Zara Cooper, MD, MSc, FACS

Dr. Zara Cooper is a nationally recognized surgeon-executive and health systems innovator currently serving as Interim Executive Vice Chair of Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. As Kessler Director of the Center for Surgery and Public Health, she leads multidisciplinary teams advancing care delivery models for aging and seriously ill populations. Her strategic work spans clinical transformation, palliative care integration, and population health—areas of increasing relevance to value-driven healthcare systems and mission-aligned boards.

Dr. Cooper’s governance experience includes roles on the Mass General Brigham Board of Trustees, where she co-chairs committees on diversity, equity, and community health. She has led major initiatives in care redesign, quality measurement, and surgical innovation, with funding from NIH, PCORI, the Department of Defense, and private philanthropy. She is a member of the American Surgical Association and holds national leadership positions with the American College of Surgeons and the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract. With a strong track record in system-level change, stakeholder engagement, and health equity, Dr. Cooper brings board-ready expertise in strategic oversight, innovation adoption, and mission-centered governance.