Nathaniel J. Soper, MD
Surgeon-in-Chief, Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Loyal and Edith Davis Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine

Nathaniel J. Soper was raised in Iowa City, Iowa, as the son of an academic pediatric surgeon. After graduating from the University of Iowa School of Medicine in 1980, he completed a residency in General Surgery including a year of laboratory investigation at the University of Utah Hospitals in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Soper then spent two years as an NIH-funded fellow in digestive diseases at the Digestive Disease Center at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He joined the faculty of the Department of Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in 1988, and rose to the rank of Professor of Surgery. Dr. Soper was a staff surgeon at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, the Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery at Washington University and a surgical consultant for the St. Louis Rams football team. He was also Director of the Washington University Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery, an industry-funded multi-disciplinary group of surgical researchers working towards improving minimally invasive surgical techniques. 

In December, 2003, Dr. Soper assumed the position as Professor of Surgery, Vice-Chair for Clinical Affairs and Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He was awarded the James R. Hines Professorship in July, 2004 and became Chief of the Division of GI and Endocrine Surgery in September, 2005.  Dr. Soper was named Interim Chair and Residency Program Director for the General Surgery Program in July, 2006. On July 1, 2007 he was appointed the Loyal and Edith Davis Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Northwestern University and Surgeon-in-Chief at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Soper's research interests have revolved around the applications of minimally invasive surgery for gastrointestinal disease, laparoscopic ultrasound, alternative treatments for gallstones and motility of the gastrointestinal tract. More recently he has been involved in the early clinical experience with Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES). He has published more than one hundred thirty manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, edited twelve textbooks and authored more than seventy book chapters. Dr. Soper is on the editorial boards of Annals of Surgery, Surgical Endoscopy, Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, and World Journal of Surgery. Dr. Soper has been named in "The Best Doctor's in America" from 1991 through the present and has lectured extensively throughout the United States, Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He is a member of numerous professional societies, including Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Surgeons, American Surgical Association, Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, Society of University Surgeons, and Central Surgical Association. Dr. Soper is actively involved in the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) and the International Society of Digestive Surgery (ISDS), in which groups he is Past-President. 

Eric S. Hungness, MD, FACS

Eric S. Hungness, MD, FACS serves as the Director of Surgical Skills Curriculum for the Department of Surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where he is also an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery. Dr. Hungness is a member of both the General Surgery/Oncology Team Committee and the N-CASE Advisory Committee at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Dr. Hungness received his Doctor of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Medicine, in Chicago, Illinois. He completed his residency in General Surgery and was Chief Resident in General Surgery at the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Hungness also completed his fellowship training as a Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellow in the Department of Surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Before being appointed to Northwestern University, Dr. Hungness was an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Chicago, Section of General Surgery in Chicago, Illinois, where he also held a hospital appointment.

Dr. Hungness is a member of several professional societies, including the American College of Surgeons, Society of Alimentary and Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons, American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons, Association of Academic Surgeons, Society of Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, Central Surgical Association, and the Chicago Surgical Society. In addition, Dr. Hungness has received many awards, honors and distinctions during his medical training and his professional career.

Sharing his skills and expertise are important to Dr. Hungness, evidenced by his teaching positions and the number of times he’s been an invited educator. Since 2006, Dr. Hungness has, in addition to his faculty and hospital appointments, been teaching and mentoring medical students, residents, and fellow physicians. As an invited educator, he’s taught sessions about laparoscopy, endoscopy, bariatric surgery and more. Dr. Hungness has also given many scientific presentations.

During his tenure at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Dr. Hungness has been awarded research grants for which he is either the principal or the co-investigator.

Dr. Hungness is also a prolific author with an extensive scholarly bibliography. He has written 24 original, peer-reviewed manuscripts, five reviews, editorials and commentaries, 11 book chapters, and 23 proceedings, abstracts and non-refereed papers.