Chung to lead surgery society
Dai Chung, M.D., professor of Surgery in the Department of Pediatric Surgery at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, has been elected president of the Society of University Surgeons.
Dai Chung, M.D.
He has held leadership roles on the society's executive council since 2002.
“I am truly honored to represent Vanderbilt in this role,” Chung said. “As president, my objective will be to reinvigorate and capture the interest of promising young surgeons to pursue careers in academic surgery, to further advance surgical sciences. Our research leads to vitally important scientific breakthroughs that can dramatically improve the lives of surgical patients.”
The Society of University Surgeons was established in 1938 to advance the art and science of surgery by encouraging its members to pursue original investigations, both in the clinic and in the laboratory, by developing methods of graduate teaching of surgery and by facilitating the exchange of ideas.
Chung is the third Vanderbilt faculty member elected president of the society, and will serve a one-year term. R. Daniel Beauchamp, M.D., chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences, was elected in 1999, preceded by H. William Scott, M.D., then chair of Surgery, who was elected in 1960.
Chung joined Vanderbilt in September 2009. Previously, he served as chief of Pediatric Surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch and the Children's Hospital in Galveston, Texas.
He earned his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch, where he completed an internship and residency in surgery.
Chung also completed a NIH research fellowship at Shriners Burns Hospital in Galveston and a fellowship in Pediatric Surgery at Children's Hospital Medical Center at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio.