The Early Years | 1957-1990 | 1991-2008 | 2009-



The Early Years

In 1915, Atlanta Medical College aligned itself with Emory University to create the Emory University School of Medicine. Over the next 15 years, the university standardized the medical education curriculum, rationalized the training standards for physicians and built Emory University Hospital. In 1930, Dr. Daniel Elkin assumed the chairmanship of the Department of Surgery. Due to a substantial gift to endow a chair in surgery given by Joseph Whitehead, Jr., the son of Coca-Cola magnate Joseph Whitehead, Sr., Dr. Elkin became the first Joseph Brown Whitehead Professor of Surgery in 1939. Numerous Whitehead family funds helped establish the original infrastructure of the department, including research labs, the expansion of various divisions and the construction of the Whitehead Surgical Pavilion.

Through his innovative contributions to the developing fields of vascular and trauma surgery, Dr. Elkin solidified the department's position in the vanguard of surgical practice and research. He was a prolific author throughout the 30s, 40s and early 50s, and his lasting contributions include his description of pericadiocentesis for cardiac tamponade and his popularization of those surgical exposures used to access the proximal subclavian artery, the peroneal artery and the intraosseous portion of the vertebral body. Dr. Elkin also advanced the surgical curriculum at Emory by elevating teaching to equal footing with clinical activities and by adding a year to the surgical residency.

After years of negotiation, The Emory Clinic was established in 1953 as a source of revenue for both faculty and the School of Medicine. In addition to quickly becoming the foremost medical center in Atlanta, the clinic received national attention for the quality of its cardiac services. Various department faculty were founding members of the clinic, including the late Dr. William McGarity, whose studies of hyperparathyroid cases contributed to a greater understanding of multiglandular parathyroid disease. Another was Dr. Charles Hatcher, who performed Georgia's first "blue baby" open heart procedure in 1962; the state's first single, double, and triple aortic valve replacements in 1963 and 1964; and the state's first successful coronary bypass surgery in 1970.

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Following Dr. Elkin's tenure, Dr. John D. Martin served as chairman from 1957-1971. Dr. Martin successfully integrated the separate residency programs at Grady, Emory and the Atlanta VA hospitals, streamlining and creating an even more effective curriculum. During his term, significant advances in surgical treatment were achieved by Emory faculty, including the performance of Georgia's first successful renal transplant in 1966 by Dr. Garland Perdue.

The department was chaired from 1971-1989 by Dr. W. Dean Warren, who was a leading investigator of portal hypertension for three decades and the co-originator of the distal splenorenal shunt. Leading by example, Dr. Warren instilled his commitment to academic research in both the department and the residency, and his legacy remains in the vitality and pervasiveness of the department's research endeavors. Dr. Robert Smith was interim chair from 1990-1991.

Significant department-based advancements during this period included:

	The development of the musculocutaneous flap procedure by Emory plastic surgeons in 1975, which became the foundation for the techniques that are now the standard for reconstructive breast surgery.
	The performance of Georgia's first liver transplant in 1987 by Dr. J. Michael Henderson and Dr. William Millikan.
	The performance of Georgia's first pancreas transplant in 1989 by Dr. Richard Olson and Dr. John Whelchel.

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Recognized nationally and internationally for his outstanding contributions to cancer therapy and his influence on the design and meta-analysis of conceptually driven national clinical trials, Dr. William Wood began serving as Joseph Brown Whitehead Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery in 1991. Prior to Emory he served as medical director of the cancer center and chief of surgical oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital.

During Dr. Wood's tenure, the department continued to be a source of evolution, refinement and innovation in surgical technique. Examples include:

	The adaptation of endoscopes for plastic surgery procedures by Dr. Felmont Eaves and Dr. Carl Price in 1993.
	Dr. Joseph Craver's performance of Georgia's first minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass surgery in 1996.
	Dr. John Puskas' performance of the world's first minimally invasive triple off-pump bypass surgery using Mini-CABG instrumentation in 1997.
	The performance of Georgia's first living-related liver transplant in 1997 by Dr. Thomas Heffron, who was a member of the surgical team that developed and conducted the first pediatric living related liver transplant in the world at the University of Chicago in 1989.
	The refinement of the implantation of the endovascular stent graft in tandem with a minimally invasive procedure by the vascular group, resulting in FDA approval in 1999.
	Georgia's first islet transplant in 2003 by Dr. Christian Larsen and Dr. Thomas Pearson.
	The ongoing diabetes research helmed by Dr. Collin Weber, who was the first diabetes investigator to examine both cross-species islet transplantation and the protective encapsulation of transplanted islets.
	The sentinel contributions made to the development of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program by Dr. Aaron Fink.
	The outstanding investigative achievements of vascular surgery clinician/researcher Dr. Elliot Chaikof, whose present research involves the interface of engineering and medicine.
	The highly influential role the late Dr. John Bostwick had throughout his career in the development and improvement of breast reconstruction techniques.
	The 2003 establishment of one of the only cardiac surgery centers in the world to offer endoscopic atraumatic coronary artery bypass (Endo-ACAB) by Dr. Thomas Vassiliades.
	Dr. C. Daniel Smith's formation in 2003 of The Emory Simulation, Training, and Robotics Center (ESTAR), a program for developing, validating and applying simulation-based educational tools and devices, curricula and robotics for use in medical education, training and patient care that has become a common resource for surgical training programs both within and outside Emory.
	Rankings released by the National Institutes of Health placed the department among the nation's leaders in federal research grant support for 2004.
	In 2005, surgeons from the division of general and gastrointestinal surgery were the first in Georgia and among the first in the nation to successfully treat a patient suffering from Barrett's esophagus with the Halo360 system.
	In 2005, Dr. Chris Larsen and Dr. Tom Pearson collaborated with colleagues at Bristol-Meyers Squibb on the Phase III investigation of Belatacept, an investigational medication that was proving effective in preserving transplanted kidney function while avoiding toxic side effects of such immunosuppressive drugs as cyclosporine.
	The National Institute of Health's departmental rankings for 2005 placed the department at 8th in the nation in NIH awards support.
	Dr. David Vega and his surgical team implanted Georgia's first ventricular assist device (VAD) as a means of providing permanent therapy for heart failure rather than as a bridge to transplant in 2006.
	In 2008, the Emory Bariatric Center at Emory University Hospital Midtown was accredited as a Level 1 Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by the Bariatric Surgery Center Network Accreditation Program of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Edward Lin is the center's surgical director.
	Clinical Trials in Organ Transplantation in Children (CTOT-C), a national study dedicated to making kidney transplants more tolerable for children led by Dr. Allan Kirk, received a five-year, six million dollar grant from the NIH in 2008.

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In February 2009, Dr. Larsen succeeded Dr. Wood as department chair. Dr. Wood maintained his clinical and academic activities while intensifying his focus on investigating innovation in cancer treatment.

A faculty member since 1991, Dr. Larsen had rapidly establishing himself as a leading transplant surgeon and immunologist. In 2001, he was appointed founding director of the Emory Transplant Center, an umbrella organization that oversees and integrates all of Emory's academic, clinical and research resources in organ transplantation. Dr. Larsen's robust surgical practice focuses on kidney, pancreas and islet transplantation and has seen him reach such milestones as the performance of the first islet transplant in Georgia in 2003. He has also built one of the foremost transplantation immunology programs in the world.

Please check news for recent accomplishments and achievements involving our faculty.

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