Dr. Cherie P. Erkmen is a Professor of Thoracic Surgery at Temple University Health Systems, and the Center for Asian Health at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine. She is the founding Program Director of Temple’s Thoracic Surgery Residency. Her clinical expertise is in management of thoracic malignancies and lung disease using robotic and minimally invasive techniques. Her research focuses on health care delivery systems, clinical education and disparities in health care. In addition to multiple publications and presentations, she is the Principal Investigator of the prestigious American Cancer Society – Pfizer Grant studying dissemination of lung cancer screening among African Americans and Co-Investigator on multiple federally funded grants including Temple’s U54 study of lung cancer study in low-income African Americans. Dr. Erkmen is devoted to education and serves as the Chair of the Thoracic Surgery In-Service Exam, Associate Board Examiner for the American Board of Surgery and member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Committees of Diversity and Inclusion and Media Relations. She is a Board Member of Ride Hard Breath Easy, a non-profit organization working to ease the suffering of lung cancer patients and their families. She is the mother of 2 and wife to Dr. Kadir Erkmen, Professor of Neurosurgery at Temple University Health Systems.