Thomas K. Varghese Jr., MD, MS, MBA, FACS, MAMSE

Dr. Varghese is a health services researcher whose clinical, research and operational experience are focused on the optimization of patient health before surgery, surgeon performance, and health system outcomes. He helped create the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Strong for Surgery program (https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/strong-for-surgery ) and is a co-PI on the National Cancer Institute RO1-funded clinical trial on the role of Precision Exercise Prescription (PEP) for elective lung cancer surgical resection (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/2831459 ).

Dr. Varghese has served in several leadership positions in organizations such as the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, American College of Surgeons, NCCN, Thoracic Surgery Directors Association, Cardiothoracic Surgery Network, and Society of University Surgeons. He is a founding member, and inaugural President of the Thoracic Surgery Outcomes Research Network (ThORN), a collaborative that now spans 29 institutions nationwide. He is a Past President of SUS (presidential term 2024-2025), and is the Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS), the 8^th editor in the 121-year history of the journal.