Wyss member recognized for contributions to surgical research
By Chloe Meck, BIDMC Communications
(BOSTON) – Elliot L. Chaikof, M.D., Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Surgery and Chief of Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Associate Faculty member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, has received the American Surgical Association’s 2019 Flance-Karl Award. Each year, the Association’s Flance-Karl Award Committee recognizes one surgeon in the United States who has made seminal contributions in translational research that have applications to clinical surgery of any specialty. Past recipients of the award, considered one of the most prestigious recognitions of scientific achievement in the world, include M. Judah Folkman, M.D., Francis D. Moore Sr., M.D., and Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D.
Chaikof has led a multitude of research efforts that have advanced the development of engineered living tissues, implantable devices, and artificial organs, as well as cell-based therapies. Most recently, his work has focused on drug discovery, in collaboration with medicinal and computational chemists, to develop more effective treatments for atherosclerosis, venous thrombosis, metabolic syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease.
“Dr. Chaikof is an outstanding academic surgeon scientist and educator who is extremely deserving of this prestigious recognition from the American Surgical Association,” said Pete Healy, President of BIDMC. “All of us at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center are proud of his exemplary work in the field of vascular disease and for his ongoing leadership as our Chief of Surgery.”
Over the past 20 years, Chaikof’s laboratory has received more than $30 million in federal funding from the National Institutes of Health, as well as support from the National Science Foundation, American Heart Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
“It is a great honor to be recognized among the extraordinary group of surgeons who have received this award in previous years,” said Chaikof, who accepted the award at the 139th American Surgical Association annual meeting. “I am grateful for the support of my colleagues and the privilege of being a member of such a wonderful department and dynamic medical and scientific community. It has been particularly rewarding to have been able to collaborate over many years with so many outstanding faculty and trainees.”
Chaikof, who is also the Johnson and Johnson Professor of Surgery and Chair of the Surgical Executive Committee at Harvard Medical School, is dedicated to training students, residents and fellows. He has published more than 300 articles in major scientific journals and is a member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, and holds a faculty appointment at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Harvard–MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Chaikof is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academies.