Starnes 1st Woman Named President-Elect for National Thoracic Organization

Sandra Starnes, MD, John B. Flege Jr. Chair and associate professor in the Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, and co-director of the Comprehensive Lung Cancer Center at the UC Cancer Institute, is the first woman to be named president-elect for the Thoracic Surgery Directors Association (TSDA).

She will serve in this role for a two-year term, after which she will serve as president for two years. 

There have been 20 presidents since the organization's founding in 1976, and all thoracic surgery training programs are members of the TSDA, which is responsible for overseeing the education of all thoracic surgery residents and fellows in the United States.

Sandra Starnes, MD, is a thoracic surgeon who specializes in mediastinal tumors and minimally invasive lung surgery.

Sandra Starnes, MD, is a thoracic surgeon who specializes in mediastinal tumors and minimally invasive lung surgery.

Tags

Related Stories

3

The subtle changes in hearing you should never ignore

August 4, 2026

It’s easy to dismiss changes in hearing as minor. But as The Washington Post recently reported, these symptoms could also signal a medical emergency that many people don’t recognize — known as sudden sensorineural hearing loss, a rapid decline in hearing that occurs suddenly or over a few days.