A prominent trauma and critical care surgeon, Lena M. Napolitano, MD, FACS, is the new ACS Board of Regents (BoR) Chair. Additionally, the BoR appointed a new Vice-Chair, Douglas E. Wood, MD, FACS, FRCSEd, and a new Treasurer, Larry R. Kaiser, MD, FACS. Their elections to 1-year terms were announced yesterday following the Annual Business Meeting of Members, which concluded Clinical Congress 2025 sessions.
Dr. Napolitano is the Massey Foundation Professor of Surgery, founding chief of the Division of Acute Care Surgery, director of surgical critical care, and associate director of The Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation in the Department of Surgery at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Throughout her career, she has served as a leader for healthcare associations, including as the director of the American Board of Surgery, chancellor of the Board of Regents of the American College of Critical Care Medicine, a member of the Board of Managers of The American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and president of the ACS Maryland Chapter. In a statement, she expressed her commitment to “servant leadership” and her “ability to serve as a catalyst for change by inspiring and influencing others.”
She has been a Fellow of the ACS for 30 years and has spent several years in ACS leadership. Notably, she was a member of the Board of Governors from 2008 to 2014 and served as its Chair from 2011 to 2013.
She also has been a member of the BoR since 2018, during which time she has served on the Nominating, Central Judiciary, Finance, Investment, Executive, and Education Advisory Committees. She was elected Vice-Chair in 2024, a role she will vacate as she becomes Chair.
Dr. Wood Is Vice-Chair
Dr. Wood, the Henry N. Harkins Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle, is the new Vice-Chair. He is a general thoracic surgeon and renowned lung cancer expert who has been a member of the BoR since 2017. As a Regent, Dr. Wood has served on numerous committees, including the Executive Committee. He also served as the Chair of the Central Judiciary Committee for 6 years.
Dr. Wood is currently contributing to ACS Health Outreach Program for Equity in Global Surgery, the College’s global health initiative to help improve surgical access in Kigali, Rwanda. He previously participated with the Commission on Cancer as a council member and the Advisory Council for Cardiothoracic Surgery as a specialty society representative for several years.
Dr. Wood offered observations on his career pathway to surgical chair in an article in the ACS Brief in July, beginning with his rise from a rural Midwestern childhood to success as a first-generation college student at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Dr. Kaiser Is Treasurer
The BoR also named Dr. Kaiser as the new Treasurer this year. He is an adjunct professor of surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the Lewis Katz Dean Emeritus at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, and president, CEO, and Thomas W. Langfitt Chair of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
Dr. Kaiser brings substantial experience with financial performance to the role via his previous positions at multiple healthcare institutions. These include serving as president of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and president and CEO of Temple University Health System in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in addition to his current role as president and CEO at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
While not a member of ACS leadership before this appointment, Dr. Kaiser has been a Fellow of the ACS since 1987 and an instructor at the popular Surgeons as Leaders course since its inception. For the past several years, he has presented the finance in healthcare portion of the course.
