Our Mission: To raise and award funds to support research and educational programs related to colon and rectal diseases.
The Research Foundation's goal is to keep the practicing colorectal surgeon at the forefront of colorectal care by discovering new clinical treatments made possible by supporting the best clinical and laboratory-based research. Additionally, it sponsors annual symposia and lectureships at the ASCRS Annual Scientific Meeting to educate the membership on relevant research.
Research Foundation Board of Trustees
The Research Foundation Board of Trustees supervises, controls and directs the business and affairs of the Foundation. It determines its policies and actively promotes its purpose and the mission to support research and educaitonal programs. The Research Foundation consists of a 13-member Board of Trustees and two committees.
Research Foundation Committees
The committees support and further the mission of the Research Foundation by implementing the strategic goals and objectives. The Research Committee is responsible for reviewing the scientific merit of grant applications for the Research Foundation. The Young Researchers Committee focuses on the selection of a surgeon who has met the criteria for the Mentor Award, to develop the Research Forum at the ASCRS Annual Scientific Meeting which highlights developing areas of research that have clinical relevance for the care of patients with colorectal diseases, and to choose a winner of the best “Works in Progress” at the Research Forum.
RF Research Committee
Jesse Joshua Smith, MD, PhD, FACS, Chair - (2021-2023)
Jennifer Erin Hrabe, MD, Vice Chair - (2021-2023)
Evie Harvell Carchman, MD, Member - (2021-2024)
Joseph Christopher Carmichael, MD, Member - (2022-2025)
Ahmed Sami Chadi, MD, Member - (2020-2023)
Giovanna Da Silva, MD, Member - (2021-2024)
Sandy Hwang Fang, MD, Member - (2022-2025)
Karin Marie Hardiman, MD, PhD, Member - (2020-2023)
Dana Michelle Hayden, MD, Member - (2021-2024)
Dr. Mehraneh Dorna Jafari, MD, Member - (2022-2025)
Gregory D. Kennedy, MD, PhD, Member - (2020-2023)
Gifty Kwakye, MD MPH, Member - (2021-2024)
Ira Leeds, MD, Member - (2022-2025)
Amy Lee Lightner, MD, Member - (2022-2025)
Kellie Leanne Mathis, MD, Member - (2020-2023)
Nelya Melnitchouk, MD, Member - (2021-2023)
Jonathan B. Mitchem, MD, Member - (2020-2023)
Sunil V. Patel, MD, Member - (2022-2025)
Scott Ellis Regenbogen, MD, MPH, Member - (2021-2024)
Campbell Stuart Roxburgh, MD, Member - (2020-2023)
Marcia McGory Russell, MD, Member - (2021-2024)
Virginia Oliva Shaffer, MD, Member - (2020-2023)
Benjamin Daniel Shogan, MD, Member - (2020-2023)
Konstantin Umanskiy, MD, Member - (2020-2023)
Maria Widmar, MD, MPH, Member - (2021-2024)
Karen Nersissian Zaghiyan, MD, Member - (2021-2024)
RF Young Researchers Committee
Nelya Melnitchouk, MD, Chair - (2021-2023)
Russell Ware Farmer, MD, Vice Chair - (2021-2023)
Mohammad Ali Abbass, MD, Member - (2022-2025)
Jonathan Simon Abelson, MD, Member - (2022-2025)
Anthony De Buck Van Overstraeten, MD, Member - (2020-2023)
Anne Fabrizio, MD, Member - (2020-2023)
Leander Morel Grimm, Jr., MD, Member - (2022-2025)
Emily Huang, MD, MEd, Member - (2022-2025)
Dr. Deborah Susan Keller, MS, MD, Member - (2022-2025)
Erin M. King-Mullins, MD, Member - (2020-2023)
David A. Kleiman, MD, Member - (2021-2024)
Nicole Elizabeth Lopez, MD, Member - (2022-2025)
Robert A. Malizia, MD, Member - (2022-2025)
Sunil V. Patel, MD, Member - (2021-2024)
Uma R. Phatak, MD, Member - (2022-2025)
Yesenia Rojas-Khalil, MD, Member - (2022-2025)
Radhika K. Smith, MD, Member - (2021-2024)
Emily Steinhagen, MD, Member - (2021-2024)
Trevor Wood, MD, Member - (2020-2023)