Dr. Thomas G Weiser

Thomas G Weiser MD, MPH, FACS, FCS(ECSA), FRCSEd(ad hom)

Clinical Professor, Department of Surgery, Stanford University

Program Director, Wellcome Leap

Thomas Weiser is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Surgery, Section of Trauma, Emergency Surgery, and Critical Care at Stanford University. He practices general, emergency, and trauma surgery and surgical intensive care. He is the Director of Global Engagement in the Department, driving cross-border initiatives, education, research, innovation, and collaboration in surgical care.

He is also the Program Director for Wellcome Leap where he leads the $50M SAVE program (Surgery: Assess / Validate / Expand). SAVE aims to accelerate laparoscopic surgical skills acquisition and reduce mortality following surgery through enhanced monitoring and early prediction of deterioration.

Prof Weiser’s research focuses on quality and safety of surgical care, and strategies for improving the safety and reliability of surgical delivery in resource-poor settings. He was part of the World Health Organization’s Safe Surgery Saves Lives program where he helped quantify the global volume of surgery and create, implement, evaluate, and promote the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist. He contributed to the Disease Control Priorities Project to identify a suite of emergency and essential operations that are very cost-effective and highlight surgery’s importance in a strong, well-functioning health system. He was also involved in the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery and helped organize and craft its key messages. He was previously the Consulting Medical Officer for Lifebox, a charity dedicated to improving surgical safety worldwide, where he helped develop the Clean Cut program to improve compliance with perioperative infection practices embedded in the Surgical Safety Checklist. He now sits on the Board of Trustees for Lifebox.