People

Chi-Fu Jeffrey Yang

President

•Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

•Director, Research & Infrastructure, MGB Thoracic Surgery

•Founding Director, Center for AI & Innovation Research (CAIIRE), MGH

Dr. Chi-Fu Jeffrey Yang is a thoracic surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital, Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, and Director of Research and Infrastructure for the Mass General Brigham Division of Thoracic Surgery. He is the Founding Director of the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Innovation Research at MGH and the Founder and Chair of the American Lung Cancer Screening Initiative (ALCSI). He serves as principal investigator (or co-PI) and project leader on multiple NIH-funded grants, including an R01, R18, and R21, and leads a research portfolio totaling approximately $15 million. He has senior authored studies in JAMA, Journal of Clinical Oncology, British Medical Journal, Annals of Surgery and other top journals.

Biniam Kidane

Vice President

•Associate Professor of Surgery, University of Manitoba

•Medical Director, Wilf Taillieu Thoracic Clinic & Endoscopy Unit

•Wilf Taillieu Thoracic Clinic & Endoscopy Unit Research Director

Dr. Biniam Kidane is the Medical Director of the Wilf Taillieu Thoracic Clinic & Endoscopy Unit at Health Sciences Centre, University of Manitoba, focusing on esophageal and lung cancer. He also focuses on peri-operative care and lung-protective ventilation. In his spare time, he enjoys mentoring trainees and building collaborative research partnerships.

Brooks Udelsman

Treasurer

•Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of USC

•Director, Thoracic Division Medical Student Rotation Program

Dr. Brooks Udelsman directs the Thoracic Division Medical Student Rotation Program at Keck Medicine of USC, specializing in thoracic and foregut disease. He focuses on advanced robotic techniques and studies health services delivery and surgical palliative care. In his spare time, he enjoys mentoring the next generation of surgeons.

Clinton Morgan

Secretary

•Assistant Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Kentucky

•Faculty Surgeon, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, UK HealthCare

Dr. Clinton T. Morgan, MD, PhD, FACS is an Assistant Professor of Thoracic Surgery in the University of Kentucky’s Division of Thoracic Surgery and serves as the Secretary of ThORN. He is a general thoracic surgeon specializing in minimally invasive robotic surgery and is board certified by the American Board of Surgery and American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Dr. Morgan serves on multiple society committees and task forces including the STS Thoracic Surgical Curriculum Task Force, STS Workforce on Evidence Based Surgery, and the ACS CoC Quality Assurance and Data Committee. Dr. Morgan’s research interests include outcomes research in the treatment of lung cancer, esophageal cancer, and diseases of the mediastinum.

Aniruth Ananthanarayanan

Program Coordinator

Aniruth Ananthanarayanan serves as Program Coordinator for the Thoracic Surgery Outcomes Research Network (ThORN). He is a Barry Goldwater Scholar and Regeneron Science Talent Search Scholar. His work focuses on epidemiological and population-level studies in thoracic surgery, leveraging large clinical datasets to analyze outcomes and improve care.

Joseph D. Phillips

Past President

•Associate Professor of Surgery, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

•Investigative Member, Immunology and Cancer Immunotherapy Program, Dartmouth Cancer Center

Dr. Joseph D. Phillips, MD FACS is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Dartmouth Health and The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. He is a general thoracic surgeon specializing in minimally invasive robotic oncologic surgery with research interests in tumor immunology in non-small cell lung cancer and health services research, including implementation of patient reported outcomes to improve care in the areas of smoking cessation, lung cancer and esophageal cancer. He is the Immediate Past-President of ThORN and has served on the Board of Directors of ThORN since 2020. He also serves on the Executive Councils of the Association for Academic Surgery and the Society of University Surgeons and is the Chair of the Mid-Career Development Task Force for the Workforce on Career Development of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

David Odell

Past President

•Section Head, Thoracic Surgery, University of Michigan

•John Alexander Distinguished Professor of Thoracic Surgery

•Vice Chair of Quality, Department of Surgery, University of Michigan

Dr. David Odell is the Section Head of Thoracic Surgery and Vice Chair of Quality for the Department of Surgery at the University of Michigan, and served as a President of ThORN.

Robert A. Meguid

Past President

•Stan & Mary Ellen Cope Family Endowed Chair in Thoracic Surgery, University of Colorado

•Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Research, University of Colorado School of Medicine

Dr. Robert A. Meguid holds the Stan & Mary Ellen Cope Family Endowed Chair in Thoracic Surgery at the University of Colorado and served as the inaugural President of ThORN from 2020–2022.