CHICAGO — Six distinguished surgeons with leadership positions in global health across the nation and abroad will be recognized for their relentless efforts to bring surgical care to underserved communities worldwide, receiving the 2025 American College of Surgeons (ACS)/Pfizer Surgical Volunteerism and Humanitarian Awards.
The honorees will be celebrated at the ACS Clinical Congress 2025 during the annual Board of Governors reception and dinner. The awards, presented by the ACS Board of Governors Surgical Volunteerism and Humanitarian Awards Workgroup, are administered through the ACS Health Outreach Program for Equity in Global Surgery (ACS H.O.P.E.®).
Linda P. Zhang, MD, FACS, director of global surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, will receive the ACS/Pfizer Academic Global Surgeon Award for her efforts in shaping the future of surgical education and care in low- and middle-income countries. Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Zhang co-led the creation of the Kyabirwa Surgical Center in Uganda, the country’s first ambulatory surgery facility. Her leadership also helped launch a new surgical residency in Liberia and establish laparoscopic training centers across eight countries, reaching more than 280 surgeons.
Ziad C. Sifri, MD, FACS, division chief of trauma and surgical critical care at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, will receive the ACS/Pfizer International Surgical Volunteerism Award for his efforts to deliver free, high-quality surgical care to underserved communities worldwide with the International Surgical Health Initiative (ISHI), which he co-founded. Under his leadership, ISHI has conducted 37 surgical missions across countries — including Bangladesh, Ghana, Peru, the Philippines, and Sierra Leone — mobilizing more than 700 volunteers and performing nearly 3,000 surgeries.
Thomas Romo III, MD, FACS, a double board-certified facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon, will receive the ACS/Pfizer Domestic Surgical Volunteerism Award for his work providing life-changing surgical care to children with complex facial deformities. Dr. Romo is the founder and medical director of the Little Baby Face Foundation (LBFF), a nonprofit organization that provides free, comprehensive facial reconstructive surgery to underserved children from the U.S. and around the world. Under Dr. Romo’s leadership, LBFF has served more than 660 children from 22 countries and 40 states, performing nearly 2,500 procedures to date.
Tamara J. Worlton, MD, FACS, FASMBS, director of Surgical Operations at the Center for Global Health Engagement at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Maryland, will be honored with the ACS/Pfizer Military Surgical Volunteerism Award for her work strengthening surgical systems in low-resource and conflict-affected settings while mentoring the next generation of global health professionals. A Navy surgeon, academic leader, and global health advocate, Dr. Worlton has led trauma training and disaster preparedness missions in more than a dozen countries, including Djibouti, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Uzbekistan.
Nathan Brand, MD, a surgical resident at the University of California, San Francisco, will be recognized with the ACS/Pfizer Resident Surgical Volunteerism Award for his dedication to building global health programs focused on long-term sustainability and collaboration with local partners to develop context-specific solutions, especially in East Africa. Dr. Brand has led or co-led numerous initiatives to expand surgical training and improve access to specialized surgical services in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
William Rhodes, MD, FACS, a board-certified general and plastic surgeon, will be honored with the ACS/Pfizer Surgical Humanitarian Award for his unwavering commitment to delivering surgical care in some of the world’s most underserved and austere environments. Since 1999, Dr. Rhodes has served full-time at AIC Kapsowar Hospital in rural western Kenya, where he performs a full spectrum of general and reconstructive procedures, from cleft lip repairs and complex burns to craniotomies and cesarean deliveries, often in resource-limited settings.
Learn more about each recipient’s activities in the ACS Bulletin.
Editor’s Note: Photos of the award winners are available upon request from the ACS Office of Public Information. Email: pressinquiry@facs.org.
