AWS & AWSF News

NEWS & DEADLINES

• Conference & Gala Registration is now open! Register now for Early Bird Pricing.
• AWS Fellowship Grants are now accepting first round applications from eligible members, including those in a clinical fellowship. Submit by June 11.
• Apply to be in the Shining Star Leadership Coaching Program by June 11.
• AWSF Resident Travel Award applications are open through June 25! Submit an application to receive funds to support your travel to the 2026 AWS Annual Conference.
• Become a reviewer for the 2027 AWS Edition of the American Journal of Surgery. Apply here by June 18.
• The 2026 LSS & AWS Visiting Professor is Dr. Helen M. Johnson. Host applications are now open and due by July 29.
• Applications now open for the ACS 2026 Claude H. Organ Jr., MD, FACS Traveling Fellowship. Submissions due by July 10.
• Submit a nomination by June 26 for the 2027 BJS Award - an international recognition award that celebrates an individual's excellence in surgical science.

• Read the AWS Blog and apply to be an author.
• Listen to new episodes on the AWS Podcast.
• Check out opportunities on the AWS Job Board.
• Follow AWS on Instagram.

Mentor Spotlight: Dr. Youmna Sherif

About the Mentor

Dr. Youmna Sherif is an Independent Plastic Surgery Resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Sherif completed her undergraduate degree at Duke University where she designed her own major exploring the impact of biopsychosocial factors on healthcare. Her passion for global health began during this time as she worked with Non-Governmental Organizations in Both Honduras and Turkey.  After graduating with honors, she went to Singapore to complete a Medical Education, Research and Evaluation fellowship at Duke-NUS School of Medicine. 

She subsequently matriculated into the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine where she completed her Medical Doctorate Degree. During medical school she continued to pursue global health efforts and explored the impact of biopolitics on the hepatitis C endemic in Egypt.

BOOK REVIEW - SKILL: 40 Principals That Surgeons, Athletes, and Other Elite Performers Use to Achieve Mystery

Author: Dr. Christopher S. Ahmad

Book Reviewer: Amy Lu

In SKILL, Dr. Christopher Ahmad delivers an insightful contribution to the literature of surgical education and performance science. Known as the head team physician for the New York Yankees and Chief of Sports Medicine at Columbia University, Dr. Ahmad brings a unique perspective as both an elite orthopedic surgeon and a trusted confidante to world-class athletes. With SKILL, he turns his attention to the process behind the outcome: how mastery is built, one principle at a time.

Book Review - Bold Women of Medicine: 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries, Daring Surgeries, and Healing Breakthroughs

Book by Susan M. Latta
Review by Morgan Carter

Mentor Spotlight: Dr. Alan W. Flake

About the Mentor

Dr. Alan W. Flake is a world-renowned pediatric and fetal surgeon whose pioneering work has reshaped the field of fetal diagnosis and therapy. He is an attending surgeon in the Division of Pediatric General, Thoracic, and Fetal Surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where he holds the Ruth M. and Tristram C. Colket, Jr. Endowed Chair in Pediatric Surgery. As a Professor of Surgery and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Flake is internationally recognized for advancing fetal intervention, neonatal surgery, regenerative medicine, and innovative treatments for life-threatening congenital disorders. His early experimental work in fetal lambs helped establish foundational principles in fetal surgery and continues to inform modern techniques used around the world.

For more than two decades, Dr. Flake has directed a highly influential National Institutes of Health funded research laboratory dedicated to developing prenatal therapies for genetic and anatomic abnormalities. Under his leadership, the Center for Fetal Research has achieved landmark breakthroughs, including in utero stem cell and gene therapy approaches and a physiologic support system for extremely premature infants with the potential to transform the treatment of prematurity. He has authored more than 350 peer-reviewed publications and over 100 review articles and book chapters, and he has served on numerous NIH study sections and editorial boards spanning hematology, stem cell biology, and fetal therapy. Dr. Flake is also widely respected for his mentorship of the next generation of surgeons, including the many women whom he has supported, trained, and championed as they rise to leadership roles across pediatric and fetal surgery.

Book Review - The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir

Book by Dr. Michele Harper
Review by Dr. Wissam Benhami

Mentor Spotlight: Dr. Chantal Reyna 

About the Mentor

Chantal Reyna, MD, MHA, FACS, FSSO is a fellowship trained, board certified surgeon, specializing in diseases of the breast. She completed general surgery residency at the University Of Nevada School Of Medicine and her breast surgical oncology fellowship at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida. She has experience practicing in a variety of clinical settings and is the current Oncology Clinical Lead of Breast Oncology and the Section Chief of Breast Surgical Oncology at Loyola University Medical Center. Her experience provides a unique perspective in clinical program building in both academic and community settings. She speaks nationally and internationally about career development, including professional identity and branding. She is currently on the executive council for the Association of Women Surgeons and the Latino Surgical Society. She is an avid soccer fan, musical theater fan, enjoys reading and traveling internationally.

Book Review - Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science

Book by Dr. Atul Gawande
Review by Amy Lu

In Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science, Dr. Atul Gawande offers a compelling and sobering examination of the practice of medicine from the vantage point of a surgical resident. Far from glorifying the field, Gawande embraces its imperfections, laying bare the uncertainties, moral ambiguities, and learning curves that define clinical decision-making. Through a series of narrated essays, he challenges the notion of physicians being all-knowing and infallible, instead presenting doctors as fallible human beings working within a system of high-stakes judgment.

Mentor Spotlight: Dr. Joan Delto

Mentor Spotlight:  Dr. Emily Faulks

Book Review: Constipation Nation

Author: Dr. Carmen Fong, MD, FACS

Book Reviewer: Hannah Eng, OMS-IV

Book Review: When Breath Becomes Air

Author: Paul Kalanithi 

Book Reviewer: McKenzie Mayer 

Mentor Spotlight: Crystal Totten MD

Dr. Crystal Totten is a general surgeon at the University of Kentucky Healthcare in the Division of Gastrointestinal and Minimally Invasive Surgery and is an associate professor of surgery at UK College of Medicine. Additionally, she holds positions as Co-Vice Chair of Professionalism and Integrity, Medical OR Director of Good Samaritan OR, and Fellowship Director for GEMS Advanced GI MIS Fellowship. Dr Totten received her medical degree and completed her general surgery training at the University of South Florida and went on to complete a fellowship in minimally invasive surgery and abdominal wall reconstruction at UK in 2016. She returned to UK in 2018 where she specializes in laparoscopic and robotic procedures and has interests in swallowing disorders, hiatal hernia and abdominal wall reconstruction. She is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the Society of American and Gastrointestinal Surgery, and the American Hernia Society. 

AWS Breaking the Glass Ceiling Program 2025

Denise Lo, MD

In June 2025, I attended the Emerging Women Executives in Health Care course at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. This 4-day program was attended by women of diverse professional and personal backgrounds united by a common goal to develop as leaders within their respective fields in health care. The course was divided into 3 themes over 4 days: Looking Inward, Leadership Deployed, and Leadership Expanded.

Mentor Spotlight: Dr. Cornelia Griggs

Dr. Cornelia Griggs is a pediatric surgeon, critical care specialist and assistant professor in surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Griggs is the surgical director of the MGH Pediatric Weight Center as well as Quality and Safety Chair for the Division of Pediatric Surgery, Surgical PICU Director, and the Director of Pediatric ECMO. She is a health services researcher with a focus on the treatment and prevention of severe pediatric obesity and childhood injury prevention. She is also currently finishing a master’s degree in clinical effectiveness at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Griggs is also an author. Her first book, The Sky Was Falling, a national best-seller, was published in March of 2024.

Book Review: Cutting a Path: The Power of Purpose, Discipline, and Determination

Author: Dr. Sheri Dewan

Book Reviewer: Taraf Jaro

Book Review: What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear

Author: Danielle Ofri, MD

Book Reviewer: Sadie English

Mentor Spotlight: Dr. Amanda Baright

Amanda Baright, DO, FACOS, FACS graduated from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, she completed her general surgery internship and residency at Metro Health Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI. She currently serves as the Chair of Surgery at Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine. Including an undergraduate Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine fellowship at KCOM, she has nine years of experience in undergraduate medical education. She enjoys advising future osteopathic medical students on pursuing careers in surgery and anesthesiology, incorporating OMM into practice, and teaching simulation medicine.

Moving from Known to Unknown

by AWS Research Fellow,  Holly Lewis MD PhD

MENTOR SPOTLIGHT: Stacey Darwish

Ms. Stacey Darwish (MBChB, FRCS) is a Consultant Spine Surgeon based in the National Spine Injuries Unit (NSIU @nsiuresearchgroup), Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, St. Vincent’s University Hospital, and Mater Private Network in Dublin, Ireland. She was awarded an MBChB from the University of Glasgow and continued her medical training by earning her FRCS in Trauma and Orthopaedics from the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh. She then furthered her training and expertise by embarking on fellowships in both paediatric & adult deformity (Scottish National Deformity Service, Edinburgh) and complex adult spine surgery (National Spine Injuries Unit, Dublin), focusing on evolving technologies including navigation and robotics. As both a nationally and internationally renowned researcher, Ms. Darwish is currently interested in research topics revolving around trauma, frailty, and evolving surgical technology. Most recently she was integral in the commencement of mixed reality navigation in Mater Misericordiae University Hospital.