Meet Your New NC-ACS Board of Directors
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The New NC-ACS Board of Directors:
| President |
Raghid |
Bitar |
MD, FACS |
UNC |
| President Elect |
Keri |
Seymour |
DO-FACS |
Duke |
| Secretary/Treasurer |
Leah |
Sieren |
MD, FACS |
Wake Forest |
| Secretary/Treasurer-Elect |
William |
Hope |
MD, FACS |
New Hanover Regional Medical Center |
| Immediate Past President |
Amy |
Hildreth |
MD, FACS |
Wake Forest |
| 2nd Year Past President |
Ranjan |
Sudan |
MBBS FACS |
Duke |
| 3rd Year Past President |
Perry |
Shen |
MD, FACS |
Wake Forest |
| At Large Member |
Marissa |
Howard-McNatt |
MD, FACS |
Wake Forest |
| At Large Member |
Andrew |
Nunn |
MD, FACS |
Wake Forest |
| At Large Member |
Arielle |
Perez |
MD, MPH, MS, FACS |
UNC |
| Bariatric Surgery Liaison** |
Wayne |
Overby |
MD, FACS |
UNC |
| Cardiothoracic Surgery Liaison** |
Benjamin |
Haithcock |
MD, FACS |
UNC |
| General Surgery Liaison** |
Pascal “Osi” |
Udekwu |
MBBS MBA/MHA FACS |
WakeMed |
| Gynecology Liaison** |
Lisa |
Jackson-Moore |
MD, FACS |
UNC |
| Neurosurgery Society Liaison** |
Ziad |
Hage |
MD, FACS |
Novant Health |
| Ophthalmology Liaison** |
Sharon |
Fekrat |
MD, FACS |
Duke |
| Orthopedic Society Liaison** |
vacant |
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| Otolaryngology Liaison** |
Carlton |
Zdanski |
MD, FACS |
UNC |
| Plastic Surgery Liaison** |
Ivo |
Pestana |
MD, FACS, FAAPS |
Wake Forest |
| Pediatric Surgery Liaison** |
J. Duncan |
Phillips |
MD, FACS |
Wake Med |
| Urology Society Liaison** |
John |
Smith, III |
MD, FACS |
Novant Health Pelvic Health Center |
| Associate Member Representative |
Kristina |
Shaffer |
MD |
Novant Health |
| AWS Representative** |
Gayle |
DiLalla |
MD, FACS |
Duke |
| Military Representative** |
Lt. Col. Shaun |
Brown |
DO, FACS |
Womack Army Medical Center |
| Resident Representative |
Justin |
Faulkner |
MD |
New Hanover Regional Medical Center |
| Rural Surgery Representative |
Lindsay |
Bridges |
MD, FACS |
Rockingham Surgical Associates |
| Young Fellow Representative |
Jean |
Ashburn |
MD, FACS |
Wake Forest |
| Designated Board Members |
| Board of Governors |
Danielle |
Walsh |
MD, FACS, FAAP |
Pirate Surgery, PLLC |
| Board of Governors |
Anthony |
Charles |
MD, MPH, FACS |
UNC |
| Board of Governors |
Timothy |
Farrell |
MD, FACS |
UNC |
| Board of Governors |
Janet (Betsy) |
Tuttle |
MD, FACS |
ECU |
| Governor, AAST |
Preston |
Miller |
MD, FACS |
Wake Forest |
| Governor, SE Surgical Congress |
Michael |
Meyers |
MD, FACS |
UNC |
| ACS Officers |
J. Wayne |
Meredith |
MD, FACS |
Wake Forest |
| Board of Regents |
Anthony |
Atala |
MD, FACS |
Wake Forest |
| Board of Regents Past Member |
Mark |
Weissler |
MD, FACS |
UNC |
| COC Chair |
Richard L. |
White |
MD, FACS |
Atrium Health |
| COT Chair |
David |
Jacobs |
MD, FACS |
Atrium Health |
| Nominating Committee Chair |
Amy |
Hildreth |
MD, FACS |
Wake Forest |
| Legislative Committee Chair |
Matthew |
Martin |
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Central Carolina Surgery |
| Membership Committee Chair |
Melissa Red |
Hoffman |
MD, FACS |
MAHEC / Mission Hospital |
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NC-ACS Thanks 2021-2022 President
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At the close of the 2022 NC/SC ACS 2022 Annual Meeting, NC-ACS Past President Ranjan Sudan thanks 2021-2022 NC-ACS President Amy Hildreth for her service and leadership.
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Welcome the ACS Initiates from North Carolina
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Please congratulate the following North Carolina surgeons on achieving the monumental milestone of becoming an ACS Fellow!
These Initiates will become Fellows of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) during the Convocation Ceremony on Sunday, October 16, 2022 in San Diego.
More than 2,000 Initiates will be inducted as Fellows of the American College of Surgeons at the Convocation Ceremony held during the Clinical Congress.
| Samuel |
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Carmichael |
MD |
Winston Salem |
| Christopher |
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Helak |
DO |
Wilmington |
| Sarah |
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Fox |
MBBS |
Wilmington |
| Kush |
S |
Patel |
MD |
Statesville |
| Chase |
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Campbell |
MD |
Smithfield |
| Jiselle |
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Bock |
MD |
Shelby |
| Linda |
Marie |
Youngwirth |
MD |
Raleigh |
| Michael |
Lee |
Williford |
MD |
Raleigh |
| Patrick |
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Georgoff |
MD |
Raleigh |
| Anna |
Blair |
Johnson |
MD |
Matthews |
| Daniel |
D |
Gerry |
MD |
Matthews |
| Rykoff Ritchie Mae |
Mamuad |
Delara |
MD |
Matthews |
| Ashley |
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Badger |
MD |
Marion |
| Jennifer |
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Christman |
MD |
Lewisville |
| Claire |
Sanger |
Dillilngham |
DO |
Kernersville |
| Luke |
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Johnston |
MD |
Jacksonville |
| Michelle |
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Roper |
MD |
Hampstead |
| Rohini |
Khatri |
Olson |
MD |
Greenville |
| Justin |
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Sargent |
DO |
Goldsboro |
| Elizabeth |
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Miller |
MD |
Fayetteville |
| Yana |
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Mikhaylov |
MD |
Fayetteville |
| Paul |
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Trottman |
MD |
Durham |
| Hung-Jui |
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Tan |
MD |
Durham |
| Lisa |
M |
McElroy |
MD |
Durham |
| Jeffrey |
E. |
Keenan |
MD |
Durham |
| Suha |
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Kaaki |
MBBS |
Durham |
| Astrid |
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Botty Van den Bruele |
MD |
Durham |
| Crystal |
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Yi |
DO |
Davidson |
| Michael |
R |
Driedger |
MD |
Concord |
| Daniel |
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Mistrot |
MD |
Clemmons |
| Adam |
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Strickland |
MD |
Charlotte |
| Kristina |
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Shaffer |
MD |
Charlotte |
| Chris |
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Kuppler |
MD |
Charlotte |
| Rajat |
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Kumar |
MD |
Charlotte |
| Ashish |
K |
Jain |
MD |
Charlotte |
| Robert |
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Czuprynski |
MD |
Charlotte |
| George |
Edward |
Black |
MD |
Charlotte |
| Jeyhan |
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Wood |
MD |
Chapel Hill |
| Travis |
Parke |
Schrank |
MD |
Chapel Hill |
| Adeyemi |
Adebanji |
Ogunleye |
MBBS |
Chapel Hill |
| Brant |
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Inman |
MD |
Chapel Hill |
| Adesola |
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Akinkuotu |
MD |
Chapel Hill |
| Thomas |
M |
Kelley |
MD |
Aberdeen |
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Left: ACS President Julie Freischlag, MD, FACS (left), presents Dr. Atala with the Jacobson Innovation Award medallion. Right: Dr. Atala with his wife Katherine Atala, MD, and son Zachary
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Dr. Anthony Atala, Regenerative Medicine Pioneer, Receives 2022 ACS Jacobson Innovation Award
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Anthony Atala, MD, FACS, of Winston-Salem, NC, was presented with the 2022 Jacobson Innovation Award of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) at a dinner held in his honor June 10 in Chicago, IL. He is the George Link Jr. Professor and Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) and the W. H. Boyce Professor and Chair of Urology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, both in Winston-Salem.
The international surgical award from the ACS honors living surgeons who are innovators of a new development or technique in any field of surgery. It is made possible through a gift from Julius H. Jacobson II, MD, FACS, and his wife Joan. Dr. Jacobson is a general vascular surgeon known for his pioneering work in the development of microsurgery.
“I am truly humbled and honored to receive this award,” Dr. Atala said. “The things that were accomplished [for myself] with this research are not really important. What is important is what we do for our patients, and—more important—what we do for each other.”
A Career of Innovation
Dr. Atala is a pediatric urologist, researcher, professor, and mentor who is renowned for developing foundational principles for regenerative medicine research, which holds great promise for people who require tissue substitution and reconstruction. Dr. Atala and his team successfully implanted the world’s first laboratory-grown bladder in 1999.
His remarkable work has expanded, and today, WFIRM is a leader in translating scientific discovery into regenerative medicine clinical therapies. He currently leads an interdisciplinary team of more than 450 researchers and physicians. Beyond many other world firsts, WFIRM also has developed 15 clinically used technology-based applications, including muscle, urethra, cartilage, reproductive tissues, and skin. The Institute is working on more than 40 tissues and organs.
Through Dr. Atala’s vision, ingenuity, and leadership, the WFIRM team has developed specialized 3-D printers to engineer tissues. This work is accomplished by using cells to create various tissues and organs, including miniature organs called organoids, to create body-on-a-chip systems. Dr. Atala and his team also discovered a stem cell population derived from both the amniotic fluid and the placenta, which are being used for clinically relevant research applications.
Dr. Atala’s theory is that every cell within the human body should be capable of regeneration. What reproduces naturally inside the body should also have the same capabilities of reproduction outside of the body. According to Dr. Atala, “The key benefit to the approach of cell and tissue regeneration is that a patient will not reject their own cells or tissue, which is always a concern related to traditional organ match transplantation.”
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Resident Competition Results – NC/SC ACS 2022 Annual Meeting
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Committee on Cancer Competition
- First: Richard Erali - Modeling Pheochromocytoma & Paraganglioma Drug Responses in Patient-Derived Tumor Organoids (Wake)
- Second: Kristen Quinn - Reprogramming T cell Metabolism with IL-12 to Improve Cancer Immunotherapy (MUSC)
- Third: Ian Solsky - Conditional Survival After Hepatectomy for Colorectal Liver Metastasis (Atrium Health/Wake)
Resident Trauma Paper Competition
- First: Joshua Davis (CMC)- “Utility of The Updated Brain Injury Guidelines (UBIG) For the Triage of Minimal Traumatic Brain Injury Within a Trauma System”
- Second Place: Brandon Steven Peine (ECU) - “A Statewide Analysis of Predictors of Trauma Center Transfer: The Burden of Non-Clinical Factors”
- Third Place: Taylor Hudson (Duke) - “Platelet Rich Plasma Increases Mechanical Strength of Rib Fractures”
1st and 3rd place will go on to regional competition because the Regional COT requests one clinical and one basic science abstract.
General Session
- First: Michelle Mendiola - Porcine Model of Gene Therapy for Acute Cardiac Allograft Rejection (Duke)
- Second: Emily Peairs - Hospital and Surgeon Competition and its Association with Disclosure of Payments for Major Joint Arthroplasty (Duke)
Top Gun
Place Team
1 Wake
2 MUSC
3 Prisma Cola
4 Cape Fear
5 New Hanover
6 Prisma #2
The Wake Team was coached by Dr Lauren McCormack; competitors were Andrea Tressler; Bigyan Mainali; Alan Cruz.
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Engage in Meaningful Learning as a Virtual Attendee of Clinical Congress 2022
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Clinical Congress 2022, October 16–20 in San Diego, CA, will be the first in-person conference since 2019, but this year’s hybrid format means that your surgical education can take place from anywhere, and at any time. If you don’t have the time or the travel budget to attend in person, consider participating as a virtual attendee. Learn from the masters and gain clinical and nonclinical knowledge all from the comfort of your home or office. Virtual attendees will have access to select real-time, livestreamed sessions and on-demand recordings, which will be available for most sessions within an hour after being presented. In-person attendees also will have access to select livestreamed and on-demand content.
All attendees will have the opportunity to claim AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™, earn self-assessment credits, and meet other regulatory requirements through May 1, 2023.
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Emergency General Surgery Verification Program
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The American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) have announced the launch of the Emergency General Surgery Verification Program (EGS-VP), a new surgical quality program that will help hospitals establish and maintain the highest standards in emergency general surgery.
As a program uniquely focused on the care of emergency general surgery patients in an acute setting, the EGS Verification Program offers an opportunity to chart the progress of a hospital’s program while also setting benchmarks and goals to continue the quality improvement journey of the EGS service.
Participation in the program addresses the following areas:
- Resources: standards specific to the diverse nature of EGS
- Data: a targeted registry within the ACS National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP®) platform with a focus on EGS outcomes and variables
- Clinical care: development of standardized pathways of care utilizing a multidisciplinary approach
- Value-added care: recognition that the right team, timeframe, and support provide the best opportunity to improve outcomes
Alongside the EGS Verification Program, the EGS Targeted Module of the NSQIP registry has been developed to bring hospitals the data they need to advance their quality processes. The first registry of its kind to capture both operative and non-operative cases, the module offers participating hospitals access to targeted EGS variables and reports designed specifically to support the progress of the EGS program. Leveraging the features of the ACS NSQIP platform allows participants to capture clinically relevant, risk-adjusted data and benchmark their outcomes in a national registry.
Contact egs@facs.org for more information.
Visit ACS Central in the Exhibit Hall during Clinical Congress to ask questions and learn more about EGS-VP.
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Congressional Champions Introduce Legislation Addressing Medicare Payment Cuts
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Surgeons are again facing drastic cuts to Medicare payment at the end of the year due to policies in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) calendar year 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. Last week, Representatives Ami Bera, MD (D-CA), and Larry Bucshon, MD (R-IN), introduced the Supporting Medicare Providers Act of 2022, which would address the nearly 4.5% cut to the Medicare conversion factor beginning in January 2023. The ACS supports this bipartisan legislation, which would provide a critical lifeline to surgeons who are also facing a 4% Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) cut.
Unlike other sectors of the healthcare industry, investments in surgeons and other healthcare professionals treating Medicare patients lack an automatic annual update. Medicare payments have failed to keep pace with inflation, including the record, ongoing inflation experienced in 2022, resulting in a real-world decrease year after year. At the same time, the costs of running a medical practice have increased significantly.
Without congressional action, these compounding cuts will jeopardize the financial stability of surgical practices and are, simply put, not sustainable. While the ACS believes that broader reforms are necessary for ensuring long-term stability of the Medicare payment system, the College supports efforts that provide immediate relief to surgical practices facing financial uncertainty.
Take action! Use ACS SurgeonsVoice to write your Representative today, where you can tell them to cosponsor Supporting Medicare Providers Act of 2022 and protect patient access to care.
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See How Surgeons Are Sowing Hope for Their Colleagues, Patients
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 Throughout her term, Julie A. Freischlag, MD, FACS, DFSVS, has been speaking with surgeons and ACS members about how they have worked to sow hope this year. These optimistic surgeons have discussed topics, including a focus on return to cancer screening, improving resident well-being, getting engaged with community health, showing trainees the joy of surgery, and much more.
As Dr. Freischlag’s Presidential year concludes, you can review previous conversations and see new ones by visiting the Surgeons Sowing Hope YouTube playlist.
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ACS TQIP Annual Conference
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 The 2022 TQIP Annual Conference will gather in-person December 11- 13 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, AZ. The conference brings together trauma medical directors, program managers, coordinators, PI clinicians, and registrars from participating and prospective TQIP hospitals and provides attendees the opportunity to network with key leaders from trauma centers around the country. We are pleased to also offer a virtual registration option for on-demand access to select session content.
Download the Agenda
Registration Information
Registration is open for the 2022 TQIP Annual Conference, December 11-13 in Phoenix, AZ. Secure your spot today.
Pre-conference Workshops
We are pleased to offer pre-conference workshops prior to the start of the 2022 TQIP Annual Conference.
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ACS Quality and Safety Conference
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Thank you to everyone who attended the Quality and Safety Conference in Chicago. On-demand access is available now. Make sure to claim your credits and view highlights from the conference.
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Did You Forget?
2022 NC-ACS Dues
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The COVID-19 pandemic upset many routines, and perhaps paying your 2022 North Carolina Chapter of the American College of Surgeons (NC-ACS) dues slipped your mind.
Not to worry! You can do it now online. Click on the button below and use your ACS ID number to pay your dues for 2022.
Thank you!
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Send your news items to Kathy Browning.
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NC-ACS is Now On Instagram
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