The Duke Department of Surgery is pleased to announce that Joseph Turek, MD, PhD, MBA, has been awarded the Joseph W. and Dorothy W. Beard Distinguished Professorship of Surgery, effective July 1, 2026.
Distinguished professorships are awarded to faculty who have demonstrated extraordinary scholarship in advancing science and improving human health. Dr. Turek is one of 22 faculty members in the Duke University School of Medicine to be awarded distinguished professorships in 2026, and one of 38 total across Duke University. Awardees will be honored at the university’s annual distinguished professorship event on May 18.
Dr. Turek has served as chief of pediatric cardiac surgery at Duke since 2017. He is also the program director for the Duke Congenital Cardiac Surgery Fellowship, which he helped to establish in 2020.
Dr. Turek is an accomplished researcher and scholar, with more than 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts and numerous book chapters to his name. He has been one of the foremost innovators of the last decade in congenital heart surgery, developing novel operations, modifying techniques, and introducing new products and procedures to children and adults with congenital cardiac disease, including several world's-firsts. Most notably, he performed the world's first co-transplant of a heart and cultured thymus tissue; performed the world's first partial heart transplant for a newborn without functioning aortic or pulmonary valves; and in 2025 led a team at Duke in performing the world's first living mitral valve transplant, saving the lives of three girls.
In February 2026, Dr. Turek was named to the TIME100 Health list of the 100 most influential people in health for 2026, specifically for his work pioneering new techniques for pediatric cardiac transplant.
About the Professorship
Joseph W. Beard, MD, joined Duke’s faculty in 1937. In 1938, his research group—including his wife, Dorothy W. Beard, a Vanderbilt School of Nursing alumna—developed the first usable equine encephalomyelitis vaccine, and identified viruses that cause leukemia in chickens. They were also the first to report tangible evidence of viruses associated with human leukemia. Joseph Beard was named a James B. Duke Professor of Surgery in 1946 and a professor of virology in 1965. Duke University established this professorship to honor the Beards and to promote research and understanding of surgery at Duke University and the wider scientific community. Dr. and Mrs. Beard requested that this professorship reflect the indispensable personal and professional support, understanding, and guidance afforded to them over the years by Dr. Deryl Hart. The couple contributed to this professorship through their estate plans.
Dr. Turek shares the Beard Distinguished Professorship with Jeffrey Marks, PhD, Carmelo Milano, MD, Bruce Sullenger, PhD, and Kent Weinhold, PhD (emeritus). Prior Beard Distinguished Professorship holders have included Eli Gilboa, PhD (1993-2006); and Jeffrey L. Platt, PhD (1994-1998).
Read more about the 2026 Duke University School of Medicine Distinguished Professorships.