American Association for Thoracic Surgery

American Association for Thoracic Surgery
Name	American Association for Thoracic Surgery
Abbreviation	AATS
Formation	1917
Headquarters	New York City
Region served	United States; international members
Membership	Cardiothoracic surgeons, cardiac surgeons, thoracic surgeons
Leader title	President

Contents

American Association for Thoracic Surgery is a professional society for surgeons specializing in operations of the heart, lungs, esophagus, and mediastinum. Founded in 1917, the organization brings together clinicians and researchers to advance surgical practice related to Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, and other leading centers. The Association interacts with institutions such as American College of Surgeons, European Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Royal College of Surgeons of England, World Health Organization and collaborates with specialty societies like Society of Thoracic Surgeons and American Heart Association.

History

The Association traces its origins to early 20th‑century practitioners at institutions including Massachusetts General Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital (Manhattan), Pennsylvania Hospital, Bellevue Hospital, and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Early members included figures associated with Harvey Cushing, William Halsted, Theodore Billroth, and contemporaries from John Hunter's legacy. The organization developed alongside milestones such as the development of the heart‑lung machine at Peterborough‑area labs, innovations by surgeons at Guy's Hospital, and contributions from teams at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, University of Michigan Health System, and Stanford Hospital. Over decades the Association engaged with events like the postwar expansion of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center surgical programs, the emergence of subspecialty societies in Toronto General Hospital and Royal Melbourne Hospital, and global meetings tied to World Congress of Cardiology.

The Association's mission emphasizes patient care, research, and education, aligning with entities such as National Institutes of Health, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Wellcome Trust, and national regulatory bodies like Food and Drug Administration. Governance comprises an elected Board of Directors and officers drawn from surgical leaders at centers including Columbia University Irving Medical Center, NewYork‑Presbyterian Hospital, UCSF Medical Center, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and University College London Hospitals. Committees liaise with professional regulators including American Board of Thoracic Surgery and academic partners such as Yale School of Medicine and Duke University School of Medicine.

Membership is composed of academic and clinical surgeons affiliated with institutions like Tufts Medical Center, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, University of Toronto, and McMaster University. Criteria for membership reference contributions comparable to leaders at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and research funding sources including National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute grants. Honorary and international members have included surgeons from Hôpital La Pitié-Salpêtrière, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Seoul National University Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and Shanghai Zhongshan Hospital.

The Association hosts annual scientific meetings with programming similar in scale to conferences at American Medical Association gatherings and collaborates with symposiums held at Royal Society, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts venues for plenary sessions. Program topics align with research presentations from investigators at Broad Institute, Salk Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Karolinska Institutet. Educational efforts include courses modeled after programs at European Society for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery conferences, simulation workshops like those at Children's Hospital Boston simulation centers, and international outreach in partnership with Doctors Without Borders initiatives and training sites such as Hospital das Clínicas da Unicamp.

The Association recognizes excellence through named awards and lectureships analogous to honors at Royal College of Physicians, Gairdner Foundation, Lasker Foundation, and prizes awarded in venues such as Carnegie Hall ceremonies. Recipients often hail from institutions like Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Oxford, and University of Cambridge. Honorary lectures have featured leaders associated with Nobel Prize laureates and prominent investigators from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.

Advocacy efforts coordinate with policy stakeholders including Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, National Academy of Medicine, European Medicines Agency, and national health ministries represented by delegations from Ministry of Health (United Kingdom), Health Canada, and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (India). Clinical practice guidelines are developed in concert with specialty guideline panels similar to processes at American College of Cardiology, European Society of Cardiology, British Thoracic Society, and reference works from World Heart Federation and International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Guideline dissemination targets hospitals such as Hôpital Européen Georges‑Pompidou, Hospital Clínic Barcelona, and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital to influence perioperative standards and patient safety initiatives championed by organizations like Institute for Healthcare Improvement and Joint Commission.

Category:Medical associations based in the United States