Samuel D. Gross Professor Dr. Charles J. Yeo Named American Surgical Association Vice President
The decorated physician continues Jefferson’s legacy with the oldest U.S. surgical association.
The prestigious American Surgical Association (ASA) has named Jefferson’s Dr. Charles J. Yeo its 2025-2026 vice president.
In October 2005, Jefferson appointed Dr. Yeo as its eighth Samuel D. Gross Professor, and he assumed the chairmanship of the department of surgery at Sidney Kimmel Medical College. Eleven years later, Dr. Yeo was named senior vice president and chair of enterprise surgery at Jefferson Health. He currently serves on the board of trustees of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Dr. Yeo’s primary interests and research focus on alimentary tract surgery, specifically hepatopancreaticobiliary surgery—the evaluation of patients with pancreatic, biliary and related cancer, and the management of patients with unusual pancreatic neoplasms and acute and chronic pancreatitis.
This is particularly meaningful to me since the organization was founded by Jefferson’s Dr. Samuel D. Gross in 1880 and Dr. John H. Gibbon Jr. served as its president roughly 70 years ago.
The author of over 680 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 125 book chapters and 31 books or monographs, Dr. Yeo has performed over 1,930 Whipple procedures and treated over 3,000 patients with pancreatic and related cancers.
In addition, Dr. Yeo has supported a Jefferson writing contest since its 2021 inception. The competition promotes creative writing throughout the enterprise. Each year, the Drs. Theresa and Charles Yeo Writing Prize tackles a different societal issue as its theme.
Being named ASA vice president, Dr. Yeo joins an esteemed list of Jefferson physicians who have served the oldest and most prestigious U.S. surgical association.
“I am honored to be elected to this position of vice president of the ASA,” Dr. Yeo says. “This is particularly meaningful to me since the organization was founded by Jefferson’s Dr. Samuel D. Gross in 1880 and Dr. John H. Gibbon Jr.—well known as the inventor of the heart-lung machine—served as its president roughly 70 years ago. I am looking forward to next year’s meeting in Seattle.”