Honorary Fellowship Conferred on 12 Eminent International Surgeons

Honorary Fellowship in the ACS was awarded to 12 prominent surgeons from around the world during the October 16 Convocation at Clinical Congress 2022 in San Diego, CA. The granting of Honorary Fellowships is one of the highlights of Clinical Congress.

Following are summaries of the careers of this year’s Honorary Fellows.

View the full citations and sponsors for the Honorary Fellows in the 2022 Convocation program.

Mohammad M. Al-Qattan, MD
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Dr. Mohammad Al-Qattan is a professor of surgery and consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he previously served as head of the College of Medicine Research Center and the Division of Plastic Surgery.

He also serves as a consultant to National Guard Hospital, King Faisal Hospital and Research Center, and National Care Industrial Hospital, all in Riyadh.  

Dr. Al-Qattan has published more than 500 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has received more than 90 awards, mainly for presentations of his clinical work. He also owns a US patent for a device he invented to perform sutureless repair of nerve injury. He has served on editorial boards and held visiting professorships in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and the US, and he is a member of numerous specialty organizations.

Ines Buccimazza, MBChB, FCS(SA), FACS
Durban, South Africa

Dr. Ines Buccimazza is a senior specialist in the Department of Surgery at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. She also heads the Clinical Unit of Breast and Endocrine Surgery at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban, where she leads the Breast Multidisciplinary Team meetings. In addition, Dr. Buccimazza chairs the Durban Breast Cancer Forum, is a council member and past-president of The Surgical Research Society of Southern Africa, and a council member and past-treasurer of Breast Surgery International.

Dr. Buccimazza is an ACS Fellow, a board examiner for the College of Surgeons of South Africa, and an ACS Advanced Trauma Life Support^® course director for South Africa. Dr. Buccimazza recently was elected  president of the Association of Surgeons of South Africa.

Reinhold Ganz, MD
Gümligen, Switzerland

Dr. Reinhold Ganz is internationally recognized as an innovator and pioneer in hip preservation surgery. He has had a 34-year career in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Bern in various positions, from resident to chief of staff to professor and chair.

Dr. Ganz has authored or coauthored approximately 550 peer-reviewed articles for scientific publications and is the recipient of many international awards, including membership in the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences, the Arthur Steindler Award from the Orthopaedic Research Society, the John Charnley Medal, the King Faisal International Prize for Medicine, and the Lifetime Achievement Award of The Hip Society.

Fernando Rodriguez Montalvo, MD, PhD, FACS
Caracas, Venezuela

Dr. Fernando Rodriguez Montalvo is a retired general surgeon who has dedicated much of his work to trauma surgery in Venezuela and has taught hundreds of residents in that country.

Over the years, Dr. Rodriguez Montalvo has held many positions at the Dr. Domingo Luciani Hospital in Caracas, including assistant professor of surgery, chief of staff, postgraduate director, and professor of surgery. In 1990, he founded the trauma unit, which carries his name, and helped develop a fellowship in trauma surgery, the only one in Venezuela.

An ACS Fellow since 1983, Dr. Rodriguez Montalvo also is a member of the Venezuelan Surgical Society, Venezuelan Oncological Society, Panamerican Trauma Society, and International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association.

Marco Montorsi, MD
Milan, Italy

Dr. Marco Montorsi is a professor of surgery and rector of Humanitas University in Milan, Italy, and has served as president of the Italian Society of Surgery. He also has held leadership positions in European academic surgery. Dr. Montorsi has been appointed to Italy’s National Observatory for Medical Residency Training by the Minister of University and Research and as a member of the Superior Council for Health by the Minister of Health.

Dr. Montorsi was head of the Hepatobiliary Surgery Unit at San Paolo Academic Hospital in Milan for 8 years and has served as the head of the General Surgery Unit at Humanitas Research Hospital in Milan since 2004. Since December 2011, he also has been the director of the Department of General Surgery at Humanitas. 

Graham L. Newstead, MBBS, FACS, FRACS, FRCS
Randwick, Australia

Dr. Graham Newstead is a retired colon and rectal surgeon in Sydney, Australia, who is commonly credited for helping launch colon and rectal surgery as a specialty in Australia.

A member of the teaching faculty at the University of New South Wales from 1975 through 2014, Dr. Newstead is now an adjunct associate professor of surgery at the university.

In Australia, he established the Bowel Cancer Foundation, Bowel Cancer Coalition, International Council of Coloproctology, and, jointly, the Colorectal Surgical Society of Australia and New Zealand. Dr. Newstead also founded the Conjoint Committee for the Recognition of Training in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. He was program chair for the 4th World Congress of Coloproctology Tripartite Colon and Rectal Meeting in Australia and the International Council of Coloproctology Training and Standards meeting in 2007 and 2008.

Paulina Salminen, MD, PhD
Turku, Finland

Dr. Paulina Salminen has been a professor of surgery at the University of Turku, Finland, since 2019 and chief of surgery at Turku University Hospital since 2013.

Dr. Salminen has had a distinguished career as a clinical researcher. She is internationally recognized for serving as the principal investigator for six large, externally funded, multicenter randomized controlled trials, five of which address the optimal management of appendicitis and associated complications, and one which investigated the optimal surgical management of morbid obesity.

She has served as president of the Finnish Surgical Society, Finnish Society of Gastroenterology, and Finnish Digestive Surgeons. She is president of the Finnish Association of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, as well as a member of the executive board for the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders.

Samuel Shuchleib Chaba, MD, FACS
Mexico City, Mexico

Dr. Samuel Shuchleib Chaba is a general and endoscopic surgeon at the American British Cowdray Medical Center in Mexico City, Mexico.

Dr. Shuchleib Chaba often is credited with introducing and promoting laparoscopic and minimally invasive surgery in Mexico and throughout Latin America. He has served as a president and is one of the founding members of the Mexican Association of Endoscopic Surgery. He founded the Mexican Journal of Endoscopic Surgery in 2000. He was the executive director of the Latin American Federation of Surgery from 2005 to 2017 and presided over the scientific committee of two World Congresses of the International Federation of Societies of Endoscopic Surgeons.

An active ACS Fellow since 1981, Dr. Shuchleib founded the annual, well-attended Latin American Day at Clinical Congress, which features Spanish-language sessions.

Antonio Jose Torres, MD, PhD, FACS
Madrid, Spain

Dr. Antonio Jose Torres is chief of the Department of Surgery at San Carlos Clinical Hospital in Madrid, Spain, and professor of surgery at the Complutense University of Madrid since 1995.

Dr. Torres has authored or coauthored approximately 300 peer-reviewed articles for scientific publications, 125 textbook chapters, and 29 books. He serves as principal investigator in numerous studies. He is a member of 28 national and international professional associations, including serving at present on the board of trustees for the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders.

A Fellow of the ACS since 1998, he has served as President and Governor of the Spain Chapter of the ACS and was selected as an International Visiting Scholar to the College in 1994.

Petr Tsarkov, MD, PhD
Moscow, Russia

Dr. Petr Tsarkov is director of the Clinic of Colorectal and Minimally Invasive Surgery and chair of the Education Department of Surgery at Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University in Russia, a position he has held since 2013.  

Dr. Tsarkov pioneered extended lymph node dissection for colorectal cancer in Russia, as well as extensive surgery for locally advanced and recurrent rectal cancer.

Dr. Tsarkov has been a visiting professor at multiple institutions around the world and is a winner of the Russian government award for developing innovative treatments for rectal cancer. He is the founding member and chair of the Russian Society of Colorectal Surgeons and director of the International Russian School of Colorectal Surgery conference, held annually in Moscow.

Laura G. Viani, BA, BCh, BAO, DMMD, MSc, FRCSI
Dublin, Ireland

Dr. Laura Viani has been president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) since June 2022. She is a consultant otolaryngologist and neuro-otologist to Beaumont Hospital and Temple Street University Children’s Hospital in Dublin, Ireland.

She established the Republic of Ireland’s first and only cochlear implant program in 1995, which has grown to become the National Hearing Implant and Viani Research Centre. This standalone department at Beaumont Hospital cares for children and adults with severe-to-profound hearing loss from all over Ireland. She established the multi-institutional Hearing Research Centre, comprising professionals from Beaumont and Temple Street Hospitals, the RCSI, and Trinity College Dublin, each in Dublin. She also established research collaborations with Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.

To date, she has performed more than 2,000 cochlear implants in profoundly deaf children and adults.

Peter-John Wormald, MD, MBChB, FAHMS, FRACS, FCS(SA), FRCS(Ed)
North Adelaide, Australia

Dr. Peter-John Wormald is a professor and chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Adelaide based at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Australia. He has held that position since 1998. He has worked as a consultant surgeon, professor, and fellow at medical institutions in the UK, Australia, and Hong Kong.

An internationally recognized figure in the field of the otolaryngology with a subspecialty in rhinology and skull-based surgery, Dr. Wormald is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Distinguished Service Award from the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, the Distinguished Contribution to the Art and Science of Otolaryngology, and the Head and Neck Surgery Award from the Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.