Richard L. Prager, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon from the University of Michigan, was elected as President of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) on Jan. 23.

Prager said in a news release that he has spent half of his career in private practice specializing in cardiac and general thoracic surgery and half in academics. He began his surgical career in 1978 and has been a member of the University of Michigan’s cardiac surgery faculty since 1999. He has authored or co-authored more than 140 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.

Prager has been an STS member since 1982 and has been involved in the organization for years, including serving as its First Vice President. In addition, he has been a proponent of and participant in the STS National Database, which includes the Adult Cardiac Surgery Database (ACSD), the Congenital Heart Surgery Database (CHSD) and the General Thoracic Surgery Database. (GTSD).

Prager said in the news release that he wants to develop longitudinal follow-up for the ACSD, continue evolving the risk models for the CHSD, increase participation in the GTSD, use technology to facilitate data entry for the database and use the database to evaluate new technologies.

“I’ve been rewarded in every way possible in my profession,” Prager said in a news release. “Now, as President of STS, I have the opportunity, with a great team, to contribute and advance the Society’s goals for the benefit of our specialty. I would like cardiothoracic surgeons around the globe to know that The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is their society, and we want to represent and help them in the complex world in which we all practice. All of our members should feel comfortable getting in touch with any of the STS surgeon leaders with suggestions about ways to help the Society represent them better.”