Geoffrey Gurtner MD, FACS

Dr. Gurtner is the chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Arizona. He is internationally recognized as a highly accomplished clinician and prolific researcher, author, inventor and entrepreneur. He has been awarded more than $27 million in federal research funding and holds 35 patents. He also has founded three venture capital-backed life sciences companies.

Dr. Gurtner graduated from Dartmouth College and earned his medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco. He completed his internship and surgical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, followed by a plastic surgery residency at the Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at NYU Medical Center and a fellowship in oncologic microsurgery at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

“Research that never gets into the real world has limited impact, and making an impact requires translating research into real-world applications,” Dr. Gurtner said. “I look forward to contributing to an academic department of surgery that is already providing outstanding clinical care and education and is poised to become an engine to accelerate progress in the field of surgery globally through innovations in patient care, early-stage clinical trials, cutting-edge translational research, and eventually, startup creation and commercialization. I am by nature a builder, and I can’t think of a better place to help build a transformative department of surgery than at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson.”

Dr. Gurtner has authored or co-authored 345 peer-reviewed articles and nearly 50 book chapters, and he has edited the two major textbooks in his field. He is the immediate past board president of the Wound Healing Society, the premier scientific organization focused on wound healing.