Matthew Hartwig, MD, MHS

Professor of Surgery, Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery

Duke University Health System

Dr. Hartwig is a thoracic surgeon with a clinical focus in lung transplantation and robotic assisted minimally invasive thoracic surgery for the treatment of diseases of the chest. He has served as the Surgical Director of the Duke Lung Transplant Program and the Esophageal Center at Duke and is a member of the Executive Committee for the Duke Transplant Center. Additionally, he directs the Surgical Office of Clinical Research, which manages the clinical research portfolio for the Department of Surgery. He also leads a successful program of clinical, basic and translational research in thoracic surgery and lung transplantation. He currently directs the Duke Ex Vivo Organ Laboratory (DEVOL), is the Chief of Lung Transplant Research, and is a faculty member at the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI).

Dr. Hartwig has nearly 200 peer reviewed publications, received numerous awards, chaired sessions at national and international meetings, serves regularly on NIH study sections, and is on the editorial board of prominent journals, including Journal of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Annals of Thoracic Surgery, and the American Journal of Transplantation. He has also personally mentored over pre-and post-doctoral trainees, many of whom are now engaged in their own successful research careers.

Sunil Singhal, MD

Professor, Department of Surgery

University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

He is the William Maul Measey Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. His primary leadership roles are Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery, and the Vice Chair for Translational Research for the Department of Surgery. He is an Attending surgeon at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Executive Director of the Center for Precision Surgery at the Abramson Cancer Center, Director of the Thoracic Surgery Research Laboratory and Surgical Director the of the University of Pennsylvania Pleural Program.

Benny Weksler, MBA, MD, FACS

System Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Allegheny Health Network, Chief of Thoracic and Esophageal Surgery at Allegheny General Hospital, and Professor of Surgery at Drexel University College of Medicine.

He is a leader in minimally invasive and robotic thoracic surgery, he trained at institutions including Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York Hospital-Cornell, and the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Weksler has authored a substantial body of peer-reviewed research and contributed numerous invited reviews and editorials. He serves on the editorial boards of several high-impact journals and holds leadership roles in national and international thoracic surgical societies. He is a frequent invited speaker at major academic meetings, with expertise spanning thoracic oncology, robotic surgery, and surgical innovation. His work reflects a long-standing commitment to advancing patient care and surgical education.

Andrea Wolf, MD

Director, New York Mesothelioma Program

Mount Sinai Health System

Andrea Wolf is Director of the New York Mesothelioma Program and Professor of Thoracic Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She graduated Cum Laude from Princeton and earned her MD and MPH at Harvard University, training in general surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Brigham and Women's Hospital before assuming her role as attending surgeon at the Mount Sinai in New York. Her research and clinical interests are in pleural mesothelioma, early-stage lung cancer, and health care disparities. An avid marathoner, she also chairs the American Association for Thoracic Surgery Wellness Committee and has served as medical director for multiple elite marathons in which 47 runners qualified for the US Olympic Trials, the women's champion competed in the Olympics in Paris 2024, and the Austrian National Record was broken.