Thomas A. D’Amico, MD, Gary Hock Endowed Professor of Surgery, chief of General Thoracic Surgery, and director of the Thoracic Oncology program at Duke Cancer Institute, has been appointed to a two-year term as medical director of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS).

The AATS Medical Director is responsible for assisting the association in its efforts in content planning, faculty selection, and faculty development. The person in this role is also the physician champion during the ACCME (Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education) re-accreditation process and interviews.

According to an announcement published in the AATS Update (December 2020 issue), D'Amico was chosen for this role "based on his leadership, expertise, and continued support of the association."

"AATS is honored to have Dr. D’Amico serve as it’s medical director for the next two years," read the announcement.

D’Amico earned his MD from the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University after completing undergraduate studies at Harvard University. He received training in general surgery and thoracic surgery at Duke University Medical Center. D’Amico joined Duke as a faculty member in 1996 following completion of a fellowship in thoracic surgical oncology at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

As director of the Thoracic Oncology Program of the Duke Cancer Institute, D’Amico supervises the clinical and research programs in lung cancer and esophageal cancer. As a member of the Duke Quality and Safety Committee and the Perioperative Executive Committee, he is involved in improving safety and quality in patient care.

In addition to AATS, he holds leadership positions with the Society of Thoracic Surgeons and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. He is also active in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), as a member of NCCN Board of Directors and Guidelines Steering Committee, the chair of the Quality and Outcomes Committee, as well as a member of the Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Small Cell Lung Cancer Guidelines Committees, and co-chair of the Esophageal Cancer Guidelines Committee.

D’Amico is also an associate editor of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery and serves on the editorial board of the Annals of Surgery.