including The Diverse Surgeon’s Initiative.
Eddie Hoover, M.D.
Title: Professor of Surgery, State University of New York, Buffalo; Editor, Journal of the National Medical Association
Specialty: Thoracic Surgery
Hoover is a founding member of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons and Association of Black Cardiothoracic Surgeons. For the last seven years, he has made trips to sub-Saharan Africa to distribute medical supplies and equipment.
Leonel Hunt, M.D.
Title: Director of Spine Trauma, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Institute for Spinal Disorders and Orthopaedic Center
Specialty: Orthopaedic Spine Surgery
Hunt is an adult and pediatric spinal surgeon who specializes in scoliosis and complex spinal disorders utilizing minimally invasive surgical techniques. He is a co-founder of HuntSpine.com, a practice dedicated to providing across-the-board spine care. This expert lectures on innovative treatments of spine-related pain.
Lynt Johnson, M.D., M.B.A.
Title: Professor & Vice Chairman of Department of Surgery, Chief of Division
of Transplant Surgery, and Director of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Georgetown
University Hospital
Specialties: Transplant Surgery, Hepatobiliary Surgery
Johnson is a leading doctor in transplant surgery and hepatobiliary surgery. One of his greatest achievements was founding the Liver Transplantation Program at the University of Maryland. He serves on the board of directors of United Network for Organ Sharing.
Kathie-Anne Joseph, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.S.
Title: Director of Research in General Surgery of Physicians & Surgeons,
Assistant Professor of Surgery, and Acting Medical Director of Women of Risk,
Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons
Specialty: Oncology
Joseph is the first African American woman to be appointed to the faculty of Columbia’s department of surgery. She has focused her research and practice on the area of breast cancer.
Donna Mendes, M.D.
Title: Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery, Columbia University; Senior Vascular Surgeon, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital
Specialty: Vascular Surgery
Mendes is the first African American female vascular surgeon to be certified by the American Board of Surgery. Mendes has focused her latest clinical research on the impact of race on vascular disease. She also conducts procedures to remove plaque from the neck’s vessels to prevent strokes and aneurysms.
Lisa A. Newman, M.D., M.P.H, F.A.C.S.
Title: Director, Breast Care Center; Associate Professor of Surgery, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Specialty: Surgical Oncology
Newman engages in special surgical techniques such as the skin-sparing mastectomy and lymphatic mapping/sentinel lymph node biopsy. Newman currently serves as chief national medical adviser for the Sister Network Inc., a national African American breast cancer survivors support organization.
Oluyinka Olutoye, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D.
Title: Associate Professor of Surgery and Obstetrics & Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine
Specialty: Fetal Surgery
Believing all things are possible, Olutoye has done the ultimate in pediatric surgery-operating on an unborn baby still inside its mother’s womb. During the fifth month of the pregnancy, Olutoye and fetal surgery colleague Darell Cass removed the tumor covering the baby’s tiny heart. Months later, a healthy baby boy was born.
Rogsbert F. Philips, M.D.
Title: General Surgeon and Breast Cancer Specialist, Metro Surgical Associates Inc.
Specialty: Surgery
Phillips is a general surgeon with a special interest in breast cancer. Since 2001, she has been involved in research a
nd clinical trials on a groundbreaking treatment for breast cancer called ductal lavage-the “Pap smear for the breast.”
Velma P. Scantlebury, M.D.
Title: Professor of