News & Events: Profiles of Dr. Nancy Ascher

UCSF News reports on the celebration of Diversity Month 2015 at UCSF and the award of the Chancellor Diversity Award for the Advancement of Women to Nancy L. Ascher, M.D., Ph.D.: Nancy Ascher, MD, has been chair of the UCSF Department of Surgery for the past 16 years. Ascher completed her undergraduate and medical education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She completed a general surgery residency and clinical transplantation fellowship at the University of Minnesota after which she joined the faculty.She was recruited in 1988 by the UCSF Department of Surgery to build a liver [...]

"Dr. (Nancy) Ascher excels in her role as Chair of Surgery, not only for her inexplicable foresight, but because she stays connected to trainees and students. This year, Dr. Ascher received the Francis Moore Excellence in Mentorship in the Field of Transplantation Surgery Award from the American Society of Transplant Surgeons." "Residents and fellows noted that Dr. Nancy Ascher is an effective mentor because she treats them like colleagues and not just trainees. Residents and fellows felt "immersed and integral in the program which empowered them and helped their growth." Dr. Ascher [...]

"It was 1975 when Nancy Ascher, MD, PhD, chose surgery, a specialty shoulder-deep in men. Then again, so was medical school - Ascher was one of 20 women in her class of 180. After her residency, she blew past every gender barrier to become the first woman to perform a liver transplant, garnering enough speed to break through the stainless-steel ceiling to serve as UCSF's first female chair of surgery - one of three women holding that title in the country. The pace at which Ascher propels through every day is the velocity required for the steep ascent of a remarkable career." Excerpt from UCSF [...]

"Of all the things for a married couple to bicker about, Nancy Ascher and John Roberts have hit on a first -- a pulsing human liver. To be precise, they are standing forehead to forehead with a man splayed out between them. Roberts wants more of his liver to take next door to a waiting recipient. Ascher wants more of it left behind for the donor's recovery."