The Duke School of Medicine has named three Duke Department of Surgery faculty members as recipients of the school's 2025 Faculty Awards.
Henry Rice, MD: Master Clinician/Teacher Award
Henry Rice, MD, Professor of Surgery, has been named a recipient of the Master Clinician/Teacher Award.
The Master Clinician/Teacher Award honors faculty for superlative accomplishment in teaching and/or clinical care. The intent is to honor those individuals who have made an extraordinary commitment above and beyond normal expectations.
Dr. Rice first joined Duke as an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Pediatric General Surgery in 1998. He was appointed chief of the division in 2007, a position he held until 2024, and was promoted to Professor in 2013. He holds additional appointments as Professor in Pediatrics and Research Professor of Global Health.
Dr. Rice also serves as co-director of the Center for Global Surgery and Health Equity at the Duke Global Health Institute and co-led Prescriptions for Repair, a local initiative that provides space for Durham residents who have been affected by gun violence.
Brett Phillips, MD, MBA: Research Mentoring Award for Early Career Mentoring in Clinical Research/Population Health
Brett Phillips, MD, MBA, Associate Professor of Surgery, has been selected as the recipient for the Research Mentoring Award for Early Career Mentoring in Clinical Research/Population Health. The Research Mentoring Awards honor excellence in mentoring across clinical, translational, population health, and basic science.
Dr. Phillips joined the faculty at Duke as an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Plastic, Maxillofacial, and Oral Surgery in 2018, after previously completing his plastic surgery residency training in the Duke Department of Surgery. He now serves as the program director for the Duke Integrated Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Residency Program, as co-director of the Duke FLAP Course, and is a member of the Duke Cancer Institute.
Dr. Phillips's research interests include clinical outcomes in plastic surgery, standardization of definitions and outcome reporting in plastic surgery, prediction and prevention of skin necrosis using minimally invasive technologic and pharmacologic adjuncts, and tissue perfusion analysis.
Georgia Tomaras, PhD: Research Mentoring Award for Career Mentoring in Basic Science
Georgia Tomaras, PhD, Professor in Surgery, has received the Research Mentoring Award for Career Mentoring in Basic Science. Dr. Tomaras joined the Duke Surgery faculty in 2001 as an Assistant Research Professor in Surgery. She has served as Chief of the Division of Surgical Sciences since 2022, and in 2024 was named the A. Geller Distinguished Professor for Research in Immunology.
Dr. Tomaras is the Co-Director of the Duke Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) and previously served as the Director of Research for the Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI). She additionally holds leadership positions with national and international committees, advisory boards, centers, and institutes. Her primary research focus is deciphering mechanisms of protective human immunity and identification of immune correlates of protection to further the development of effective vaccines against infectious diseases.
Congratulations to Drs. Rice, Phillips, and Tomaras on these outstanding recognitions of service to the Department of Surgery and the School of Medicine.
View the full list of recipients on the School of Medicine website.