Dr. Clifford Ko

Dr. Clifford Ko is the Director of the Division of Research and Optimal Patient Care at the American College of Surgeons. He oversees all the quality improvement programs, including the Bariatric Surgery Accreditation Program, the Cancer Accreditation program, the Trauma Verification program, the new Surgeon Specific Registry, and the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP). He also serves as the Director of ACS NSQIP. 

Dr. Ko’s work focuses on surgical quality of care, including quality measurement, process improvement, and quality maintenance. He has received millions of dollars in grant funding to study quality of care from sources that include the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Cancer Society, the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Veterans Administration. He has published over 275 manuscripts and has written more than 20 book chapters. He is frequently invited to speak nationally and internationally and has served on numerous advisory panels. 

Clinically, Dr. Ko is a double board-certified surgeon with a practice focusing on patients with colorectal cancer. At UCLA, he is the Robert and Kelly Day Professor of Surgery, has won the Faculty Teaching Award three times, and is recognized as one of the Best Doctors in America. He is also professor of health services at the UCLA School of Public Health. 

Dr. Ko received his B.A (Biology), M.S. (Biological/Medical Ethics), and M.D. from the University of Chicago. He also received a Masters of Science Degree (Health Services/Outcomes Research) from the University of California, Los Angeles during his time as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Fellow at UCLA and RAND. Dr. Ko completed his General Surgery Residency at UCLA Medical Center, and obtained specialty training at the Lahey Clinic in Boston in Colon and Rectal Surgery