Five prominent vascular surgeons have been named “at-large” members of the SVS Executive Board (EB), which has been newly restructured and expanded to increase diversity of perspective and better meet the Society’s evolving needs.
They are Chelsea Dorsey, MD, Yazan Duwayri, MD, Katherine Gallagher, MD, Vikram Kashyap, MD, and Robert Molnar, MD. All are involved SVS members, leading education or policy initiatives, serving as committee or section members and chairs, and performing other roles.
The expansion is the result of a bylaws referendum in 2023 that received strong support from the membership to change the board’s structure and composition. The new at-large positions expand the Executive Board from nine to 11 members and replace three “designated” positions.
“This completes an initiative begun by the Executive Board in 2019 to examine the governance structure of the SVS and make adjustments to meet the changing and growing needs of our members and the Society,” said SVS President Matthew Eagleton, MD.
An open call for nominations resulted in 45 applications that were reviewed by the SVS Nominating Committee. The committee then presented its recommendations to the Executive Board for consideration and final approval. Considerations included, among others, merit and achievement, qualifications, proficiencies, and gaps in expertise on the EB as identified by the SVS’ Strategic Board of Directors.
Chelsea Dorsey
Dorsey is an associate professor in the Section of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy at the University of Chicago Medicine. She serves as associate dean for medical student academic advising and advancement at the Pritzker School of Medicine and as vice chair in the Department of Surgery.
Her research interests include workforce diversity in surgery, augmentation of inclusive practices in the surgical environment and optimizing academic resources for diverse learners in the undergraduate medical education space.
Yazan Duwayri
Duwayri is a professor of surgery at Emory University School of Medicine and is co-director of the Emory Aortic Center. He leads his institution’s participation in several aortic device trials as the site principal investigator. Since April, he has been the chief for the Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy at Emory Healthcare.
His current research focus is outcomes and quality improvement in vascular surgery. He has held national leadership positions in the SVS, including as a member of the executive council of the SVS Patient Safety Organization. He also served as medical director of the Southeastern Vascular Study Group (SEVSG), which is dedicated to tracking outcomes and improving the quality of vascular surgical interventions.
Katherine Gallagher
Gallagher is professor of surgery, professor of microbiology and immunology and vice chair of basic and translational science in the Department of Surgery at the University of Michigan. She is an expert in the molecular pathogenesis of wound repair and has contributed substantially to the understanding of epigenetics in immune cells associated with tissue repair, cardiovascular diseases, sepsis and, most recently, COVID-19.
Her research has been supported by multiple grants. In addition to memberships in several associations, Gallagher is a mentor to junior faculty and trainees in medical research and has trained many postdoctoral residents to be the next generation of scientists.
Vikram Kashyap
Kashyap is the endowed chair of the Frederik Meijer Heart and Vascular Institute and the vice president for Cardiovascular Health at Corewell Health in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He formerly worked at the Cleveland Clinic for nearly 20 years, including as chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy and the co-director of the Vascular Center of the Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio.
He is principal investigator of several clinical studies of new vascular stents, grafts and prostheses. He leads a national trial on transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR).
Robert Molnar
Molnar is based in Flint, Michigan, and is a member of the Michigan Vascular Center, one of the oldest private practice vascular surgery groups in the U.S.
Molnar is past chair of the SVS Clinical Practice Section and SVS Subsection of Outpatient and Office Vascular Care (SOOVC), a clinical professor in the Michigan State University Department of Surgery, associate program director of the University of Michigan Health-Sparrow general surgery residency, chair of the Department of Surgery and director of surgical education at McLaren Regional Medical Center, and faculty member of the McLaren vascular fellowship program.
Molnar has been active in clinical research, including being local principal investigator in more than 70 national clinical trials conducted at his facility.
