After 18 years leading the Division of Abdominal Transplant Surgery, Debra Sudan, MD, Professor of Surgery, will be stepping down as Chief. She will continue to operate her vigorous clinical and research programs at Duke, as well as pursuing several exciting external projects—most notably serving as President of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons beginning next June.
Since arriving at Duke in 2008, Dr. Sudan has transformed the division from one that was in the bottom 5% of outcomes to one that is now in the top 5%, and often in first, second, or third place. Under her leadership, Duke Abdominal Transplant has built nationally prominent programs for liver and kidney transplantation and initiated internationally recognized programs in intestinal failure care, intestinal transplantation, and pediatric liver transplantation. With these excellent outcomes, the division has achieved unprecedented growth in transplant volumes in each of the solid organ programs, and the Duke Transplant Surgery Fellowship has become one of the most sought-after training programs for future transplant surgeons. Dr. Sudan has recruited some of the best and brightest transplant surgeons to Duke's abdominal transplant faculty, helping the division pursue groundbreaking research that is improving patients' lives in areas such as machine perfusion, novel immunosuppression, and discoveries in transplant immunology.
"We are lucky to have had Dr. Sudan's leadership over abdominal transplant for almost two decades, and luckier still that she will continue to serve as a member of our faculty," said Peter J. Allen, MD, David C. Sabiston Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery. "We will soon be initiating a national search for her successor, and Dr. Sudan has agreed to remain in the position until that person is identified."
Please join us in thanking Dr. Sudan for her countless contributions to the success of Duke Surgery.