(Boston) – July 20, 2017 – Jennifer Tseng, MD, MPH, has been appointed chief of surgery at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and chair of the department of surgery at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM).
Tseng is an acclaimed surgical oncologist and gastrointestinal surgeon, whose practice focuses on the upper gastrointestinal tract. “Dr. Tseng is an accomplished leader and outstanding surgeon who has demonstrated a commitment to diversity and care for our community,” said BMC President and CEO Kate Walsh. “We are pleased to welcome her to BMC, and the Department of Surgery will continue to grow and thrive under her leadership.”
Prior to BMC, Tseng served as the chief of surgical oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and as a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. While at BIDMC, she led a diverse group of faculty in oncology research, education and care for gastrointestinal, endocrine, breast, melanomas and sarcomas, and other malignancies.
Tseng has published more than 100-peer reviewed journal articles on cancer biomarkers, reducing surgical risk, and on developing models for cancer treatment sequencing strategies, with a strong focus on racial and socioeconomic disparities in care. She has worked with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to assess the impact of factors including insurance, social disparities, and health care reform on cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
Prior to her time at BIDMC, she was the Founding Director of SOAR (Surgical Outcomes Analysis & Research) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, a research initiative to improve treatment strategies for a broad range of surgical conditions and to develop tools to asses and reduce risk. She and her co-leaders at BIDMC continued the development of SOAR as a health services and outcomes research group.
Tseng received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University, her MD from the University of California, San Francisco Medical School, and her MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health. She completed a general surgery residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and a research fellowship in molecular medicine at Harvard Medical School/Children’s Hospital Boston, followed by a clinical fellowship in surgical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Dr. Tseng arrived at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center on July 1, 2017. Dr. Tseng is the first woman to serve as Chair and Chief of surgery at an academic medical center in Boston, and one of only a small percentage nationally.
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