Fabrizio Michelassi, MD, the Lewis Atterbury Stimson Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery and Surgeon-in-Chief of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, received a merit award as an Official of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy. It was presented in a special ceremony on April 20th by the Honorable Francesco M. Talo, the Consul General of Italy, at the Consulate General’s offices at 690 Park Avenue in New York City. The Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy is the most prestigious and important distinction awarded by the President of the Republic of Italy, Goergio Napolitano, to Italian citizens who have a particular merit in regard to the nation of Italy.

The Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy is the most prestigious and important distinction awarded by the President of the Republic of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, to Italian citizens who have a particular merit in regard to the nation of Italy. Dr. Michelassi will receive the rank of Commendatore, which is one of the highest honors the President can bestow. The Order of Merit recipient is also approved by the highest level of Italy’s government, including the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Dr. Michelassi, who was born in Pisa, Italy, was also the recipient of the Republic of Italy’s Silver Medal in 1988, another unique distinction and one of the highest honors awarded by the President to persons of great merit or valor.

A world-renowned gastrointestinal surgeon with a strong expertise in the surgical treatment of gastrointestinal cancers and inflammatory bowel disease, Dr. Michelassi is a prolific author of more than 200 papers, book chapters and abstracts. He has contributed new insight into the surgical treatment of pancreatic and colorectal cancers, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Internationally-renowned as an outstanding clinician, researcher and teacher, Dr. Michelassi has delivered 16 named and keynote lectures across the country, has been invited to be a visiting professor at 27 national and international institutions and has delivered more than 150 national and international presentations.

He currently serves as President of the Society of Surgical Oncology, and has served as President of the Illinois Surgical Society, the Western Surgical Society and the Central Surgical Association, and as Vice President of the International Society of Surgery of the Alimentary Tract. He is currently the Secretary of the Society of Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, the representative from the American Surgical Association to the Advisory Council for General Surgery of the American College of Surgeons and a director of the American Board of Surgery. Dr. Michelassi is on the editorial board of seven prestigious professional journals including the Journal of Gastronintestinal Surgery, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Surgery, The British Journal of Surgery, the World Journal of Gastroenterology, the Annals of Surgery, and, effective in April, 2009, the Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Pisa School of Medicine, Italy, in 1975, Dr. Michelassi completed his internship and surgical residency at New York University and a research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University. In 1984, he joined the faculty of the Department of Surgery at the University of Chicago, where he became Section Chief of General Surgery in 1994, tenured Professor in 1995, Vice Chair of the Surgery Department in 2000 and the Thomas D. Jones Professor of Surgery in 2001. He also served as Director of the Surgical Oncology Fellowship from 1988 through 1995, Chairman of the Surgery Care Center since 1995 and Director of the General Surgery Residency Program since 1997. In 2004, he moved to his current position at the NewYork- Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Dr. Michelassi has earned numerous awards for his innovative contributions to advancing the treatment of digestive diseases, including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Award, the American Cancer Society Cancer Development Award and the Distinguished Leadership Award from the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. His research on Crohn’s disease has been funded by the International Organization of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and his research on the genetics of gastrointestinal cancer has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society. He has been repeatedly recognized by Castle Connolly, New York Magazine and Chicago Magazine as one of the "Best Doctors in America." He was named one of New York's “Super Doctors” in 2008 and 2009, an honor accorded to just 5 percent of all New York physicians.