SSA President

ACS Regent Kenneth W. Sharp, MD, FACS, professor of surgery in the Department of Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in Nashville, TN, has been named president of the Southern Surgical Association (SSA).

“I am incredibly honored to be elected to this position,” Dr. Sharp said in a VUMC Reporter article announcing his new role. “Vanderbilt has such a distinguished history of leadership in the Southern Surgical Association, and I want this to continue in the future.”

The SSA has been noted as an organization that widely disseminates innovative research and concepts in surgery and has both domestic and international membership. Each spring, articles from the SSA compose a special issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. ACS members can read the 2022 SSA issue.

Dr. Sharp joined VUMC in 1984 and served as chief of the Division of General Surgery from 1995 to 2011. He currently is vice-chair of Faculty Promotion and Development for the Section of Surgical Sciences and chair of the section’s promotion committee.

For the ACS, Dr. Sharp has served in various leadership roles. He has been a Regent since 2018, participating in the regental Bylaws, Anti-Racism, and Member Services Liaison Committees. He previously was a Governor (2000–2006), and currently serves on the Clinical Congress Program Committee. In addition, Dr. Sharp has been on the ACS Foundation Board of Directors and Advisory Council for General Surgery. At the local level, Dr. Sharp is a Past-President for the ACS Tennessee Chapter.

Since the pandemic began, Dr. Sharp has taken a leading role in relaying key information about COVID-19 developments to ACS members. He has represented the ACS during meetings with the White House COVID-19 Response Team and shared updates from the group in the ACS Brief (See November 15, 2022 issue and December 20, 2022 issue).