Vascular Surgery Board
Kwame Sarpong Amankwah, M.D.
Dr. Amankwah is chief of the division of vascular and endovascular surgery in the department of surgery at the University of Connecticut Health Centre in Farmington. He also holds academic appointments as program director of the integrated vascular residency program, professor of surgery and vascular medicine, and associate program director of the vascular surgery fellowship.
Dr. Amankwah received his medical degree from Albany Medical College in New York and completed his general surgery residency training at the State University of New York at Brooklyn, followed by fellowships in vascular surgery at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., and endovascular and interventional radiology at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. His clinical expertise includes the full spectrum of vascular and endovascular procedures, with an emphasis on advanced aortic and peripheral interventions.
A long time volunteer for the ABS, Dr. Amankwah is involved with educational development for both the ABS general surgery and vascular surgery SCORE curriculums. He has served as a consultant for the ABS Vascular Surgery Qualifying and Certifying Examinations (VSQE and VSCE) and is currently an examiner for the VSCE.
In addition to his work with the ABS, Dr. Amankwah is involved with development of the United States Medical Licensing Examination, serves as a surgery item writer and reviewer for the National Board of Medical Examiners, and is an editorial board member for the Journal of Vascular Surgery, Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, and Annals of Vascular Surgery: Brief Reports and Innovation. He has held leadership roles across many national and regional organizations, including the Society for Vascular Surgery, the Association for Surgical Education, the New England Society for Vascular Surgery, and the Eastern Vascular Society.
Ravi R. Rajani, M.D.
Ravi R. Rajani, M.D.Dr. Rajani serves as the executive associate dean at Emory at Grady within the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. Prior to this role, he served as the chief of vascular and endovascular surgery and the co-director of the Grady Heart and Vascular Center at Grady Memorial Hospital. He has significant educational leadership experience, previously serving as the assistant dean for medical education at Emory. He is currently the Leon L. Haley, Jr. Distinguished Professor within the Emory University School of Medicine and is the chair of the Emory Medical Care Foundation.
Dr. Rajani received his medical degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor before completing his general surgery residency training at the Cleveland Clinic. He completed a fellowship in trauma and surgical critical care at Emory University School of Medicine, and then returned to the Cleveland Clinic to complete a fellowship in vascular surgery.
His clinical and research interests include his role as principal investigator for several trauma-specific clinical trials, with a focus on refining thoracic stent graft technology for treating blunt aortic injury. His investigator-initiated research has primarily focused on healthcare delivery to disadvantaged populations, particularly in the management of diabetic foot ulceration.
Dr. Rajani is the current president of the Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Society. He is editor for Annals of Vascular Surgery and serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Vascular Surgery. Dr. Rajani is a former consultant for the ABS VSCE committee and served on the editorial boards of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) VESAP4 and VESAP5. He has held additional leadership roles within many other national and regional organizations including the SVS.
Murray L. Shames, M.D.
Murray L. Shames, M.D.Dr. Shames is the Richard G. Connar Professor and Chair of the department of surgery at the University of South Florida Health Morsani School of Medicine in Tampa, where he also serves as a professor for the division of vascular surgery. In addition, he is the vice president, surgeon in chief, and co-chief for the Heart & Vascular Institute at Tampa General Hospital, where he serves as chair of the Tampa General Hospital Operating Room Governance Committee.
Dr. Shames received his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York before completing his residency in general surgery at the University of South Florida. He completed his vascular surgery fellowship training at Concord Hospital at the University of Sydney in Australia and the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
His clinical and research interests include role of simulation in resident education, outcomes after endovascular interventions for lower extremity arterial occlusive disease, aortic aneurysm pathophysiology, complex aortic aneurysm repair (novel devices), and quality initiatives in vascular care.
Dr. Shames has served as an examiner for the ABS VSCE, and a past president of both the Association of Program Directors in Vascular Surgery and the Florida Vascular Society. He has held leadership roles within many other organizations including the Association for Academic Surgery, the American College of Surgeons, the Society for University Surgeons, the Society for Vascular Surgery, the Southern Association for Vascular Surgery, and the Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Society.
Complex General Surgical Oncology Board
Michael E. Egger, M.D
Michael E. Egger, M.DDr. Egger is the associate program director of the complex general surgical oncology fellowship and associate professor at the Hiram C. Polk Jr., M.D., Department of Surgery at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, where he is also leader of the Cancer Care and Control Program at the Brown Cancer Center.
Dr. Egger received his medical degree at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and completed a residency in general surgery at the University of Louisville Hospital, followed by a fellowship in surgical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Currently, Dr. Egger is a doctoral degree candidate in the department of health management and systems sciences at the School of Public Health and Information Sciences at the University of Louisville.
His clinical practice includes melanoma; adrenal tumors; gastrointestinal cancers; liver, pancreas, and bile duct cancers; and sarcoma. His research interests involve clinical, translational, and healthcare delivery research focused on reducing and eliminating the impact of cancer on the health and well-being of patients, communities, and the healthcare system. His clinical research focuses on areas such as melanoma, specifically on surgical considerations for adoptive cell therapy treatments and clinical decision making for melanoma surgery, and clinical research to improve patient care in hepatobiliary, pancreatic, and other gastrointestinal cancers. He is currently participating in collaborative translational research to predict response to immunotherapy and to detect recurrence in melanoma, and on healthcare delivery research to improve cancer outcomes in rural communities, including access to screening and complex cancer care.
Dr. Egger is the current president of the Kentucky Chapter of the American College of Surgeons and a past president of the Hiram C. Polk, Jr., M.D. Surgical Society.
Pediatric Surgery Board
Mark V. Mazziotti, M.D.
Mark V. Mazziotti, M.D.Dr. Mazziotti is the program director for the pediatric surgery fellowship, education director for the department of surgery, and a professor of surgery and pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. In addition, he serves as the hospital’s general surgery ombudsman and undergraduate medical education site director.
Dr. Mazziotti attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and completed his residency in general surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, followed by a pediatric surgery fellowship at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He also has a Master of Education from the University of Houston.
His clinical and research interests include minimally invasive surgery, pectus excavatum, and pectus carinatum.
Dr. Mazziotti has been a consultant for the ABS Pediatric Surgery Qualifying Examination Committee for over a decade and currently serves as chair. He is the president-elect for the Association of Pediatric Surgery Training Program Directors, and has held leadership roles in organizations including the American Pediatric Surgery Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Surgery.
Transplantation Advisory Council
Kelly M. Collins, M.D.
Kelly M. Collins, M.D.Dr. Collins is surgical director of pediatric liver and kidney transplant at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, Wisc. She is also an associate professor in the department of surgery, division of transplantation and a pediatric surgeon at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison.
Dr. Collins received her medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee followed by residency training in general surgery. She then completed a fellowship in adult and pediatric abdominal transplantation and hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Her clinical interests include pediatric transplantation, patient education and the patient experience, living donor liver transplantation, and robotic surgery.
Dr. Collins holds multiple leadership positions with the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, including serving as the past co-chair of both the Fellowship Training Committee and the current Transplant Accreditation & Certification Council as well as a committee member of the Pipeline Committee and Peer Support Network. She is also a member of the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association Peer Support Network.
Sander S. Florman, M.D.
Sander S. Florman, M.D.Dr. Florman is the Charles Miller, M.D. Professor of Surgery and director of the Recanti/Miller Transplantation Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Prior to this, he was the director of abdominal transplantation at Tulane University and Children’s Hospital in New Orleans.
He received his medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Kentucky before beginning his surgical residency training at Tulane University. Following completion of his fellowship in hepatobiliary surgery and abdominal transplantation at Mount Sinai, Dr. Florman remained on staff there until returning to Tulane.
Dr. Florman has been very active in the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), having served on the Membership & Professional Standards and Liver & Intestinal Organ Transplantation Committees and as the chair of the region three and nine review boards. He co-chaired the down-staging group at the UNOS Hepatocellular Carcinoma Consensus Conference and was active on the Combined Liver/Kidney and Broader Sharing subcommittees.
Dr. Florman is the current president of the American Foundation for Donation and Transplantation. He is a member of many professional societies and has served on several American Society of Transplant Surgeons committees (ethics, bylaws, communications, CME and living donor). He has been very active with the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency, LiveOnNY, and Center for Donation and Transplant organ procurement organizations, having served on the board of directors of all three, and has published more than 250 manuscripts and 20 book chapters.
In Thanks
The ABS gratefully acknowledges the dedication and commitment of the following outgoing specialty board directors, whose terms are ending in September:
General Surgery Board
- Joseph T. Jenkins, M.D.
- Allison J. Robinson, M.D.
Vascular Surgery Board
- Kellie R. Brown, M.D.
- Andres Schanzer, M.D.
- Jason T. Lee, M.D.
Pediatric Surgery Board
- Kasper S. Wang, M.D.
Trauma, Burns, and Surgical Critical Care Board
- Deborah M. Stein, M.D.
Complex General Surgical Oncology Board
- John C. Mansour, M.D.
- Kelly M. McMasters, M.D.
- John D. Mitchell, M.D.
- Ronda S. Henry-Tillman, M.D.
- Jennifer F. Tseng, M.D.
Transplant Advisory Council
- Kim M. Olthoff, M.D.
About the ABS
The American Board of Surgery is an independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1937 for the purpose of certifying individuals who have met a defined standard of education, training and knowledge in the field of surgery. Surgeons certified by the ABS have completed at least five years of surgical training following medical school and successfully completed a written and oral examination process administered by the ABS. They must then maintain their board certification through ongoing learning and practice improvement activities.
The ABS offers board certification in general surgery, vascular surgery, pediatric surgery, surgical critical care, and complex general surgical oncology. It is one of the 24 member boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties.
AUGUST 15, 2025 |