The Scanlan Family Scholars
Proudly Supports The
AATS Scanlan Family Valerie Rusch Mentored Career Development Award
Dr. Rusch is the Attending Thoracic Surgeon, Vice Chair of Clinical Research and was Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. She also is a Professor of Surgery at Cornell University Medical College. Dr. Rusch was among the first women in the country to be board certified in this field. She had a longtime friendship with Brigid Scanlan as they both had a deep passion for supporting women in cardiothoracic surgery and remains friends with The Scanlan Family.
2025Dr. Melek Ağkoç
Dr. Melek Ağkoç is a thoracic surgeon in Erzurum City Hospital in Erzurum, Turkiye. She has a focused interest in minimally invasive surgical strategies for lung cancer. Dr. Ağkoç will be joining an observational fellowship under the supervision of Dr. James
Read more
2024Dr. Anna Maria Garcia Cardoso
Anna is a Thoracic Surgery resident at “Pavilhão Pereira Filho Santa Casa de Misericórdia Hospital in Porto Alegre”, RS, Brazil. She completed her medical degree and general surgery training in the southern region of Brazil. She will be undertaking an
Read more
2023Dr. Penelope Adinku
Dr. Penelope Adinku is a Cardiothoracic Surgeon with the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana. She completed her Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship Training with the West African College of Surgeons in April 2022 becoming the first Ghanaian female Cardiothoracic Surgeon. She was also
Read more
2022Dr. Arifa Alizad
We are happy to announce Dr. Arifa Alizad is our first annual recipient of the AATS/Scanlan Family Valerie Rusch Mentored Career Development Award. She will be spending time with Dr. Thoralf Sundt at Massachusetts General Hospital. She was a third-year
Read more