SAN FRANCISCO (October 20, 2024) — The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has named Thomas K. Varghese Jr., MD, MS, MBA, FACS, MAMSE, as the next Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS). Dr. Varghese’s appointment was announced during the opening ceremony of the ACS Clinical Congress 2024 in San Francisco, California. Dr. Varghese will formally begin his term as JACS Editor-In-Chief in March 2025.
Dr. Varghese is chief of the section of general thoracic surgery at University of Utah Health, professor (tenure track) in the Department of Surgery at University of Utah Health, and chief value officer (inpatient and ambulatory) at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. He has previously served in editorial roles, including editorial board member and deputy editor, digital media and scholarship, for the Annals of Thoracic Surgery, editorial board member for Perioperative Care and OR Management, and editorial board member for CTS Net, in addition to ad hoc reviewer for numerous other journals.
“In every aspect of my professional career and my involvement in journals and academic publishing, I’ve always looked through the lens of, ‘How can we do better?’ ‘What are we learning?’ ‘How do we communicate this?’ ‘How do we learn from the community around us?’” said Dr. Varghese, who will begin transitioning into his new role in January 2025.
As JACS Editor-In-Chief, Dr. Varghese succeeds Timothy J. Eberlein, MD, FACS, who has served in the role since 2004.
“Dr. Eberlein has done a phenomenal job of really paying homage to the history of JACS and implementing modern-day best practices. It is one of the world’s oldest surgical scientific journals. There is an outstanding foundation of excellence built by all the prior Editors-In-Chief and the JACS editorial team,” Dr. Varghese said.
“Dr. Varghese’s commitment to the advancement of surgical research and his extensive ACS involvement over the years has positioned him well to lead the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. His vision will build upon the excellent work over the last 20 years by Dr. Tim Eberlein,” said ACS Executive Director & CEO Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS. “We thank Dr. Eberlein for his many years of service and his important work on behalf of the Journal, and we welcome Dr. Varghese as we look to the next phase of scientific publishing encompassing all disciplines within the House of Surgery.”
Vision for JACS
In his vision for JACS, Dr. Varghese said he hopes to create a space where those who are committed to improving surgical science can come together, learn from each other, and detail the new advances in the House of Surgery that will transform services, systems, and the lives of patients.
Dr. Varghese is also passionate about making JACS as user-friendly as possible by embracing digital media, bringing high-quality information to every reader, and further improving the quality of their interaction with the information.
“It’s really about delivering surgical expertise to your fingertips. That’s the goal — get the best of science in JACS, and then deliver it to our readers in the format they wish,” said Dr. Varghese.
Dr. Varghese also stressed the value of scientific findings for the general public. “Any time there’s a new scientific breakthrough or a new article of impact that is published in JACS, we need to make sure that it is delivered and communicated to patients in formats that are easy to understand and access,” he said. In that vein, he also noted the importance of working with health care reporters to help deliver important information to their audiences.
ACS Involvement
Among Dr. Varghese’s previous roles with ACS include serving as a Governor-at-Large on the ACS Board of Governors, Chair of the Board of Governors Nominating Committee for the ACS Board of Regents, Vice Chair of the Board of Governors Best Practices Workgroup, member of the Board of Governors Quality, Research, and Optimal Patient Care Pillar, member of the Board of Governors Telehealth & Informatics Workgroup, and Utah Chapter Governor.
Dr. Varghese also launched the ACS Strong for Surgery program, which he first developed at the University of Washington and later brought to the ACS. Through this program, Dr. Varghese aimed to help every surgical patient become healthier and better prepared for their surgery, with associated improved clinical outcomes, and faster recovery. Strong for Surgery uses a pre-surgery checklist to help with education, communication, and standardization of best practices in health systems.
About Thomas K. Varghese Jr., MD, MS, MBA, FACS, MAMSE
Dr. Varghese and his wife, Angel, live in Utah. They have two children. Dr. Varghese earned his medical degree from Government Medical College – Trivandrum, University of Kerala, India, where he also completed his internship. Subsequently, he completed his general surgery residency and a research fellowship in the division of organ transplantation at Northwestern University, a Master of Science in clinical investigation, also at Northwestern, his cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at the University of Michigan, and an Executive MBA at the University of Utah.
“MAMSE” designates that a surgeon has been elected as Member of the ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators.
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About the American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The ACS is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The ACS has approximately 90,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. “FACS” designates that a surgeon is a Fellow of the ACS.
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