FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MESA, Ariz. – August 14, 2026
The Marchand Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery is proud to announce that our Director, Greg J. Marchand, MD, FACS, FACOG, FICS, has been named to the Fulbright Specialist Roster by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and World Learning. The appointment follows review of his candidacy by a Fulbright Specialist Peer Review Panel and carries a three year tenure running from August 14, 2026 through August 14, 2029.
What the Fulbright Specialist Program Does
The Fulbright Specialist Program is a branch of the Fulbright Program, the flagship international academic exchange effort of the United States government. It is built around the needs of the host institution. Universities, hospitals and ministries abroad design their own short projects and request an American expert to come and work on them in person. Specialists partner with local faculty on curriculum design, teaching, hands-on training workshops, research methodology and long term institutional capacity building.
Roster placement makes Dr. Marchand eligible to be matched with projects designed by foreign institutions in more than 150 countries during his tenure. It is not itself a grant award. It places a candidate in the pool from which host institutions and the Department of State select for individual projects.
What It Means for the Institute
Teaching has been the center of this Institute since the day it opened. We run an SLS accredited fellowship in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery affiliated with HonorHealth Four Peaks Medical Center, we have published more than 135 peer reviewed papers, and we have hosted visiting physicians and research fellows from Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. Surgical techniques first published here are now taught as core content at several United States medical schools.
Minimally invasive gynecologic surgery is a skill set that does not spread on its own. It depends on training, repetition and the right instruments, and it remains unevenly distributed worldwide. A hospital that wants to move from open hysterectomy to laparoscopic or single incision technique needs someone on site who can teach the operation, help build the curriculum around it, and leave behind faculty capable of carrying it forward without outside help. That is the kind of work the Specialist Program exists to support, and it is the work this Institute was built to do.
Institutions abroad interested in a minimally invasive gynecologic surgery training project are welcome to contact us directly, or to submit a project request through the Fulbright Specialist Program.
About the Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is funded by an annual appropriation from the United States Congress. The Fulbright Specialist Program is administered by World Learning. Since 1946 the Fulbright Program has supported academic exchange between the United States and more than 160 countries.
About the Marchand Institute
The Marchand Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and surgical education institute in Mesa, Arizona. The Institute accepts no industry funding and declares no conflicts of interest. Its Director, Greg J. Marchand, MD, FACS, FACOG, FICS, is dual board certified with an ABOG Focused Practice Designation in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, was the first surgeon in the United States certified as a Master Surgeon by the Surgical Review Corporation, holds three United States surgical patents, and serves as principal investigator on multiple FDA clinical trials.
Media contact: Marchand Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery, 10238 East Hampton, Suite 212, Mesa, AZ 85209. Telephone 480-999-0905.