Yale Women’s Housestaff Organization (YWHO)

Nita Ahuja, MD, MBA, is the chair of the Department of Surgery at Yale School of Medicine and chief of surgery at Yale New Haven Hospital, effective February 1, 2018. Watch a video with Dr. Nita Ahuja>>Dr. Ahuja obtained her medical education at the Duke University School of Medicine and her training in general surgery at Johns Hopkins. She completed a fellowship in surgical oncology at Johns Hopkins focused on hepatobiliary malignancies and joined the faculty in 2003. Dr Ahuja's surgical specialization is in management of sarcomas and complex gastrointestinal cancers, including gastric, rectal, and pancreatic cancers. She has developed an international reputation for management of peritoneal cancer metastases with cytoreduction and heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy, which attracts patients from around the world. She is a strong advocate for working with various disciplines to deliver caring and cutting edge treatment to her patients and is honored as a top doctor by multiple organizations. Prior to coming to Yale as chair of surgery, she was the director of sarcoma program and gastric cancer program.Dr. Ahuja is also a passionate advocate of clinician scientist and has run a laboratory focused on developing new knowledge to improve cancer outcomes. Her NIH funded laboratory has been focused on identifying new biomarkers for pancreas and colon cancers using liquid biopsies and stool DNA. She has also led over twenty national and international clinical trials on testing new therapies in gastrointestinal and breast cancers based on concepts identified in her laboratory.She is a national and international surgical leader and surgeon scientist who serves on multiple editorial boards and in national leadership positions including as an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, member of the American Surgical Association, New England Surgical Society, Southern Surgical Association and on the Association of American Medical Colleges Council of Faculty and Academic Societies Administrative Board. She has published over 300 papers and book chapters contributing to both the surgical and basic science fields. Her many awards and honors include the William J. Reinhoff, Jr. Scholar Award, the American Surgical Association Fellowship, the Society of Surgical Oncology Clinical Investigator Award, and the Abell Foundation Award: Johns Hopkins Alliance for Science and Technology Development.

Marna P. Borgstrom, ’79 M.P.H. began her career at Yale New Haven Hospital over 37 years ago. Her varied roles have taken her form post-graduate fellowship, to various staff and management roles, to her promotion in 1994 to the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Office at Yale New Haven Hospital. In 2005, she assumed the position of CEO of Yale New Haven Hospital & CEO of Yale New Haven Health and now serves as the CEO of both organizations. Marna chairs the boards of the Healthcare Institute and the Coalition to Protect America’s Healthcare and is the past chair of Vizient, a Dallas, Texas-based healthcare company. She serves on several other boards including the Connecticut Hospital Association and New Haven Promise. Marna has been the recipient of several awards recognizing her advocacy and community involvement including the AHA Grassroots Champion Award, the Anti- Defamation League Torch of Liberty Award, The Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Community Leadership Award and Business New Haven Business Person of the Year. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Quinnipiac University and a Doctor of Business Administration by the University of New Haven. She received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and was awarded a Master’s of Public Health by Yale School of Public Health.

Following graduation from medical school at Duke University, I completed internal medicine residency, nephrology and hypertension fellowships at Yale-New Haven Hospital/Yale School of Medicine. I then joined the full-time faculty in the Department of Medicine and quickly became involved in medical education which along with clinical hypertension management has been the focus of my academic career. Education leadership roles include serving as Program Director of the Yale Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency for 24 years, Inaugural Co-Director of the Combined Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program for 10 years, Vice Chair of Education in the Department of Medicine, and since 2016, Senior Associate Dean and Director of Graduate Medical Education, at Yale School of Medicine/Yale New Haven Hospital. I have collaborated on numerous educational innovation projects locally, regionally, and nationally. Many have focused on developing and delivering curricula that aim to improve diversity in the healthcare workforce and foster a learning environment that is inclusive and equitable. Among various honors and awards, several of particular importance to myself include The Herbert Nickens Award from the Society of General Internal Medicine for “Exceptional Commitment to Diversity in General Internal Medicine”; The American College of Physicians “Volunteerism Award”; The “Humanitarian of the Year Award” from Waterbury Hospital; The Yale Department of Medicine Faculty Award for “Career Achievement in Medical Education”, “National Mentorship Recognition” from the American College Physicians, and in May 2021, the "Francis Gillman Blake Award for Most Outstanding Teacher of the Medical Sciences" from the Yale School of Medicine Graduating class. My clinical interests are in chronic disease management in the ambulatory setting, particularly hypertension and diabetes. Throughout my career, mentorship of trainees and faculty has been a primary area of interest, focus and deep reward.