Leadership in Surgery

Melina R. Kibbe, MD, is Professor of Surgery with tenure, the Colin G. Thomas Distinguished Professor, and Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of North Carolina (UNC).  She also is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.  Prior to UNC, Dr. Kibbe was faculty at Northwestern University for 13 years where she also served as the Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Surgery and as Deputy Director of the Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology.  Clinically, Dr. Kibbe has significant experience with both open and endovascular surgery.  Dr. Kibbe’s research interests focus on nitric oxide vascular biology and developing novel and innovative drug-eluting therapies for patients with vascular disease.  For her research, she has received funds from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, American Heart Association, Department of Veterans Affairs, American Medical Association, and various society, foundation, and intramural sources.  She holds 12 patents or provisional patents.  Her research was recognized by President Obama with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2009.  Her bibliography includes over 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts, review articles, and book chapters, with an emphasis on vascular biology and novel vascular therapies.  She is board certified in general and vascular surgery and is RVT and RPVI certified by ARDMS.  Dr. Kibbe is the Editor-in-Chief for JAMA Surgery. She is past-president of the Association for Academic Surgery, the Midwestern Vascular Surgical Society, and the Association of VA Surgeons.  She is also an active member in the American College of Surgeons, the American Surgical Association, the Society for Vascular Surgery, and the American Heart Association, among others.  Most recently, she was inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the National Academy ofMedicine.

Herbert Chen, M.D. is Chair of the Department of Surgery at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and the Surgeon-in-Chief of UAB Hospital and Health System.  He is a Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, and holds the Fay Fletcher Kerner Endowed Chair.  His clinical interests include endocrine surgery and he is a pioneer in radioguided parathyroid surgery.  Dr. Chen’s lab has been continuously funded for over 18 years and studies the role of Notch signaling in thyroid and neuroendocrine cancers.  He served as the American Cancer Society MEN2 Thyroid Cancer Professor.  Dr. Chen is an Associate/Section Editor for Annals of Surgery, Scientific American Surgery, and The Oncologist, and serves on 6 other editorial boards.  He is also the Past-President of Association for Academic Surgery, Past-President of the Society of Clinical Surgery, President of the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons Foundation, and the President of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons.  Dr. Chen has mentored over 100 faculty, post-doctoral fellows, residents, medical students, and undergraduates in his lab.  He has published over 500 original research and review articles and has edited 18 textbooks.  He has been recognized for his passion for teaching and mentoring the next generation of surgical leaders.