Balazs “Ernie” Bodai, MD, FACS, recently received a FIERCE Award at the Biden Cancer Summit Welcome Reception in Washington, DC, for his efforts to improve breast cancer survivorship. More specifically, the award was given to Dr. Bodai for his efforts to persuade Congress and the U.S. Postal Service to issue the Breast Cancer Research Stamp to support breast cancer research and for his leadership to improve health and lower the risk of recurrence of breast cancer. Survivorship awards were presented based on those whose work helps the patient through the social, emotional, financial, and/or medical effects of surviving cancer. The Biden Cancer Initiative’s FiERCE Awards recognize and celebrate those individuals who have had a transformative impact on the lives of cancer patients.
Read more about Dr. Bodai at the Cure Breast Cancer, Inc. website.
In January, the Presidential Leadership Scholars (PLS) program, which brings together leaders from various fields to collaborate and learn about leadership through the experiences of U.S. Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Lyndon B. Johnson, selected 60 scholars for the program’s fifth class. Among these scholars were Maya Babu, MD, MBA, director of adult neurotrauma, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, and Associate Fellow of the American College of Surgeons; and Joseph V. Sakran, MD, MPA, MPH, FACS, director, emergency general surgery; associate chief, division of acute care surgery; and assistant professor of surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD.
According to the PLS website, “Scholars were selected based on their leadership growth potential and their personal leadership projects aimed at improving civic engagement or social good by addressing a problem or need in their community, the country, or the world.” Drs. Babu and Sakran will travel to the noted presidential centers to learn from former presidents, administration officials, and leaders in business, civics, and academia about ways to strengthen their impact on their communities.
Read more about the PLS program and a full list of 2019 scholars on the program website.
Dionisios Vrochides, MD, PhD, FACS, FRCSC, a hepato-pancreato-biliary surgeon and vice-chair, quality outcomes, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC, in November 2018 was inducted as president of the U.S. chapter of the ERAS (Enhanced Recovery after Surgery) International Society for the 2018–2020 term.
Dr. Vrochides will oversee the expansion program of ERAS that includes both ERAS-qualified centers and ERAS centers of excellence. He also will be responsible for optimizing the collaboration with the ERAS International Society and will lead efforts to optimize analytics as related to compliance and outcomes.
Dr. Vrochides drove efforts at Atrium Health’s Carolinas Medical Center to implement ERAS protocols within the hepato-pancreato-biliary service, which led to the hospital becoming the first ERAS Society-accredited center of excellence in the U.S. in 2016 and one of the world’s 23 ERAS centers of excellence overall. Teams use ERAS pathways in major surgical disciplines including colorectal, hepatobiliary and pancreatic, head and neck, and urologic surgery. Dr. Vrochides and his team have trained numerous health care institutions in successful ERAS implementations.
Read more about Dr. Vrochides on the Atrium Health website.
