Mac Harmon, MD, PhD is Surgeon in Chief and Medical Director of Pediatric General & Thoracic Surgery at John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital, Chief of Surgery for Kaleida Health, the John E. Fisher Professor of Surgery and the Division Chief of Pediatric Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, Program Director of the Pediatric Surgery Fellowship Program, and Director of the Pediatric Surgery Research Laboratory.

Todd Ponsky is currently Professor of Surgery at the University of Cincinnati and a pediatric surgeon at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and Akron Children’s Hospital. He is the Director of Clinical Growth and Transformation at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. He attended medical school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio from 1995-1999,Residency in General Surgery at The George Washington University in Washington, DC from 1999-2005, Pediatric Surgery Fellowship at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC from 2005-2007,and an Advanced Minimally Invasive Pediatric Surgery Fellowship at The Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver, CO from 2007-2008. Dr. Ponsky was the first to perform and report single port surgery in children and modernized the methods of the laparoscopic pediatric hernia repair. He has published over 125 manuscripts, edited 3 textbooks, and authored over 30 book chapters. He has directed over 50 national/international courses and has given over 200 visiting lectureships. He is the Associate Editor for The Journal of Pediatric Surgery, and serves on three editorial boards. He is the immediate past president of the International Pediatric Endosurgery Group (IPEG) and holds, or has held, leadership positions in the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA), the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) and the International Society for Pediatric Innovation (iSPI). He has won numerous faculty teaching awards. He is involved in both outcomes and animal research with a focus on inguinal hernia physiology, surgical telementoring, endoscopic repair techniques for pure esophageal atresia, and innovations in education. He founded GlobalcastMD and Stay Current in Surgery, both of which serve to democratize and internationalize medical knowledge and modernize the way we teach and learn surgery.

Akron Children's Hospital Bruce F. Rothmann, M.D. Chair in Pediatric Surgery. Dr. Wulkan is a pioneer in pediatric advanced minimally invasive surgery with a strong interest in neonatal and thoracic lesions. After initiating the Minimally Invasive Surgery Center at Children’s in 2003, he oversaw its growth into one of the most high volume pediatric minimally invasive programs in the country. Additionally, he performed Children’s first lap-band procedure to treat adolescent obesity in 2007, was one of the first surgeons in Georgia to perform single-site incision surgery on pediatric patients for routine surgeries in 2009, and performed the first laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy for adolescent obesity in the Southeast in 2010.

Whit Holcomb is professor emeritus at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

Dr. von Allmen is the Senior Vice President of Surgical Services and Surgeon-in-Chief at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Additionally, Dr. von Allmen holds the Lester W. Martin Chair of Pediatric Surgery. His special clinical interests include pediatric surgical oncology, pediatric inflammatory bowel disease, esophageal disorders, surgical innovation and surgical robotics. He has been a long term participant in the Surgical Section of the Children's Oncology group, the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America and the International Pediatric Endosurgery Group.

Dr. Elizabeth Beierle is a Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, and holds the Charles D. McCrary Endowed Chair in Pediatric Surgery. She continues to have an active, funded research laboratory focusing on pediatric solid tumors and cell signaling, and has published extensively on this topic.

Dr. Casar Berazaluce is a Pediatric Surgical Innovation Fellow at the Ponsky Lab at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and a Categorical General Surgery Resident at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She obtained her medical degree from the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Monterrey, Mexico. Her interests include pediatric surgery, global surgery, reconstructive surgery, burns, community health, quality of care, process optimization, and medical education. 

Dr. Gibbons is a clinical research fellow at Akron Children's Hospital and a General Surgery resident at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He obtained his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 2016.

Dr. Hanke obtained her Bachelor of Science in Human Biology with specialization in Health Promotion from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. She subsequently earned her medical degree at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Her research interests include pediatric surgery, medical and patient education, global surgery, interdisciplinary professionalism development, and minimally invasive surgery.

Saleem Islam, M.D., M.P.H., a professor and chief of pediatric surgery in the University of Florida College of Medicine, was recently appointed to the UF Society of Teaching Scholars. Additionally, Dr. Islam was recently elected to AAP Section on Surgery Executive Committee.

Dr. Kotagal joined Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in 2016 as a pediatric surgery fellow and completed that training in 2018. In November 2018, she joined CCHMC as a full-time faculty member. Her interests include pediatric colorectal surgery, pediatric surgical oncology, and pediatric trauma. Dr. Kotagal has a long-standing interest and experience in global surgery and joins Cincinnati Children’s as the director of the Pediatric Surgery Global Health Program.

Dr. Rymeski is a Pediatric Surgeon, in the Colorectal Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She earned her medical degree in 2005 from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine, and went on to complete her general surgery residency at the Christiana Care Health System in Newark, Delaware. Dr. Rymeski completed fellowship programs at Cincinnati Children’s in vascular anomalies and fetal surgery, ECMO, and Pediatric Surgery. Her interests include colorectal, general pediatric, minimally invasive, and neonatal surgery.

Julie M. Sroga-Rios, MD, joined the Comprehensive Fertility Care and Preservation Program in 2018 at CCHMC.  She has been a faculty member at the University of Cincinnati since 2012 after completing a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. She graduated from Wright State University School of Medicine in Dayton and was a resident at The Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus. Dr. Sroga-Rios is an Associate Professor at the University Of Cincinnati College Of Medicine, an active member of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. Dr. Sroga-Rios shares her time between CCHMC and the University of Cincinnati with a focus on fertility preservation and oncofertility.