SCCM President and Leadership

Cherylee W.J. Chang, MD, FACP, FNCS, FCCM

SCCM 2026 PRESIDENT

Cherylee W.J. Chang, MD, FACP, FNCS, FCCM, is division chief of neurocritical care and a professor of neurology, neurosurgery, and medicine at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, USA. She graduated from Stanford University with honors and distinction, then earned her medical degree from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine where she also completed her internship and residency in internal medicine. Dr. Chang completed her neurology residency at Stanford University, followed by fellowships in both neuroscience and medical critical care at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She is board certified in neurology, critical care medicine, and neurocritical care.

Dr. Chang’s career has centered on advancing professional standards in neurocritical care through development of certification pathways and fellowship program accreditation. She chaired the inaugural Neurocritical Care Certification Committee of the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties. She has also served on the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Critical Care Medicine Certification Writing Committee and represents the ABIM on the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology’s Neurocritical Care Examination Writing Committee. From 2007 to 2009, Dr. Chang served as the third president of the Neurocritical Care Society. She recently served on the Neurocritical Care Accreditation Committee for the Society of Neurological Surgeons (SNS) Committee on Advanced Subspecialty Training (CAST).

Dr. Chang has been principal investigator for more than 30 clinical trials on acute ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, acute spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and status epilepticus, including studies of investigational drugs and medical devices. She has been an associate editor of Critical Care Medicine and continues to serve on its editorial board. Her original scientific inquiries, reviews, opinion pieces, and book chapters are widely published, and she serves as an ad hoc reviewer for numerous journals in the fields of critical care, neurology, and neurotrauma.

Dr. Chang has served SCCM in numerous capacities since joining in 1993. She was first recognized by SCCM in 1994 for winning the Case Presentation Competition at the Seventh Fellows Retreat in Lake Tahoe. In addition to her 10 years on the Council, she helped introduce the Fundamental Critical Care Support course to the State of Hawaii in 2000. She served as secretary of the Neuroscience Section, cochaired SCCM’s 2007 Asian Forum Program of Mechanical Ventilation and Critical Care Response in Epidemics in Singapore, and cochaired SCCM’s Mechanical Ventilation Trends Conference in 2008. In 2010, she joined the Congress Program Committee and served as cochair of the 2017 Critical Care Congress Program.

Dr. Chang received SCCM’s Presidential Citation Award in 2009 and again each year from 2011 through 2015. She has served as vice-chair of the Strategic Planning Management Committee, a member of the Nominations Committee, and the Society’s treasurer. Most recently, she chaired the Council’s CEO Search Committee Task Force.