Dr. Julie Thacker is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Duke University and a colorectal surgeon with a clinical focus in advanced laparoscopic techniques for the surgical management of inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. She participates as full time teaching faculty of medical students, general surgery residents, and surgical fellows. As the Duke Hospital and Health System Medical Director for Evidence Based Perioperative Care, she leads the interdisciplinary Duke Enhanced Recovery Program.

Dr. Thacker assumed the Presidency of the American Society of Enhanced Recovery, 2017, and is recognized at the national and international level as a perioperative care implementation expert. Her work at Duke is a model for hospitals and health care systems of all sizes, as well as, a comparative model used in discussions with the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. She publishes practice guidelines, change management guidelines, and quality and value improvement reviews and recommendations.

Dr. Thacker’s research interest is focused on improvement implementation, quality assessment and improvement across the surgical continuum, and patient engagement and focus in surgical care protocols. In 2016, she has participated in the first and co-chaired the second POQI, Perioperative Quality Initiative, creating Delphi method manuscripts with an international team of experts to help define the essential elements of best perioperative care. Locally at Duke, she is the Medical Director of the Department of Surgery Clinical Research Unit.

At the national level, she is a member of the Quality Committee of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. Dr. Thacker is the co-lead of the Enhanced Recovery in NSQIP, ERIN collaborative and is a member of the Performance Measure Committee with the American College of Surgeons. Additionally, she is faculty for the American College of Surgeons, “Surgeons Leading Quality” course.