Betty Tong, MD Named Recipient of Inaugural STS/WTS Award

By Tracey Koepke, Duke Hospital

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Congratulations to Betty Tong, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery! Tong has been named one of three inaugural recipients of the Extraordinary Women in Cardiothoracic Surgery Award. The news was announced yesterday, Jan. 21, 2023 during the 59th annual meeting of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) being held Jan. 21-23 at the Hilton Bayfront in San Diego.

The award, which is co-sponsored by the STS and Women in Thoracic Surgery, was established to recognize outstanding women surgeons specializing in the cardiothoracic space. The award celebrates those who have achieved excellence and innovation in clinical practice and who demonstrate integrity, leadership, mentorship, creativity, and advocacy on behalf of the specialty, patient population or fellow surgeons and trainees.


Dr. Tong at STS

The three recipients of the inaugural award – (center L-R) Drs. Backhus, Ellis, and Tong


“Please join me in congratulating our own Dr. Betty Tong for winning this inaugural award,” said Dr. Edward P. Chen, chief of the division of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery at Duke. “This is a tremendous honor led by the WTS and STS in recognizing the outstanding achievements of women thoracic surgeons. We are truly blessed and privileged to have Dr. Tong on our faculty at Duke.”

Tong is an associate professor of surgery in the division of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery at Duke, and a member of the Duke Cancer Institute. Fellow inaugural recipients of the award include Leah Backhus, MD, thoracic surgeon at Stanford Medicine, and Jennifer Ellis, MD, thoracic surgeon at NYU Langone Health.


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