Dr. Jones has been an active member of SAGES since 1993, and he currently chairs the FUSE Task Force and Quality, Outcomes and Safety Committee. He has served as Chair of the the Educational Resources Committee, Vice Chair of the Legislative Committee, and member of the Continuing Education, FLS, Bariatric, Development and Program Committees. He was Poster Co-Chair 2002 and he coordinated the SAGES Appropriateness Conference on Treatment of Morbid Obesity 2003, Learning Center 2004 and 2005, Advanced Techniques Postgraduate Course 2006, Operating a Simulation Center Panel 2008, Best Practices for Surgical Treatment of Obesity Panel 2009.   He has been project director of the SAGES Top 14 Videos, Inguinal Hernia Pearls, Web Quizzes, Bariatric Surgery Grand Rounds, Online Video Kiosk, and revised Patient Brochure educational materials. Dr. Jones was the recipient of the SAGES Young Investigators Award in 2001 and appointed to the Board of Governors in 2002.  He has recently been appointed Program Chair for 2012 Annual Meeting.

Dr. Tichansky is a currently the Director of Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University, the birthplace of SAGES. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering at Lafayette College in Easton, PA, he went on to attend UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School in Newark where he obtained his M.D. in 1996 as a member of AOA. He completed his surgical residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and his Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery Fellowship at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. After one year of private practice in Princeton, N.J., he accepted a faculty position with The University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN to pursue an academic career in Minimally Invasive Surgery in August 2004. While there he served as Associate Professor of Surgery, Chief of Minimally Invasive Surgery, Co-Director of the Weight Management Centerat Methodist University Hospital, Co-Medical Director of Bariatric Surgery at the Regional Medical Center, Director of the Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship at UT, and a member of the Board of Directors for UT Medical Group. Dr. Tichansky returned to Jefferson in 2008 as an Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery. He has performed extensive research in the fields of Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery to improve patient safety and care and has authored/co-authored more than 80 peer-reviewed articles, six book chapters, and greater than 100 scientific presentations. Dr. Tichansky is currently chairman of the Membership Committee of the ASMBS and serves on the Curriculum and Education Committee of the Fellowship Council. He is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery and also serves on the Publications, Membership, and Quality, Outcomes and Safety committees of SAGES.

Dr. John Morton is Associate Professor of Surgery at Stanford University serving as Section Chief of Minimally Invasive Surgery and Director of both Bariatric Surgery and Surgical Quality. He also heads the Minimally Invasive Surgery fellowship and the Stanford Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (SCORE) and is Co-Director of the Stanford Digestive Health Center. Dr. Morton received undergraduate, Masters in Public Health, and Medical Doctor Degrees from Tulane University and a Masters in Health Administration from University of Washington. He was the first surgical resident to receive a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar Fellowship in the programs history at University of Washington and also completed an advanced laparoscopic fellowship at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  He served on Capitol Hill as Senator Bill Frists Health Policy Intern. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles and 10 book chapters with over 100 national and international oral presentations.