CHICAGO, Ill.—Bruce A. Perler, MD, MBA, was elected president of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) at the society’s 2015 annual meeting in June.
As president of the 5,300-member organization, Dr. Perler will chair a board of directors of more than two dozen vascular surgery leaders, and will oversee four governing councils, 26 committees and 400 volunteer members. In addition, he will lead the efforts of more than 20 full-time SVS employees in the society’s Chicago and Washington, D.C. offices.
Dr. Perler has emphasized that “while the SVS is perhaps best known for our annual meeting, which is the preeminent vascular surgical educational meeting in the world, the SVS today is much, much more. The society is working every day, 52 weeks of the year, to advance the interests of our membership and, most importantly, the welfare of our patients through government advocacy, education, research funding and defining the standards of clinical excellence. The SVS is a crucial ally for all of our members, including our board-certified members, the majority of whom are community-based practitioners. Together, we all have one mission: to optimize the vascular health of our patients.”
Dr. Perler is the Julius H. Jacobson II, MD Professor of Vascular Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; and vice chair for clinical operations and financial affairs for the Department of Surgery and chief emeritus of the Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Dr. Perler earned both his undergraduate and medical degrees at Duke University. At Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital, he completed his internship and residency in general surgery as well as a clinical and research fellowship in vascular surgery. He earned a master’s in business administration degree at the Carey School of Business, Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Perler is one of only five individuals to serve as SVS president, co-editor of the Journal of Vascular Surgery (JVS) and co-editor of “Rutherford's Textbook of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy,” and the only person to do so simultaneously.
Dr. Perler and his wife Patti have two children. Mason has a degree in computer science and works for a multinational retailer in Boston. Rachel is a junior at Yale University with a double major in ecology/evolutionary biology and environmental science with a human health concentration.
The Society for Vascular Surgery advances the care and knowledge of vascular disease, which affects the veins and arteries of the body, to improve lives everywhere. It counts more than 5,300 medical professionals as members worldwide, including surgeons, non-surgeon physicians, nurses and physician assistants. For more information about vascular health and the society, please visit www.vascularweb.org.