Peter Allen, MD, FACS, Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology, has been appointed David C. Sabiston Jr. Distinguished Professor of Surgery by the Duke University School of Medicine.
Distinguished Professorships are the highest honor that Duke bestows on its faculty members.
Dr. Allen holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, and obtained his doctor of medicine degree from the Dartmouth College Geisel School of Medicine in 1993. He completed his surgical residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and practiced on their faculty. During this time, he served for one year on a forward surgical team in Iraq.
Dr. Allen subsequently went on to practice for 13 years at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center prior to joining the Duke Department of Surgery in 2018 as Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology and Professor of Surgery. Dr. Allen also serves as Chief of Cancer Surgery for the Duke Cancer Institute.
As a hepatopancreatobiliary surgery (HPB) specialist, Dr. Allen is dedicated to treating pre-cancerous and cancerous conditions of the pancreas, liver, and stomach, and prioritizes developing positive, trusting relationships with his patients in order to provide the highest quality of care.
Dr. Allen is an accomplished researcher who has been published over 400 times in peer-reviewed journals, academic articles, books, and other publications. His research focuses on early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and the development of safer and less invasive pancreatic surgery methods and techniques. He is co-principal investigator of the Pancreatic Cancer Research Laboratory along with Daniel Nussbaum, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery.
Dr. Allen is committed to educating and mentoring new surgical oncologists and surgeon–scientists training at Duke, and his reputation as a leader in his field has elevated the Duke surgical oncology program.
Dr. Allen shares the David C. Sabiston, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Surgery with Allan D. Kirk, MD, PhD, FACS, Chair of the Department of Surgery, who has held this title since 2015.
Commenting on this appointment, Dr. Kirk says, "Dr. Allen is one of the finest examples of a surgeon-scientist alive today. He has had a transformative impact on our institution, oncology, and the broad field of surgery. He is so deserving of this recognition."
Previous David C. Sabiston, Jr. Professors of Surgery include Robert William Anderson, MD, Chairman of Surgery from 1994-2003, and Danny Odell Jacobs, MD, Chairman of Surgery from 2003-2012.
“To be granted an endowed chair is an enormous honor, and to be carrying on the legacy of Dr. Sabiston with this professorship in his name means even more,” says Dr. Allen. “I am proud and humbled by the work being done by our surgeons here at Duke, and it is an honor to be a part of this great Department."
About the David C. Sabiston Jr. Distinguished Professorship in Surgery
David C. Sabiston Jr., MD, was a James B. Duke Professor of Surgery and chair of the Department of Surgery. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. After serving in the U.S. Army at Walter Reed Army Research Center, Sabiston returned to Johns Hopkins as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, attaining the rank of professor before being recruited to Duke. He brought international prominence to Duke’s surgery department and became legendary as a tough but beloved mentor. When he retired, former Duke surgical residents, surgery faculty members, and friends and family established this professorship in his honor.
View all Duke Surgery distinguished and endowed professorships