has served as Chair of Continuing Certification at the ABCRS and has been involved in numerous committees at ASCRS. She has also served on the Board of Trustees of the Research Foundation and as Vice-Chair of the 2008 Annual Tripartite Meeting.   


Treasurer: Kirsten B. Wilkins, MD
Dr. Wilkins completed her colon and rectal residency at Robert Wood Johnson in New Jersey 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. 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 many committees of the American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons. She was the Program Chair for the ASCRS Annual Meeting in Los Angeles in 2016. She is currently the Chair of the Self-Assessment Committee, Vice-Chair of the Leadership Task Force and former Chair of the Committee on Committees.

President, Research Foundation of the ASCRS: Elizabeth C.Wick, MD
Dr. 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. Dr. Wick is an experienced laparoscopic surgeon and treats the entire spectrum of colorectal conditions including diverticular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, colon and rectal cancer, anal cancer, and perianal disease with a patient-­centered approach. Dr. Wick is a recognized national leader in research to reduce surgical site infections and formulating strategies for improving perioperative care. She has published more than 75 articles in this area and is frequently invited to speak and share her expertise with other hospitals. Most recently, she 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
2020-2023
Liliana Bordeianou MD, MPH is the Chief of the Colorectal Surgery and the Pelvic Floor Disorders Centers at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Co-Chair of the Mass General Brigham HealthCare Colorectal Surgery Collaborative. Dr. Bordeianou served on and led as vice chair or chair, several ASCRS committees. Most recently, Dr. Bordeianou serves as the founding chair of the ASCRS Steering Committee on Pelvic Floor Disorders and the Chair of the Pelvic Floor Disorders Consortium. She is also a member of the editorial board for the Diseases of Colon and Rectum and an examiner for the American Board of Colorectal Surgery.

Craig A. Reickert, MD, MBA serves as the Division Head of Colon and Rectal Surgery and Vice-Chair of Clinical Operations in the Department of Surgery at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI. He has previously served on multiple ASCRS and ACS committees and is currently the Vice-Chair of the Continuing Education Committee.



Elizabeth C. Wick, MD is a professor of surgery at the University of California, San Francisco where she also serves as Vice Chair for Quality and Safety in the Department of Surgery. She combines clinical work with research in perioperative quality and safety and has been continuously funded by the NIH and AHRQ since 2010. Liza is currently leading a national collaborative aimed at accelerating adoption of enhanced recovery principles, AHRQ Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery.



2021-2024
Debra 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 currently serves on the ASCRS Membership Committee and has previously been a member of the following ASCRS Committees: Awards, Program, Young Surgeons, Resident, and Self-Assessment.

Jonathan A. Laryea, MD serves as Chief of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery and Professor of Surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.  He is also the Medical Director of the Cancer Service Line at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. He is the Vice Chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of ASCRS. He previously served on the Young Surgeons Committee, Fundamentals of Rectal Cancer Committee, CARSEP Committee, Program Committee and the Diversity Taskforce.

Scott R. Steele, MD, MBA serves as the Chair of Department of Colorectal Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH. He is the President-elect of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery and serves as a Co-Editor for Diseases of the Colon & Rectum. He has previously served on multiple ASCRS committees and been the Vice-Chair or Chair of four, as well as serving as the Vice-Chair of the 2017 Annual Meeting. 



2022-2025
Glenn 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 a Professor of Surgery, the Past-President of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery and currently serves as Chair of the CRS Review Committee at the ACGME. He previously was a program director for the CRS residency at USC for over 10 years.  He currently serves on the Continuing Education Committee of the ASCRS and has previously been a member of the following ASCRS committees: Operative Competency Evaluation, Regional Society, and Residents.

Jennifer S. Davids, MD is an Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Massachusetts, where she serves as the Program Director of the Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship.  Dr. Davids is on the editorial board of Diseases of the Colon and Rectum and is an Associate Examiner for the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. In the ASCRS, she has served as Chair of the Young Surgeons Committee, Vice-Chair of the Social Media Committee, and as a member of the Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee, Industry Relations Committee, and numerous task forces.


Dr. Alessandro Fichera is the Division Chief of Colorectal Surgery and the Surgery Safety and Quality Officer at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He serves as Section Editor for Diseases of the Colon & Rectum. He is the current chair of the ASCRS Video Based Education Committee, member of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Committee and he has previously been a member of the following ASCRS Committees: Awards, Program, Young Researchers, Regional Society, Residents, Membership, International, Research Foundation, and Fundamental of Rectal Cancer Surgery.




Nominations for the Members-at-Large, President, President-Elect, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer shall be made by the Nominating Committee in accordance with the procedure set forth in Article X, Section 1(B) of the Bylaws.

Read the 2021 ASCRS Business Meeting Minutes ahead of this year's meeting on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. 

Other Nominations

View the 2022 nominees for ASCRS Fellow and International Fellow, as well as the 2022 Honorary Fellow nominees.

ASCRS U supports lifelong learning for colorectal surgeons with point-of need guidance, self-assessment education, and community-based mentorship

The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) announces the launch of ASCRS U – a premier educational resource available for colorectal surgeons and trainees. 

Prior to the creation of ASCRS U, learning materials for colorectal surgeons were scattered across different locations, lacking organization, and not personalized. For surgeons with limited and highly valuable time, it was a challenge to stay up to date and maintain professional certification efficiently.

With ASCRS U, surgeons now have a single-entry portal to a wide variety of premier educational resources including references, guidelines, journals, courses, self-assessment banks, and video instruction. Powered by the flexible Unbound Platform, ASCRS U transforms the traditional learning management system into a sophisticated educational experience where surgeons can choose various educational modalities and absorb their contents at their own pace and on their device of choice.

The outcome of this partnership – utilizing Unbound Medicine’s expertise in solving knowledge problems and ASCRS expert colorectal surgery information – is a web and mobile app portal that provides four major educational pillars required for lifelong learning. These include resources to answer questions at the point-of-need, tools to stay up-to-date with the latest research, courses to maintain professional certification, and mentorship to learn from fellow surgeons.

"ASCRS leadership, member surgeons, and trainees needed a way to easily access and utilize a diverse set of specialty surgical knowledge anytime, anywhere," said Tom Read, MD, President of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. "ASCRS U is our vision for that educational future and because of its importance it will be provided as a benefit for all ASCRS members.”

“The vision we share with ASCRS is to change the way specialty surgery trainees master their field and experienced surgeons stay up-to-date in a rapidly changing environment," says Bill Detmer, MD, CEO of Unbound Medicine. "We are excited to disseminate the work of ASCRS surgeons who do a remarkable job as educators and providers of advanced specialty surgical care."

For more information Contact Unbound Medicine or visit ascrsu.com.

About ASCRS U
ASCRS U provides foundational colorectal knowledge with the continuously updated ASCRS
Textbook of Colon and Rectal Surgery, clinical practice guidelines, consensus statements, and
journal articles. Online courses such as Fundamentals of Rectal Cancer Surgery are provided
with associated CME credits. Self-assessment questions and answers are provided in both the
ASCRS Question Bank and the Colon and Rectal Surgery Educational Program (CARSEP XI).
Long-form learning is provided in the ASCRS Webinars and the Video Mentorship Series
provides intraoperative video-based coaching sessions, with the goal of sharing operative
techniques and improving procedural confidence. Via the Unbound Platform all these resources
are searchable, interlinked, personalizable and available both online and via downloadable
mobile apps.

About Unbound Medicine
Unbound Medicine builds digital products that answer clinical questions at the point of need.
With expertise in medical informatics, health technology, and medical publishing, our team has
delivered innovative mobile and web solutions to medical associations, health care institutions
and individual clinicians for more than 20 years. Additional information is available at
www.unboundmedicine.com.