Barbara Bass

Barbara Lee Bass, M.D. is the chair of the department of surgery at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas and Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College. A general surgeon with a practice in surgical oncology, Dr. Bass has enjoyed a 30-year career in academic surgery: treating patients, training young and mature surgeons; leading research programs in basic, translational and clinical research; and serving the profession of surgery with leadership roles. She served as Chair of the American Board of Surgery, the organization that certifies surgeons for practice; Chair of the Board of Governors and member of the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons; and President of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, among others. Dr. Bass has led initiatives to develop innovative pathways in surgical training and in the development of the first national system to measure the quality of surgery – the NSQIP. A member of many editorial boards, Dr. Bass has published widely in surgical quality and education, oncology, and physiology. Honors include the Nina Starr Brunwald and Olga Jonasson awards from the Association of Women Surgeons for her work in promoting and improving surgery as a career for women. Her most recent project is MITIE – the Methodist Institute for Technology Innovation and Education, an education and research institute focused on retraining surgeons in practice in new technologies, coupled to research on the development of technologies to improve that vital process. A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Dr. Bass previously held positions in the VA health care system and served in active duty as a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps.