Urologic surgeon Anthony Atala, MD, FACS, is the new Chair of the ACS Board of Regents (BoR). His election to a 1-year term was announced at the Annual Business Meeting of Members that concluded Clinical Congress 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dr. Atala 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 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
In his role as BoR Chair, Dr. Atala will work closely with ACS Executive Director and CEO Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, and will chair the Regents' Finance and Executive Committees. The College's 24-member BoR formulates policy and is responsible for overseeing the affairs of the College.
Dr. Atala has been an ACS Fellow since 1996 and has a history of leadership within the organization. He has been a Regent since 2016, during which time he has served as Vice-Chair and been on the Member Services Liaison Committee, Nominating Committee, and Honors Committee.
Other leadership positions within the ACS include serving as a Governor, as member and Chair for the Advisory Council for Urology, and as a member of the Surgical Research Committee, Committee for the Owen H. Wangensteen Scientific Forum, and Committee on Emerging Surgical Technology & Education, among others. Dr. Atala presented the prestigious Martin Memorial Named Lecture during Clinical Congress in 2010.
As a pediatric urologist, researcher, professor, and mentor, Dr. Atala is renowned for developing foundational principles for regenerative medicine research. Dr. Atala and his team successfully implanted the world’s first laboratory-grown bladder in 1999, and his work has continued to expand. Today, WFIRM is a leader in translating scientific discovery into regenerative medicine clinical therapies.
Dr. Atala was elected to the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) in 2011 and inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. In 2014, he was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors as a Charter Fellow.
His innovative work has been recognized with several prestigious awards, and he has led or served on many national professional and government committees. In addition, he has founded organizations, including the Tissue Engineering Society and Regenerative Medicine Society.
Dr. Atala is the editor-in-chief of Stem Cells-Translational Medicine and BioPrinting and an author or coauthor of more than 800 journal articles.
Dr. Michelassi Is Vice-Chair
Fabrizio Michelassi, MD, FACS, a gastrointestinal surgeon, was elected Vice-Chair of the BoR.
Dr. Michelassi is the Lewis Atterbury Stimson Professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine, and surgeon-in-chief of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine, both in New York. He is renowned for his expertise in the surgical treatment of gastrointestinal and pancreatic cancers, as well as for his innovative treatments for inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
An ACS Fellow since 1987, Dr. Michelassi has held several leadership positions in the organization. He has been Regent since 2016, serving on the BoR’s Research and Optimal Patient Care Committee, Antiracism Committee, and others. Since 2021, Dr. Michelassi has been Chair of the Program Committee, which designs the educational program of Clinical Congress. He also has been Chair of the Board of Governors and served on numerous other ACS committees.
