29. What is the Difference? Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Representation and Salary Among Academic Cardiothoracic Surgeons

Robert S.D. Higgins, MD, MSHA, serves as president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and executive vice president at Mass General Brigham, roles he assumed in December 2021. A distinguished academic and clinical physician with a long track record of collaborative leadership, Dr. Higgins joined the Brigham from John Hopkins, where he led the Department of Surgery as Surgeon-in-Chief and the William Stewart Halsted Professor of Surgery.

Dr. Higgins obtained his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and his medical degree from the Yale School of Medicine, followed by a master’s degree in health services administration at Virginia Commonwealth University. He completed a residency in general surgery at the University Hospitals of Pittsburgh. He was a Winchester Scholar and fellow in cardiothoracic surgery at the Yale School of Medicine and served as a senior registrar in transplantation at the renowned Papworth Hospital in the U.K. He has served in numerous national professional leadership roles, including the President of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the President of the American College of Surgeons Society of Surgical Chairs, and the President of the United Network for Organ Sharing. He has authored more than 250 scientific articles and book chapters.

Dr. Higgins is a proven innovator with the ability to manage complex, multidisciplinary services at world-class organizations, and a passionate advocate for research with a life-long commitment to training the next generation of exceptional people in healthcare.

Dr. Cherie P. Erkmen is a Professor of Thoracic Surgery at Temple’s, Lewis Katz School of Medicine. She is the Founding Program Director of Temple’s ACGME Thoracic Surgery Residency. Her clinical expertise is in management of thoracic malignancies, and lung disease using robotic and minimally invasive techniques. Her research focuses on health care delivery systems and disparities in health care. In addition to multiple publications and presentations, she is the Principal Investigator of the prestigious American Cancer Society – Pfizer Grant studying dissemination of lung cancer screening among African Americans and Co-Investigator on multiple federally funded grants including Temple’s U54 study of lung cancer study in low-income African Americans. Dr. Erkmen is devoted to education and serves as the Chair of the Thoracic Surgery In-Service Exam, Associate Board Examiner for the American Board of Surgery and member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Committees of Diversity and Inclusion and Media Relations.