Seven Acclaimed Surgeons Receive Honorary ACS Fellowship

Honorary Fellowship in the ACS was conferred upon seven prominent surgeons from around the world at Convocation during Clinical Congress 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.

The granting of Honorary Fellowships is one of the highest honors bestowed by the ACS. Brief summaries of the 2025 recipients’ careers follow.

Hendrik Jacob (Jaap) Bonjer, MD, PhD, FACS, FRCSC, FASCRS

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Dr. Jaap Bonjer is an adjunct professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, chair of the Departments of Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Urology, and Emergency Medicine at the Amsterdam University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and a commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy Reserves.

Dr. Bonjer has been a visionary in surgical simulation-based education. After initiating several surgical education programs, including at Eramus University in Amsterdam and the Skills Centre for Health Sciences in Halifax, Canada, he became CEO of the Amsterdam Skills Centre for Health Sciences in Amsterdam. The Centre trains more than 7,000 healthcare professionals annually and has advanced the concept of entrustable professional activities. He has received the Amsterdam Impact Award for Life Sciences for founding this center.

In addition, Dr. Bonjer was president of the European Association for Endoscopic Surgery and Dutch Society for Surgery; a principal investigator on several colorectal and hernia surgery trials; and has published more than 300 articles and edited six books. He serves as editor-in-chief of Surgical Endoscopy.

Chintamani, MBBS, FACS, FRCS(Ed), FRCS(Eng), FRCS(Glas), FRCSI, FICS, FIMSA

New Delhi, India

Dr. Chintamani, who follows an Indian tradition of using just one name, is a prominent breast surgeon, surgical oncologist, researcher, and educator.

He currently chairs the Department of Surgical Oncology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi, India, and was previously the surgery unit chief at Vardhman Mahavir Medical College of Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, where he has supervised and educated hundreds of surgical trainees. He also maintains a YouTube channel through which he has published more than 300 operative and clinical training videos. In addition, he has published more than 160 scientific papers and 13 books and book chapters, is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences, and is joint editor of the Indian Journal of Surgical Oncology.

Dr. Chintamani has held several positions within the ACS, including as President of the India Chapter and a member of the Board of Governors. He also is the founding director of Breast Global and a member of the board of directors of the Indian Cancer Genome Atlas, and was president of the Association of Breast Surgeons of India, the Delhi Chapter of the Association of Surgeons of India, and the Indian Society of Wound Management.

Luis Grande, MD, PhD, FACS, ESA, RAMC

Barcelona, Spain

Professor Luis Grande, whose surgical career has focused on foregut and hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery and liver transplantation, is the emeritus chair of surgery at Hospital del Mar and an emeritus professor at Autonomous University, both in Barcelona, Spain.

Dr. Grande held prestigious positions at the Hospital Clinic of the University of Barcelona before moving to the Hospital del Mar of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. There, he was the elected director of the surgery service and later became a full professor.

Dr. Grande is a prolific researcher whose work on gastroesophageal reflux disease, liver preservation for transplantation, liver lesion ablation, and other gastrointestinal, esophageal, and liver disease topics, includes 38 book chapters, 460 articles, and more than 650 lectures. His work has resulted in an h-index near the top of global research impact.

The recipient of numerous awards, he is a member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Spain, represents Spain on the ACS Board of Governors, and serves on the Best Practices Workgroup and the Quality, Research, and Optimal Patient Care Pillar.

Cathal J. Kelly, MB, BCh, BAO, LRCSI & PI, BSc, MCh, FRCSI(Gen.)

Dublin, Ireland

Dr. Cathal Kelly is the CEO of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and vice chancellor of the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dublin, Ireland.

Dr. Kelly was a consultant vascular surgeon at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, for several years, as well as director of the Intermediate Cycle of the Undergraduate Medical Program, vice dean for curriculum change, and director of the research laboratory at the same institution. In 2006, he became dean of the RCSI Medical School, through which he helped create the first graduate-entry medical education program in Ireland. He also helped to pioneer Irish government–sponsored collaboration between the RCSI with the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa, through which more than 750 surgeons in 10 African nations have received education.

In 2009, Dr. Kelly was appointed CEO of RSCI. In this role, he contributed to RSCI becoming the first independent, nonpublic institution to be granted full university status from the National University of Ireland. As its first vice chancellor, Dr. Kelly has overseen the addition of numerous undergraduate and postgraduate programs in clinical care and healthcare management in Dublin, Bahrain, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and China, as well as the first community-based dental education school in Ireland and a School of Population Health.

Eduardo E. Montalvo‐Jave, MD, PhD, FACS

Mexico City, Mexico

Dr. Eduardo Montalvo-Jave is a leading hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) surgeon at the Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City, Mexico, where he currently serves as chair of the Department of Surgery. He also is a consultant and staff surgeon in the Division of HPB Surgery at Hospital General de México “Dr. Eduardo Liceaga” and surgeon staff in the Division of General and Endoscopic Surgery at Hospital Médical Sur in Mexico City.

A prolific researcher, Dr. Montalvo-Jave has published 122 articles and 53 book chapters and presented at hundreds of conferences, largely focusing on the development of biomarkers for HPB malignancies and liver fibrosis, ischemia reperfusion injury of the liver and oxidative stress, development of bio-prosthesis for bile duct replacement, and mechanisms and causes of bile duct injury. He also is on the editorial boards for several major journals in Mexico and has edited several textbooks on HPB and upper gastrointestinal tract disease.

Dr. Montalvo-Jave is the current president of the Mexican Association of Endoscopic Surgery, Latin American Association of Endoscopic Surgery, and local organizing committee of the World Congress of Surgery of the International Society of Surgery in Mexico City.

Gabriela Möslein, MD, PhD, FEBS, FASCRS(Hon)

Düsseldorf, Germany

Dr. Gabriela Möslein is a renowned authority on research and treatment of hereditary gastrointestinal tumor syndromes and a pioneer in pouch surgery and continent ileostomy. She currently serves as head of the Center for Hereditary Tumors at the Academic Hospital Bethesda in Duisburg, Germany.

Dr. Möslein previously has been a consultant in visceral surgery and coloproctology at the University of Düsseldorf, chair of the Department of Surgery at HELIOS St. Josefs-Klinik in Bochum, Germany, and chair of the Department of Hereditary Tumors at the University of Witten-Herdecke in Helios Universitätsklinikum Wuppertal in Germany.

Her research has included more than 150 papers on aspects of hereditary colorectal cancer, mutations in the mismatch repair system, polyposis syndromes, chemoprevention, registries, gender diversity, and women in surgery. She was a leader of the colorectal adenoma/cancer prevention project (CAPP2) trial.

A founding member and current chair of the European Hereditary Tumor Group, she also helped establish the International Society for Gastrointestinal Hereditary Tumors, where she served as chair and helped establish the Human Variome Project. In addition, she co-initiated the Prospective Lynch Syndrome Database to enhance understanding of genetic factors in cancer.

Rowan Parks, MD, PRCSEd, FRCSI, FFSTEd

Edinburgh, Scotland

Dr. Rowan Parks is an internationally renowned hepato‐pancreato‐biliary surgeon-scientist, educator, and leader who currently serves as a professor of surgical sciences at The University of Edinburgh and president of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, both in Scotland.

Dr. Parks has contributed to surgical education via several roles within the NHS Education for Scotland, where he has been chair of the General Surgery Specialty Training Committee, associate postgraduate dean, chair of the Scottish Specialty Training Board for Surgical Specialties, and deputy medical director. He has similarly held many roles within The University of Edinburgh Medical School, where he is currently chair of the Fitness to Practice Committee.

A recipient of 40 international awards, Dr. Parks traveled widely via early career fellowships and has since worked nationally and internationally on organizing many healthcare conferences. Similarly, his leadership has extended to national and international positions, including as past president of both the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland and the Great Britain and Ireland Hepato‐Pancreato‐Biliary Association, a past director of the James IV Association of Surgeons, and a past treasurer of the European-African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association.

View the full citations and sponsors for the Honorary Fellows, plus the list of all Fellows inducted during Clinical Congress, in the 2025 Convocation program at facs.org/convocation.