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Michael S. Nussbaum, M.D., F.A.C.S., has been named chair of the department of surgery at the University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville, effective July 1.

Nussbaum said the surgery department's strong reputation for training surgical residents and fellows, teaching medical students, performing state-of-the-art translational and basic research and delivering excellence in patient care influenced his decision to accept the position.

"My understanding of UF's mission as it relates to the department of surgery is to train the next generation of surgeons, to create the new knowledge that underlies the biology of surgical disease and that shapes future practice, to respond to unmet health care and social needs in the community, and to provide specialist surgical services to Jacksonville and the region," he said. "What influenced me most was the potential to further develop a high-quality, highly specialized department of surgery."

Robert Nuss, M.D., dean of the University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville regional campus and associate vice president for health affairs, said Nussbaum will play a vital role in expanding the department's clinical, educational and research programs.

"He will bring considerable leadership experience, energy, dedication and commitment to the growth of our programs. His national reputation as an academic surgeon is stellar, and he is highly regarded as an educator and minimally invasive surgeon," Nuss said.

Nussbaum earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and completed a general surgery residency at the University of Cincinnati Hospital. He has been on the faculty at the University of Cincinnati since 1986, where he was the interim chair of the UC Department of Surgery for 2006-2007, assistant dean for hospital affairs and vice chair for clinical affairs in the department of surgery. For the

past eight years, Nussbaum has served as the chief of staff of the UC Hospital. He is certified in surgery and critical care by the American Board of Surgery.

Nussbaum has held numerous prestigious appointments throughout his medical career. He served as a councilor with the Association for Academic Surgery and chaired the Society of University Surgeons' Committee on Surgical Education. In addition, he was a member of the Board of Governors of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons and a governor-at-large with the American College of Surgeons for the state of Ohio.

Nussbaum also has filled key leadership positions with the American Board of Surgery as a director, chair of the diplomats committee, chair of the plans committee and member of the executive committee.

In addition, Nussbaum's research appears in more than 70 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. He is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology, the American College of Surgeons, and the American Surgical Association. He is also a member of numerous surgical and scientific organizations.

Nussbaum said he hopes to add to the already strong programs in acute care, cardiovascular, oral and maxillofacial, pediatric, urologic, thoracic and transplant surgery. These include developing research programs in natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery, which is an emerging experimental alternative to conventional surgery that eliminates abdominal incisions. He will recruit additional surgical specialists with expertise in minimally invasive surgery, bariatric surgery, surgical oncology, breast oncology, and colon and rectal surgery. He also will seek to build a robotic surgical program that would allow UF and Shands Jacksonville to become a regional leader in advanced minimally invasive, robotic, bariatric gastrointestinal, oncologic, urologic and endocrine surgery.

"My goal is to make the UF Department of Surgery at Shands Jacksonville the foremost place where patients and referring physicians find specialized surgical treatment. I envision an environment where surgical faculty members want to build their careers, residents learn advanced surgical care and where scientific investigators create the new knowledge that translates into breakthroughs in surgical care," he said. "My wife and I are excited to become a part of the Jacksonville region and to help improve the overall health and well-being for our new community."