Department of Surgery Executive Vice Chair Honored

Edward Phillips, MD, executive vice chair of Cedars-Sinai’s Department of Surgery, has been elected as a fellow in the American Surgical Association, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious surgical organization.

Phillips, MD, FACS, has been a leader in developments for minimally invasive surgery and has been renowned for his contributions to advanced laparoscopic surgical techniques. He also serves at Cedars-Sinai as: director of the Saul and Joyce Brandman Breast Center -- a Project of the Women’s Guild at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute; chief of the Division of General Surgery; director of the Wasserman Breast Cancer Risk Reduction Program at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute; director of the Center for Weight Loss; and a surgeon at the Colorectal Cancer Center of Excellence.

“Membership in the American Surgical Association places Edward Phillips in excellent company, including him among the brightest and most influential surgeons from across the nation,” said Bruce Gewertz, chair of the Department of Surgery, vice president for interventional services and the H&S Nichols Chair in Surgery. “We congratulate him on this national recognition of his outstanding career at Cedars-Sinai.”

The American Surgical Association, the premier organization of surgical science and scholarship, was founded in 1880 and provides a leading forum for presenting breakthroughs in the field of surgery. Its members include the most prominent surgeons from leading medical institutions across the nation and the globe. Members are inducted after its selection committee conducts a rigorous review of candidates’ credentials and professional achievements..

Phillips is the Karl Storz Chair in Minimally Invasive Surgery in honor of Dr. George Berci. Phillips has practiced surgery at Cedars-Sinai for more than 25 years, earning recognition as leading practitioner, clinical researcher and authority on laparoscopic surgery and diseases of the breast. He was the first to perform many abdominal laparoscopic procedures and therapeutic micro-endoscopy of the mammary ducts. He holds nine U.S. patents in the surgical field.

He is a member of several professional societies, including the American College of Surgeons, Pacific Coast Surgical and Western Surgical Societies. He has lectured throughout the United States and in 13 foreign countries. He is the author of seven textbooks and his articles have appeared in numerous prestigious journals, including the Annals of Surgery, Archives of Surgery and World Journal of Surgery.

Phillips earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of California, Berkeley, and his medical degree from the USC School of Medicine. After completing his internship and residency at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, he served as resident supervisor and instructor there.

Phillips joins seven other Cedars-Sinai colleagues as an American Surgical Association fellow: Gewertz; Donald C. Dafoe, MD, Armando Giuilano, MD, Andrew Klein, MD, FACS, Leon Morgenstern, MD, FACS, and Randy Sherman, MD.