Dr. Wexner is the physician executive director and system chief for colorectal surgery and Professor and vice chair for professional development for the department of surgery at Georgetown University and the MedStar Health system.
Dr. Wexner was the director of the Ellen Leifer Shulman and Steven Shulman Digestive Disease Center from 2013 to 2025 and was on staff at Cleveland Clinic Florida since 1988. He was the chair of the department of colorectal surgery from 1993-2024 and is now the Emeritus Chair. Dr. Wexner was chief of staff from 1997-2008, chief academic officer from 2008-2012, and chairman of the Division of Research and Education from 1995-2012.
From 2012-2021, Dr. Wexner was a regent of the American College of Surgeon (ACS), and from 2020-2021 served as vice-chair of the Board of Regents, vice-chair of the finance committee, vice-chair of the executive committee, and regental liaison for the Board of Governor’s executive committee. In 2019, Dr. Wexner became the inaugural chair of the ACS Commission on Cancer (CoC) National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer. He has also been a member of the CoC executive committee since 2017. Dr. Wexner previously had and currently has many other roles in the ACS.
Dr. Wexner is the past president of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons Research Foundation (2014-2016), past president of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (2011-2012), past president of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery (2010-2011), and the past president of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (2006-2007). Dr. Wexner served for six years as a governor to the ACS, past chair of the ACS advisory council for colon and rectal surgery from 2001-2005, and a member of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education residency review committee for colon and rectal surgery from 1999-2004. On a local level, he has also served as the president of the Florida Gastroenterologic Society (2004-2005) and for two terms as the president of the South Florida Chapter of the ACS (2000-2004). Dr. Wexner has also been granted six patents and has successfully licensed intellectual property.
Dr. Wexner holds or held additional academic appointments as Affiliate Professor at Florida Atlantic University; Clinical Professor at Florida International University; Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University; Honorary Professor, Department of Targeted Intervention, Division of Surgery & Interventional Science of University College London; Visiting Professor Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London; Professor of Surgery, University of Siena, Siena, Italy; Visiting Professor, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Hadassah Medical Organization, Jerusalem, Israel; Visiting Professor at the University of Belgrade in Serbia; and an honorary professor in the Department of Colorectal Surgery at Tongji University in Shanghai, China. Heis also an Honorary Consultant Surgeon at University College Hospital London and sees patients at the Harley Street Specialist Hospital in London.
In 1999, he was awarded an FRCS from the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, Scotland, and in 2000 he was awarded an FRCS ad eundum from the Royal College of Surgeons in England. In 2008, the German Surgical Society elected him as an honorary fellow. In 2008, he received an FRCS by unanimous election of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the highest distinction conferred by the Council, and was inducted as an honorary member of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland. In 2011, he was elected as an honorary lifetime fellow of the Colorectal Society of Australia and New Zealand. In 2012, Dr. Wexner was awarded the degree of PhD honoris causa by the University of Belgrade. In 2013, he was awarded professor emeritus of I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University. In 2015, he was awarded honorary membership in the European Surgical Association and in the European Society of Coloproctology. In 2016, Dr. Wexner was recognized by Cleveland Clinic Florida as a Master Clinician. In 2017, Dr. Wexner was awarded, honorary fellowship in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and in 2018 was appointed as an honorary professor at University College London. In 2019, Dr. Wexner was inducted as a member of the Academy of Master Surgeon Educators and was awarded an honorary fellowship by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, Scotland. In 2022, he received an honorary fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of England. In 2024, Dr. Wexner was elected as an honorary member of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons.
Dr. Wexner was the first surgeon in North America to popularize the colonic J-pouch for rectal cancer. Due to the study in which he participated and published, that procedure is now an acceptable standard of care for patients with rectal carcinoma. The same is true with his innovations for fecal incontinence and research of laparoscopy for colon and rectal cancer. In 2020, Dr. Wexner became an Editor-in-Chief of the journal Surgery. Dr. Wexner has published over 1200 manuscripts, 274 textbook chapters, and 218 editorials and/or invited commentaries. He has been the editor or co-editor of 44 textbooks or freestanding volumes to date. He is an active member of 43 learned societies and has held more than 70 appointed or elected offices in these societies. He is an honorary member of the surgical societies in Israel, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Hong Kong, Wales, Chile, South Africa, Central America, and Singapore and has held over 80 visiting professorships and delivered 2,292 scientific lectures. He has received 44 national, international, and regional awards for his research and is the founding Symposium Director of the Annual International Colorectal Disease Symposium held annually for over 35 years in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He has been the host educator to thousands of surgeons from around the world and is very active in social media.
In September 2025, Dr. Wexner was listed by Stanford and Elsevier amongst the top 2% of the most cited scientists in 198 scientific fields and subfields. He ranked 34th among surgeons in all specialties and 11th amongst all GI surgeons with an H index of 101 with 41,216 citations; he is the most cited living colorectal surgeon (LINK). He also authored or co-authored 5 of the top 100 cited papers in benign anorectal disease including the most frequently cited manuscript on anorectal disease (LINK). He is among all scientists in all fields of science as #1500 in the USA and #2614 in the world with a D index of 121. He was also named by a 2024 Highly Ranked Scholar by ScholarGPS.
