The American Board of Surgery (ABS), the national certifying body for general surgeons and related specialists, is pleased to welcome five new directors to its specialty boards. Each director will begin a six-year term starting in September 2026.
General Surgery Board
Michael M. Awad, M.D., PhD, MHPE
Dr. Awad is a professor of surgery and vice chair of education in the department of surgery at Stanford Medical School in California. His practice focuses on minimally invasive foregut surgery, including laparoscopic, robotic, and endoscopic procedures. His specific areas of focus include paraesophageal and hiatal hernia repair, Heller myotomy, fundoplication, peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM), and surgical treatment of gastroparesis.
Dr. Awad received his medical degree from Brown University in Providence, R.I., and completed his general surgery residency training at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, followed by a fellowship in minimally invasive surgery at The Oregon Clinic. His clinical interests include outcomes in robotic and minimally invasive foregut surgery, surgical simulation, curriculum development, and foregut surgery databases. His educational interests also include the redesign of surgical training and the transition from medical school to residency.
In addition to his new role on the General Surgery Board, Dr. Awad is also director of the Goodman Simulation Center and Goodman Simulation Fellowship at Stanford. He is the chair of the Education Council for the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons and of the Education Committee for the American Foregut Society. He is also a past president of the Association for Surgical Education and a member of the American Surgical Association. His hobbies include swimming, hiking, and cinema.
Shanu Nikhil Kothari, M.D.
Shanu Nikhil Kothari, M.D.Dr. Kothari is chair and chief of surgery at Prisma Health in Greenville, S.C., and a professor of surgery at USC School of Medicine Greenville. His current clinical practice is focused on bariatric and foregut surgery.
Dr. Kothari received his medical degree from University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria and completed his residency at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation in La Crosse, Wis., followed by a fellowship in minimally invasive surgery at the Medical College of Virginia. His clinical and research interests include bariatric and foregut surgery, and surgical education and training.
In addition to this newly appointed role on the General Surgery Board, Dr. Kothari is a member of the ABS Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Focused Practice Designation Exam Committee and served as an examiner for the General Surgery Certifying Exam. He also used his expertise to help develop the EPA focused on bariatric surgery. Outside of his involvement with the ABS, he held leadership positions as past president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, The Fellowship Council, The Southwestern Surgical Congress, and The Wisconsin Surgical Society. His hobbies include boating, golfing, and spending time with his wife and daughters.
Lilah F. Morris-Wiseman, M.D.
Lilah F. Morris-Wiseman, M.D.Dr. Morris-Wiseman is associate professor, vice chair of education, and chief of the division of endocrine surgery in the department of surgery at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Her current practice is focused on endocrine surgery.
Dr. Morris-Wiseman received her medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans and completed her general surgery residency training at UCLA, followed by a fellowship in surgical endocrinology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She is currently working on a Master of Education in the Health Professions (MEHP) degree through Johns Hopkins. Her clinical interests include clinical and patient-focused outcomes for surgical treatment of endocrine diseases with a focus on hereditary genetics and her education research interests relate to development of novel learning strategies, particularly video-based surgical education.
Prior to her election to the General Surgery Board, Dr. Morris-Wiseman served on the ABS’s Exam Development Committee for the Adult Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery Focused Practice Designation Exam. She is also a member of the Surgical Council on Resident Education Editorial Board and of the Executive Council of the Maryland Chapter of the ACS. She is team lead of the Endocrine Surgery, Video-Based Education Committee of the American College of Surgeons and the chair of the Patient Advocacy Committee of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons. Her hobbies include hiking, gardening, cooking, and spending time with her family which includes her husband, three children, and Weimaraner.
Surgical Critical Care Board
Tejal S. Brahmbhatt, M.D.
Tejal S. Brahmbhatt, M.D.Dr. Brahmbhatt is an associate professor of surgery, chief of surgical critical care, and program director of surgical critical care and ACS fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. His current scope of practice is in acute care surgery including trauma, emergency general surgery, and surgical critical care.
Dr. Brahmbhatt completed his internship in general surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and his general surgery residency training at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. He completed his surgical training with a fellowship in traumatology, emergency general surgery, and surgical critical care at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. His research and clinical interests include surgical education, the psychological impact of surgical education on mental health, and point of care ultrasound.
In addition to his newly appointed role as a specialty board director, Dr. Brahmbhatt is an examiner for the ABS General Surgery Certifying Exam and serves as an ABS examination consultant for the General Surgery Continuous Certification Assessment. Dr. Brahmbhatt is the current president of the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons as well as the Society of Critical Care Medicine appointee to the editorial board of the Surgical Council on Resident Education. He is part of the editorial board for the Journal of Surgical Research, the American Journal of Surgery, and the Global Surgical Education-Journal of the Association for Surgical Education. He has been an invited guest on Behind the Knife: The Surgery Podcast where he was interviewed for a series on shame in surgical education. His hobbies include classical violin performance, advanced music theory and composition, oenology, and travel.
Nicole F Siparsky, M.D.
Nicole F Siparsky, M.D.Dr. Siparsky is the vice chair of academic affairs for the department of surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, where she is also the surgical director of the adult intensive care unit, the chief of acute care surgery and surgical critical care, and a professor of surgery.
Dr. Siparsky received her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine. She completed her general surgery residency at Washington Hospital Center in the District of Columbia, followed by fellowships in adult and pediatric multi-visceral abdominal transplantation at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and surgical critical care at McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University in Chicago. Her clinical interests include necrotizing soft tissue infection, abdominal compartment syndrome, shock, fluids, nutrition, and wound healing.
In addition to her involvement with the ABS, Dr. Siparsky is a current member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s governing council as well as a member of the editorial board of Critical Care Medicine, a top critical care journal. Her hobbies include exploring the great outdoors and nature photography.
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:
- D. Rohan Jeyarajah, M.D.
- Brent D. Matthews, M.D.
- Harry T. Papaconstantinou, M.D.
- Aurora D. Pryor, M.D.
Trauma, Burns, and Surgical Critical Care Board
- Amy N. Hildreth, M.D.
Complex General Surgical Oncology Board
- Peter Angelos, M.D., Ph.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 18, 2026 | Media Contact: Alyson Maloney