Haejin In, MD, MBA, MPH
Term: 2012–2014
Dr. Haejin In joined the ACS as a Clinical Scholar in Resident in November 2012. Her research interests focused on health outcomes research including cost effectiveness, patterns of resource utilization, identification and implementation of best practices, and issues of incentive alignment in medicine with a particular focus in cancer care. Her prior research includes a National Cancer Institute funded postdoctoral fellowship with the Program in Cancer Outcomes Research Training (PCORT) at the Massachusetts General Hospital at which time she worked with the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Center and the Center for Outcomes and Policy Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. During her time at the ACS, Dr. In explored methods to improve the ACS National Cancer Database (NCDB) and patterns of care in cancer recurrence.
Dr. In was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, and earned her medical degree from Dongguk University, South Korea. She completed her general surgery residency training at Boston University Medical Center. She also holds a master’s degree in business administration from Boston University and a master’s in public health from Harvard University.
Mila Ju, MD
Term 2012–2014
Dr. Mila Ju joined the ACS Clinical Scholars-in-Residence Program in July 2012 after finishing three years of integrated vascular surgery training at Northwestern University. Her work as a Clinical Scholar involved several surgical quality improvement projects, such as ACS Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program (CUSP) pilot, ACS Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey (S-CAHPS) project, and National Quality Forum and Physician Quality Reporting System initiatives development.
Dr. Ju received her MD from the University of Kansas and her bachelor’s in biomedical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. She was the first resident to enter the 0–5 Integrated Vascular Surgery residency program at Northwestern in 2009.
Jennifer Paruch, MD
Term 2012–2014
Dr. Jennifer Paruch began her Surgical Oncology Scholar-in-Residence at the ACS in July 2012 after completing three years of general surgery residency at the University of Chicago. As a Clinical Scholar, she worked on several surgical quality improvement initiatives, including the ACS NSQIP Risk Calculator, a review of program accreditation, developing cancer quality measures, and evaluating hospital performance for cancer surgery.
Dr. Paruch completed her undergraduate education at the University of Chicago and her medical education at the University of Michigan. She completed her fellowship in colon and rectal surgery at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center. Her interests are in surgical oncology, surgical outcomes, and surgical ethics.
Naveen Sangji, MD
Term: 2012–2014
Dr. Naveen Sangji is a general surgeon with expertise in surgical critical care and acute and reconstructive burn surgery. She received her BA from Pomona College and her MD cum laude from Harvard Medical School in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. She also obtained a master’s in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Sangji completed her General Surgery residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, followed by fellowships in Surgical Critical Care and Acute and Reconstructive Burn Surgery.
Dr. Sangji’s research focuses on improving access to high-quality burn care. She is a recipient of the 2024-2026 ACS Faculty Research Fellowship. In addition to her clinical and research work, she has a strong interest in healthcare policy and serves on the ACS delegation to the American Medical Association House of Delegates. Dr. Sangji is the Director of the University of Michigan Burn Center and Acting Director of the State of Michigan Burn Coordinating Center (SBCC).
Elliot Asare, MD
Term: 2013–2015
Dr. Elliot Asare was the first American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Clinical Scholar-in-Residence at the ACS. He began his fellowship in July 2013 after completing three years of general surgery residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Asare’s work focused on a number of projects with the AJCC, including improving the prognostic ability of TNM stage by incorporating significant non-anatomic factors and working with AJCC staff and technical writers to improve and transform the next AJCC staging manual. He was also closely engaged with disease site expert panels, evidence-based medicine core, and precision medicine core that were assembled for the 8th edition of the Cancer Staging Manual.
Dr. Asare completed his undergraduate education at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA, and his medical education at Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, DC. His research interests include improving cancer data quality, cancer staging, prognostication, surveillance, clinical trials, and outcomes research.
Sanjay Mohanty, MD, MS
Term: 2013–2015
Dr. Sanjay Mohanty began his tenure as the ACS/American Geriatrics Society (AGS) James C. Thompson Geriatrics Surgical Fellow in 2013 after completing two years of general surgery residency at Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI. During his time at the ACS, he worked on several geriatrics-related projects, including developing a set of best practice guidelines for the perioperative care of geriatric patients, determining the risk factors for postdischarge institutionalization following surgery, and understanding the location preferences of patients receiving complex surgical care. He also participated as a member of an AGS-sponsored panel developing Clinical Practice Guidelines on Postoperative Delirium.
Dr. Mohanty completed his undergraduate education at the University of Michigan and earned his medical degree from Indiana University. His work focuses on geriatric surgical outcomes, quality improvement, and oncology, with particular emphasis on improving cancer and surgical care delivery for older adults through data science and health services research.
Ravi Rajaram, MD
Term: 2013–2015
Dr. Ravi Rajaram was the Surgical Oncology Scholar-in-Residence at the ACS from 2013 to 2015 with a focus in surgical outcomes and quality improvement research as they relate to general surgery and surgical oncology. He also has a career interest in thoracic surgery. His work at the ACS included evaluating readmission in thoracic surgery, examining use and timing of adjuvant therapy for lung cancer, and developing quality metrics for lung cancer care.
Dr. Rajaram completed his undergraduate education at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and his medical education at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, TN. He completed his general surgery residency at the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University, followed by a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center / Memorial Hermann. He also earned a master’s degree in health services and outcomes research at Northwestern University. Dr. Rajaram is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, with a clinical focus on thoracic surgical oncology and ongoing involvement in clinical and health services research.
Shuddhadeb Ray, MD, MPHS
Term: 2013–2015
Dr. Shuddhadeb Ray is a cardiothoracic surgeon at Washington University Cardiothoracic Surgery at Christian Hospital, where he specializes in the care of patients with heart, lung, and esophageal conditions. He earned his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 2011, completed his general surgery residency and a Master of Population Health Sciences degree at Washington University School of Medicine, and finished his thoracic surgery fellowship at Washington University in 2020.
Dr. Ray specializes in both cardiac and thoracic surgery, offering advanced procedures such as heart valve surgery, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), and mechanical circulatory support for advanced heart failure. He also treats diseases of the chest, including lung and esophageal cancer, GERD, and pleural disease, using both open and minimally invasive techniques, including robotic-assisted surgery.
Michael Wandling, MD, MS
Term: 2014–2016
Dr. Michael Wandling was an ACS Clinical Scholar-in-Residence from 2014–2016, where he focused his research on trauma and emergency surgery. He completed his general surgery residency at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL. Specifically, his initial work focused on the prehospital transport of gunshot wound victims and the impact it has on morbidity and mortality. He also studied the posthospital disposition and rehabilitation of severely injured patients, DVT/VTE quality measures in trauma, and the impact of public reporting on clinical outcomes and quality improvement.
In addition to his research, Dr. Wandling worked on the Emergency General Surgery Pilot at the ACS and had an active role in the Illinois State Quality Improvement Collaborative. Dr. Wandling was also a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University’s Institute of Public Health and Medicine, where he earned a master’s degree in health services and outcomes research. He pursued a career in trauma, emergency surgery, and surgical critical care.
Elizabeth Berger, MD, MS
Term: 2014–2016
Dr. Elizabeth Berger was an ACS Clinical Scholar-in-Residence from 2014 to 2016. Her focus at the ACS was on breast cancer research and outcomes. She was also a general surgery resident at Loyola University Chicago. While at the College, she worked with the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to evaluate recent trends of nodal dissection in early-stage breast cancer after breast conservation and systemic therapy. Additionally, she assisted with the adoption and success of quality measures for improving care in breast cancer and worked closely with the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) to evaluate outcomes of accredited centers. She also collaborated on a longer-term project that evaluated the effectiveness of routine surveillance versus symptom-based imaging on the detection of recurrence in breast cancer. Along with her other projects, she also worked with Dr. Bilimoria on the Illinois State Quality Improvement Collaborative, with a focus on the educational component within each hospital and how to most effectively implement quality and process improvement education. While at the ACS, she completed a master’s degree in health services and outcomes research at Northwestern University.
Julia Berian, MD
Term 2014–2017
Dr. Julia Berian completed a three-year ACS Clinical Scholar-in-Residence fellowship. She completed her residency at the University of Chicago Medical Center, IL. Dr. Berian received her medical degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Her interests are in colorectal diseases and surgical care of the elderly patient.
Dr. Berian's primary focus during her research fellowship was the Coalition for Quality in Geriatric Surgery, building a comprehensive quality program for the surgical care of older adults. In addition, Dr. Berian helped to lead the Enhanced Recovery in NSQIP (ERIN) Pilot Project. She also worked closely with the Oncology NSQIP NCI Center Consortium as well as the Illinois Surgical Quality Improvement Collaborative. Dr. Berian has presented her work at national meetings and has published in high quality surgical journals.
During her research time, Dr. Berian completed a master’s degree in health sciences and outcomes research through Northwestern University.
Kristen Ban, MD, MS
Term: 2015–2017
Dr. Kristen Ban was an ACS Clinical Scholar-in-Residence from 2015 to 2017. Her interests broadly included health services and quality improvement research. Her health services research work included an evaluation of the ProPublica Surgeon Scorecard (individual surgeon public reporting) outcome measure compared to validated outcomes in ACS NSQIP. She was involved in the Illinois Surgical Quality Improvement Collaborative (ISQIC), where she helped develop a video coaching collaborative for colorectal surgeons. In addition, she performed a systematic review to update the ACS Surgical Site Infection Guidelines. In her second year of fellowship, she helped write a proposal for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to develop and implement enhanced recovery protocols across five procedures with a goal of impacting patient care on more than 1,000 service lines nationally. This proposal was funded, and she helped develop the enhanced recovery protocol and data collection platform for the colorectal cohort.
Additionally, Dr. Ban did outcomes research in the area of enhanced recovery using data from the Enhanced Recovery in NSQIP (ERIN) Pilot. In addition to her research, she was involved in the development of quality reporting measures for CMS and advised on an update to the ACS Surgeon Specific Registry.
Dr. Ban completed a Bachelor of Science at Duke University and obtained her medical degree from Loyola University Chicago after completing two years of translational research at the Curie Institute in Paris, France. She completed her residency in general surgery at Loyola University Chicago. During her research time, she completed a master’s degree in clinical research methods and epidemiology at Loyola University Chicago.
