Dear colleagues and friends of the Duke Department of Surgery,
As 2025 comes to a close and we prepare to enter a new year, I want to take a moment to reflect on this past year and all that our department has accomplished.
This has been a year of change, both in the department and in the profession of academic medicine—but I am proud to report that Duke Surgery has thrived through these changes and set itself up for continued success in the future.
One of the most significant changes of the year was the transition in our department chair position. After leading Duke Surgery for 11 years, Allan Kirk stepped down as chair this August, while remaining on our faculty to focus on his research and clinical practice. Dr. Kirk built up a departmental research infrastructure that returned Duke Surgery to its prominence as the nation’s premier home to surgeon-scientists, helped birth four divisions into freestanding departments within the School of Medicine, and guided us through the challenges of COVID and our transition from the PDC to DHIP. His steady demeanor and innate curiosity helped make him the leader we needed through those transitions, and we’re immensely grateful to him for his contributions to Duke Surgery’s success.
Across our divisions and programs, we made outstanding strides in our clinical mission this year. A few highlights: Faculty in the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, including Adam Johnson, Samantha Minc, Kevin Southerland, and Hope Weissler, have helped at-risk patients in Durham and throughout North Carolina avoid amputations through Duke’s Threatened Limb Clinic. Our lung transplant team performed nine successful lung transplants in seven days earlier this year, and they will likely have accomplished more than 100 lung transplants by year-end. A research project led by general surgery resident Maggie O’Connor, in the lab of Georgia Beasley and Smita Nair, has led to a clinical trial that may reduce potentially serious side effects from immune checkpoint inhibitors. And Joseph Turek and Douglas Overbey performed the world’s first living mitral valve transplant, saving three girls’ lives with one heart.
Because driving advancements in care is only as effective as our ability to deliver that care, we’re also better positioned than ever before to serve more patients, in locations across North Carolina. Shortly after Duke Health completed the acquisition of the hospital now operating as Duke Health Lake Norman Hospital north of Charlotte earlier this year, we began staffing the facility with surgeons who will bring high-level, Duke-quality care to an entirely new part of the state. We have also expanded our presence in Wake County, with more surgeons in facilities in Cary, Raleigh, and Garner.
In our education mission, we continued our tradition of welcoming the best and brightest early-career surgeons to train at Duke. Twenty new interns from around the country and the world joined our residency programs, and we were joined by 17 fellows. These extremely talented new members of the Duke Surgery community will help continue to build a culture of excellence, and—if history is any guide—some of them will end up bringing their talents as future Duke Surgery faculty. In addition, Louise Jackson, a gifted surgical educator, began serving as our Medical Student Clerkship Director. When I look at our new trainees and new education leadership, I feel confident that the future of Duke Surgery is bright.
The transformative year that our Vascular Surgery Integrated Residency Program has had stands as an example of our training programs’ ability to pivot and grow. The program has new leadership under Program Director Heather Waldrop and Associate Program Director Brian Gilmore. It has expanded its emphasis on simulation, structured didactics, and strengthened its commitment to our clinical learning environment. This renewed momentum reflects the dedication of our faculty and trainees, and it was highlighted by the graduation earlier this year of the program’s inaugural resident, Hope Weissler, whom we were proud to welcome to our faculty as an Assistant Professor.
Duke Surgery’s commitment to maintaining the strength of our research mission remains unparalleled. I couldn’t be more proud that we were recognized as the top recipient of NIH funding among medical school surgery departments for the fourth straight year, but the research funding landscape changed dramatically this year, and we’ve been taking steps to adapt to the new world in which we find ourselves. Supporting our surgeons’ and scientists’ work toward making lifesaving, breakthrough discoveries has meant diversifying our funding beyond its traditional focus on the NIH and building new relationships with private-sector and philanthropic partners that can help keep our portfolio vibrant. We intend to continue identifying areas of focus for our research activities and putting effort toward maintaining valuable programs like our research fellowships offered during residency training.
While 2025 has been a year of transition, I believe that 2026 will be a year of growth. We’ll be building out the new Division of Colorectal Surgery that we announced late in the year, adding services and faculty to this valuable, important part of the department. Faculty recruitment is also a priority in our Pediatric General Surgery and Surgical Oncology divisions, and we’re currently conducting national searches for chiefs in our Divisions of Colorectal Surgery; Plastic, Maxillofacial, and Oral Surgery; and Surgical Oncology. This growth will add firepower as we advance our three-fold mission in clinical care, education, and research.
In closing, I would like to thank you for your support as I have stepped into the Chair’s role during a period of such dramatic change. I wake up every day thinking about how I can help lead Duke Surgery to becoming the nation’s premier destination for patients, trainees, surgeons, and researchers. We’ve made great strides in 2025, and I’m excited for what we’ll accomplish in the year to come.
With warm wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season,
Peter J. Allen, MD
David C. Sabiston Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chair
Department of Surgery
Duke University School of Medicine