West Penn Allegheny Health System (WPAHS) today announced the appointment of C. Neal Ellis Jr., MD, as director of its Division of Colorectal Surgery, effective immediately. Dr. Ellis most recently served as director of surgical research and professor of surgery at the University of South Alabama Medical College in Mobile, Ala.

Dr. Ellis brings extensive expertise in minimally invasive colon and rectal surgery as well as pelvic floor dysfunction and anorectal surgery to WPAHS. In addition to the positions he held at the University of South Alabama Medical College, Dr. Ellis’ wide-ranging clinical and academic background includes serving as the medical director of the Center for Inherited Cancer at the University of Tennessee-Memphis and also as a surgeon with the Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham, Ala.
 

“Dr. Ellis is an outstanding surgeon who exemplifies West Penn Allegheny’s commitment to excellence in patient care combined with compassionate, personalized service,” said Donald W. Moorman, MD, Chair of the WPAHS Department of Surgery. “His strategic vision and leadership experience will be critical to the growth and development of our colorectal and related surgical programs.”
 

A graduate of the University of Alabama School of Medicine and Birmingham Southern College, Dr. Ellis served an internship and residency in colorectal surgery at Baptist Medical Centers in Birmingham, Ala., and a residency in colorectal surgery at Louisiana State University-Shreveport Medical Center.
 

Dr. Ellis is a Fellow of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons and the American College of Gastroenterology, and a Member of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Society of Surgical Oncology, and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, among others.
 

He serves as a reviewer for several respected journals including Diseases of the Colon and Rectum, Surgical Endoscopy and the Journal of Surgical Oncology. He also was editor for the book “Inherited Cancer Syndromes: Current Clinical Management.”