AAS COUNCILOR ELECTIONS: COUNCILOR MEMBER TO REPRESENT THE 2015 YEAR-OF-ENTRY GROUP
Each year, one Council member is elected for a two-year term for each year-of-entry group. This year’s elections consist of 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021 year-of-entry groups. Please vote for one candidate below by Monday, August 15, 2022 at 11:59pm PST so that we may complete this important election and notify you of your elected representative. Please use your Council member to convey your ideas and concerns to the Executive Council.
Name – Denis Foretia
Institution – University of Tennessee Health Science Center – Memphis
Statement of Interest – An active AAS member with previous service on the Global Affairs committee, I am honored to be considered for Councilor for the 2015 Class. I am an acute care surgeon. My training in surgery, public health, and management has fueled my interests in advancing surgical care delivery in underserved communities worldwide.
I am the Director of the Center for Multicultural and Global Health and the Associate Director of the Global Surgery Institute at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis. With experience as the Executive Chair of the Nkafu Policy Institute, I hope to continue serving AAS as a Councilor for the next three years.
Name – Jonah Stulberg
Institution – University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
Statement of Interest – I have been a dedicated member of the AAS since joining in 2015 when I first heard of the organization. Most recently, I chaired the Education Committee, a two-year term unfortunately modified by COVID.
Despite being an MD and PhD student at Case Western Reserve and then a Resident at Case Surgery, I had never heard of the AAS prior to becoming an attending. I have a passion for creating and supporting academic surgeons, and I strongly believe we need to expand the AAS presence into organizations that are traditionally less involved. Those in the “early-mid career” phase of their career are the perfect cohort for assisting with this mission. We, as a group, have overcome the early-career clinical nervousness and are often looking for “what’s next.” I would work to expand the efforts of the AAS to provide mentorship by reaching out to junior faculty and residents OUTSIDE of the early-mid career surgeon’s parent organization to invite others to get involved with academic surgery. From teaching the next generation in the operating room to leading clinical trials, I believe all surgeons at academic surgery programs across the country should be able to find a home with the AAS, and I want to work to expand our reach. I would be honored to represent the class of 2015 as a Councilor.
Name – Kathleen Romanowski
Institution – University of California, Davis
Statement of Interest – It would be my honor to be considered as Councilor for the Class of 2015. The first national meeting I ever presented at was the Academic Surgical Congress and I have made it a point to try to attend as often as possible. I have served on the Program Committee and on the Committee on Technology and Communications. I am currently serving as Chair of the Committee on Technology and Communications and have loved getting a chance to be part of the executive council for the last two years. If selected as Councilor for the class of 2015, I would work to continue to make AAS a strong organization that supports and promotes its members as they embark on a career in academic surgery.