In 2025, many VATS authors make outstanding contributions to our journal. Their articles published with us have received very well feedback in the field and stimulate a lot of discussions and new insights among the peers.

Hereby, we would like to highlight some of our outstanding authors who have been making immense efforts in their research fields, with a brief interview of their unique perspective and insightful view as authors.

Outstanding Authors (2025)

Alberto Cabañero Sánchez, Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, Spain

Nabih Berjaoui, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, UK

Gregory D. Trachiotis, The George Washington University Medical Center, USA

Stefan Leichtle, Inova Health System, USA

Alison Wallace, The Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, Canada

Eric E. Vinck, the HIC Cardiovascular Institute, Colombia

Dariya Jaeger, The University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany

Outstanding Author

Alberto Cabañero Sánchez

Dr. Alberto Cabañero Sánchez obtained his medical degree from the Complutense University of Madrid in 2003. He completed his residency in thoracic surgery at the Ramón y Cajal University Hospital in Madrid, finishing in 2009. Since then, he has been a member of the hospital’s thoracic surgery department, where he focuses primarily on thoracic oncology. He currently serves as the residency program coordinator and patient safety lead for the department. He is a member of the most prominent national and international societies related to thoracic surgery and respiratory diseases, and he collaborates with various clinical committees within his hospital and beyond. Dr. Cabañero is dedicated to the full spectrum of thoracic surgery, with a strong emphasis on minimally invasive techniques and thoracic oncology. Alongside the clinical work, his research is centered on minimally invasive surgical approaches, evaluation of surgical risk, multimodal management of surgical patients and surgical education. Follow him on ORCID and LinkedIn.

VATS: What are the key skill sets of an author?

Dr. Cabañero: I believe that a good writer of scientific articles, especially in the medical and surgical fields, must possess several key skills. First, clarity of communication: one must be able to express complex ideas accurately and understandably, without ambiguity. Second, a critical and analytical mindset: one must know how to interpret results, identify limitations, and contextualize findings within the existing body of evidence. Third, methodological rigor. It's not just about describing what one did in the operating room, but also justifying why it was done that way, how biases were controlled, and how it can be replicated. Fourth, the ability to synthesize: knowing how to separate the relevant from the incidental, both in writing and in the literature review. And finally, something very important: scientific ethics and honesty. Data must be reported transparently, without embellishment, even if the results do not come as expected. Ultimately, writing a scientific article is not just about recounting a clinical experience, but contributing responsibly to the advancement of medical knowledge.

VATS: How to avoid biases in one’s writing?

Dr. Cabañero: Avoiding bias when writing a scientific article is essential for the work to be credible and useful to the community. One of the first things is to recognize that we all have biases, and that's precisely why it's important to establish clear methods from the study design. For example, to minimize selection bias, it's crucial to define well-founded inclusion and exclusion criteria and apply them systematically. It's also helpful to work with comprehensive and prospective databases, if possible. During the interpretation of the results, we must be careful with confirmation bias: avoid interpreting the data only to confirm what we expect. It's key here to have a critical attitude and, if possible, involve other colleagues in the review, who have an external and objective perspective. Another measure is to be transparent about the study's limitations. This doesn't detract from the value of the work; on the contrary, it demonstrates scientific maturity. And finally, following guidelines such as STROBE, CONSORT, or PRISMA—depending on the type of study—greatly helps maintain a structured and objective framework for presenting data honestly and reproducible.

VATS: Academic writing takes a lot of time and effort. What motivates you to do so?

Dr. Cabañero: It's true that writing scientific articles requires time, effort, and discipline, especially when combined with clinical practice. But there are several deep motivations that drive us to do so. First, there is a commitment to knowledge and the continuous improvement of our specialty. Sharing what we learn—whether through a case series, a technical innovation, or an analysis of results—allows others to learn from our experience, avoid mistakes, or even improve our proposals. Second, there is an academic and educational motivation. Scientific writing forces us to study more deeply, to question ourselves, to critically review the literature, and to better understand what we do in the operating room. In many cases, writing is also a way of teaching and leaving a mark. Third, there is professional recognition. Publishing helps position us in the medical community, facilitates collaborations, and opens doors to conferences, scholarships, or multicenter projects. And finally, a very personal motivation: scientific curiosity. That requires the understanding of why something works, why something fails, or if what we do really has an impact. Writing is a way to transform that curiosity into something useful, into evidence that can improve patient care.

(by Brad Li, Masaki Lo)

Nabih Berjaoui

Dr. Nabih Berjaoui is a Clinical Fellow in Plastic Surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London, United Kingdom. He has earned his MBBS from St George’s, University of London, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the American University of Beirut. His research primarily focuses on thoracic surgery, minimally invasive surgical techniques, and musculoskeletal disorders, with a particular emphasis on robotic and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for lung cancer treatment. Recent work includes comparative studies between robot-assisted and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for lung cancer, narrative reviews on lobectomy approaches, and clinical case reports spanning orthopaedic and spinal conditions. Dr. Berjaoui is particularly interested in integrating surgical innovation with clinical outcomes research to improve patient care across oncologic and reconstructive disciplines. His work reflects his entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to patient well-being. He has also participated in orthopaedic, plastics and spinal surgery narrative reviews and case reports. His passion lies in applying modern surgical instruments to clinical practice and evaluating their impact on patient recovery and quality of life, the evidence-based medicine principles, particularly for cancer and reconstructive surgery patients. Connect with Dr. Berjaoui on LinkedIn.

The way Dr. Berjaoui sees it, academic writing is a fundamental tool in science, facilitating the structured and peer-reviewed dissemination of new knowledge. It enables reproducibility, scholarly debate, and the cumulative advancement of research. Through rigorous documentation with clarity, academic writing ensures that findings are accessible, credible, and subject to scrutiny, forming the basis for further investigation and innovation. Beyond clinical practice, he advocates academic writing with an important role in science. For him, writing means so much more than simply publishing data. He approaches it as a way to establish credibility, facilitate conversations, and advance progress in the field. He adds, “We solve issues through critical thinking, which is what critical writing should embrace – looking beyond the results.”

In Dr. Berjaoui’s opinion, critical academic writing involves more than describing results; it requires thoughtful analysis, synthesis of existing literature, and evaluation of methodologies and outcomes. To write critically, one should engage deeply with existing evidence, highlight limitations, compare interpretations, and provide logical reasoning supported by data. Clarity, coherence, and an awareness of context are essential to articulate a meaningful scholarly argument.

In addition, Dr. Berjaoui higlights that seeking institutional review board (IRB) approval is essential for upholding ethical standards in research involving human participants. It ensures compliance with legal and institutional guidelines and safeguards participant welfare. Omitting this process can result in serious consequences, including publication rejection, reputational harm, legal liability, and, most critically, ethical violations that may compromise participant safety and the integrity of the research itself.

(by Brad Li, Masaki Lo)

Gregory D. Trachiotis

Gregory Trachiotis, MD, is a Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering and Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at The George Washington University Medical Center, and Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Director of Heart Center, at The Veterans Affairs Medical Center/Capitol VISN-5 Network. His clinical and surgical interests include end-stage heart and lung disease, video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS), lung cancer, coronary artery disease, aortic and mitral valvular disease (repair), off-bypass coronary revascularization, mini-pump technology, and surgery for heart failure, and transcatheter valve therapy. He is board-certified by the National Board of Medical Examiners, American Board of Surgery, and American Board of Thoracic Surgery in Cardiothoracic Surgery and General Surgery. His research topics include revascularization for left ventricular dysfunction, cardiac imaging for valvular heart disease, off-bypass coronary operations, cardiovascular disease in sleep apnea, cancer, and tumor markers (DNA pooling) in esophageal and lung cancer. He collaborates with and is the surgical principal investigator with the Biomedical Science and Engineering Research lab at the George Washington University. He also serves as the Principal Investigator for several clinical studies.

Dr. Trachiotis thinks a good academic paper should have a narrow focus, a novel concept, and be substantiated from literature and current data. Integrity and honesty should be the foundation. While an author or manuscript may present a hypothesis and reflect certain professional or personal preferences, it is crucial to have the manuscript reviewed by independent statistical experts and professionals who are not involved in the research or concept. He believes the key to incorporating the growing and rich information databases (AI, etc.) is to do so transparently, share data and information, and seek and produce solutions that can have global and timely implementation.

(by Sasa Zhu, Brad Li)

Stefan Leichtle

Stefan Leichtle, MD, MBA, FACS, is an Acute Care Surgeon and the Associate Trauma Medical Director at Inova Health System in the Washington, DC area. He obtained his medical degree in Munich, Germany, trained in General Surgery in Ann Arbor, MI, and completed a Surgical Critical Care and Trauma Surgery fellowship in Los Angeles, CA. As Inova’s Director of Research for the Surgery Service Line, he supports and supervises a team of research managers, nurses, and coordinators conducting in- and out-patient clinical trials in multiple surgical specialties. He also mentors and helps Inova’s surgery residents and fellows with their scientific projects. His personal research interests include trauma resuscitation, traumatic brain injury, and implementation science. Dr. Leichtle is enthusiastic about education and mentoring, serving as the Associate Program Director of Inova’s Surgical Critical Care fellowship and on the American Board of Surgery’s SCORE Curriculum for Surgical Critical Care. Follow him on LinkedIn and ORCID.

VATS: What are the key skill sets of an author?

Dr. Leichtle: Scientific writing should be objective, clear, and concise but also engaging and interesting. It’s an acquired skill and the best way to improve is to practice. Another excellent way to become a better author is to be an avid reader and to volunteer as reviewer for journals and grant applications. I think the best papers are written by authors who are subject matter experts, genuinely care about the paper’s topic, and enjoy the process of writing. Additionally, I would add humility as an important skill, acknowledging that essentially all studies have limitations, few are truly “the largest” or “the first”, and that it’s easy to overstate the conclusions that can be drawn from a study’s results.

VATS: How to avoid biases in one’s writing?

Dr. Leichtle: From a scientific perspective, it starts with proper study planning. It’s important to have a clear hypothesis, well-defined study goals, and rigorous statistical methodology. Results, especially when unexpected, disappointing, or negative, should be accepted and thoroughly discussed, and study limitations and deficits should be acknowledged. In a more general sense, we all have biases, and the goal should be to be aware of them and mitigate them as much as possible. Genuine curiosity and willingness to accept diverging opinions are critical, and similar to improving one’s skills as an author, being an avid reader and reviewer of scientific manuscripts helps tremendously.

VATS: Academic writing takes a lot of time and effort. What motivates you to do so?

Dr. Leichtle: It certainly does, but it is a rewarding experience. Scientific writing is what connects us as individual researchers to the scientific community and what allows us to share our insights and findings with other researchers and clinicians. The best papers are motivated by the idea that you found something that could be relevant to other researchers or clinicians, and publishing a well-written manuscript is the way to get the message out.

(by Brad Li, Masaki Lo)

Alison Wallace

Dr. Alison Wallace is an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Thoracic Surgery at Dalhousie University and a Thoracic Surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Canada. She is a clinician-scientist with a research focus on lung cancer outcomes, health system design, equity in cancer care, and surgical quality improvement. Her work spans clinical trials, translational research, and population-based studies, with an emphasis on improving access, early detection, and patient-centered delivery of thoracic oncology care. She leads and contributes to multiple national and international research collaborations, including investigator-initiated trials and large multicenter studies. Her current work focuses on optimizing perioperative pathways, reducing disparities in lung cancer care, and developing scalable models for equitable cancer delivery systems that integrate clinical excellence with health services research.

In Dr. Wallace’s view, the role of academics is to push the boundaries of knowledge. Without writing, researchers do not actually know where those boundaries are, where they have been, or how they are shifting. Academic writing plays a critical role in defining, sharing, and developing knowledge. It serves as a record of progress and a framework that enables others to question, refine, and expand upon ideas. Without academic writing, advancements can become disjointed and difficult to track. Writing is not merely about disseminating information; it is also a means for researchers to organize their thoughts, define problems, and outline the intellectual landscape of their field.

Dr. Wallace believes that an author must be able to translate complex ideas into structured, accessible knowledge that others can engage with, test, and apply. Good authorship is not about rhetoric. It is about coherence, integrity, and the ability to disseminate new knowledge in a tangible and usable form. The goal is not just to publish, but to communicate in a way that moves a field forward.

“I schedule time intentionally, and I delegate. Writing does not happen by chance. It requires structure, planning, and protected time. I work within collaborative research teams where responsibilities are shared, and projects move forward efficiently. I also integrate writing into my everyday professional workflow instead of treating it as something separate from clinical work. When research questions come directly from real clinical and system problems, writing becomes a natural extension of the work rather than an additional burden,” says Dr. Wallace.

(by Sasa Zhu, Brad Li)

Eric E. Vinck

Dr. Eric E. Vinck was born in Willemstad, Curaçao, a Dutch Caribbean island. He attended medical school in Bogotá, Colombia, and then worked as a rural physician for one year. After that, he completed his general surgery residency in Bogotá and his cardiac surgery fellowship in Medellín immediately afterwards. During his cardiac surgery fellowship, he worked part-time as a general surgeon on weekends. In 2024, he began his PhD program at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, specializing in left-handed cardiac surgery. That same year, he became affiliated with the journal "Interdisciplinary Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery" as an assistant editor. Currently, he is working as an attending cardiac surgeon at the HIC Cardiovascular Institute in Floridablanca, Colombia. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

Dr. Vinck believes that academic writing plays a crucial role in advancing specific areas of research by opening doors to new inquiries related to education and future studies. By emphasizing teaching and academic writing, researchers create opportunities for younger generations to build upon existing research and explore new areas that require attention.

Dr. Vinck bears in mind that advances are not happening spontaneously; they happen through the efforts of people and colleagues who keep improving themselves and their practice and art. This motivates him to actively engage in his surgical specialty, benefiting both himself and serving as a role model for others. Additionally, the enthusiasm of students, interns, and residents keeps him informed about current research.

(by Sasa Zhu, Brad Li)

Dariya Jaeger

Dr. Dariya Jaeger is a board-certified abdominal surgeon and lecturer in clinical anatomy. She studied medicine at the private Witten/Herdecke University, Germany, where she later returned to contribute to academic teaching and research. She completed her surgical training at the surgical departments of Heidelberg University Hospital as well as hospitals in Speyer and Bochum. She has a strong passion for surgical education, with a particular focus on hands-on surgical training using anatomical cadaveric models. Since 2020, she has been working at her alma mater, Witten/Herdecke University, as a lecturer and researcher in clinical anatomy. Her research focuses on the development and evaluation of advanced surgical training methods aimed at improving practical operative skills and bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and real surgical practice.

Dr. Jaeger believes that academic writing is essential for advancing medical knowledge and scientific progress. Progress in medicine is driven by the curiosity, ambition, and motivation of scientists who are willing to look beyond established knowledge and question what is already considered fact. Through systematic research and the clear communication of results in academic writing, new insights can be generated and shared with the scientific community. This process allows knowledge to be critically examined, expanded, and built upon by others. In this way, academic writing not only documents discoveries but also fosters innovation and intellectual exchange. Sometimes, it can even lead to unexpected findings—discoveries that researchers were not initially searching for, but that ultimately contribute significantly to the advancement of science and medicine.

From Dr. Jaeger’s perspective, an author should possess several important qualities that go beyond the fundamental principles of scientific work. In addition to maintaining academic rigor, integrity, and critical thinking, a good author needs strong motivation, discipline, and perseverance. Scientific writing often requires long periods of focused work, the ability to overcome challenges, and the determination to pursue a question until meaningful conclusions can be drawn. Equally important is the ability to express complex ideas clearly and in a well-structured manner.  A good author must be able to translate thoughts, hypotheses, and findings into precise and comprehensible language so that they can be understood and evaluated by the scientific community. These skills enable authors to communicate knowledge effectively and make meaningful contributions to scientific advancement.

“Finding time for academic writing is often challenging. The qualities of a good author—such as motivation, discipline, and perseverance—certainly help in managing these responsibilities. However, what ultimately makes the difference is focus, strong willpower, endurance, and ambition. These qualities allow a scientist or doctor to use even small windows of time productively. With the right mindset and determination, it becomes possible to dedicate every available free moment to writing and developing scientific work, despite a busy professional schedule,” says Dr. Jaeger.

(by Sasa Zhu, Masaki Lo)