CHICAGO — Daniel J. Boffa, MD, MBA, FACS, a thoracic surgeon at Yale University and expert in cancer quality and outcomes, recently began a two-year term as chair of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Commission on Cancer (CoC).
The CoC sets standards for cancer care at approximately 1,400 accredited programs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, which diagnose and/or treat more than 74% of all newly diagnosed cancers in the United States.
As chair, Dr. Boffa will help set priorities for the CoC, serve as a spokesperson on oncology issues addressed by the organization, and strengthen relationships with CoC-accredited programs. Among his priorities is helping hospital teams deliver high-quality cancer care amid financial and workforce challenges.
“I’m most excited about the responsibility of leading the Commission on Cancer. More than 1.5 million people with cancer each year trust their lives to Commission on Cancer hospitals. It is indescribable to work with teams of people that feel the magnitude of that responsibility and purpose, and together choose to run towards the hard things,” Dr. Boffa said. “We have a unique body of content expertise, structure, community, data and influence of health system priorities. I hope we leverage this position to increasingly allow Commission on Cancer hospitals to elevate their care.”
Dr. Boffa was announced as chair on September 26 during the CoC plenary session at the ACS Clinical Congress 2026 in Washington, D.C. He succeeds breast surgeon Laurie J. Kirstein, MD, FACS, who served as chair since 2024. Ko Un Clara Park, MD, FACS, an associate surgeon in the Division of Breast Surgery, assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, and director of research for Breast Surgery Network Sites at Mass General Brigham, was announced as vice chair.
The CoC brings together professional organizations dedicated to improving survival and quality of life for patients with cancer. Its accreditation program establishes quality standards and supports hospitals, treatment centers, and other facilities in improving cancer care. The CoC also provides reporting tools that allow cancer programs to benchmark and improve patient outcomes and maintains the National Cancer Database, which tracks national trends and demographics in cancer diagnoses.
“A first step in supporting CoC hospitals will be better preparing the people who carry out CoC priorities,” Dr. Boffa said. “From navigation and survivorship to screening, research recruitment, and cancer committee leadership, we need to help develop the experts the CoC depends on.”
A Fellow of the ACS since 2011, Dr. Boffa has held several leadership roles within the ACS and CoC, including chair of the Quality Assurance and Data Committee and most recently as vice chair of the CoC.
At Yale, Dr. Boffa serves as chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery and a professor of thoracic surgery. He specializes in treating lung and esophageal cancers and other conditions of the esophagus and chest, often using minimally invasive approaches. His research focuses on treatment for patients with advanced cancers and improving the quality of cancer care across hospital systems.
Dr. Boffa earned his medical degree with honors from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.
