Dr. Charles Brunicardi is the DeBakey/Bard Professor and Chairman of the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine since April 1999. He joined the Baylor faculty in 1995 as a Professor of Surgery and as the George Jordan Professor and Chief of the Division of General Surgery, a position he still currently maintains. Dr. Brunicardi has served as the Chief of Surgical Services and the Chief of the Clinical General Surgery Service at The Methodist Hospital from 1995-2004, as well as Executive Director of the Baylor/Methodist Multi-Organ Transplant Center from 1995-1999. He is also a consultant and attending surgeon at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center , Ben Taub General Hospital , and St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital.

Dr. Brunicardi’s research interests include islet physiology and transplantation, hormonal regulation of blood sugar levels, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and minimally invasive surgery. His studies began in these areas at The Johns Hopkins University, where he completed his undergraduate degree in chemistry with honors. He received his medical degree from Rutgers School of Medicine before he became a resident and eventually chief resident in general surgery at the State University of New York (SUNY) Health Science Center in Brooklyn . He also spent a three-year research fellowship in pancreatic physiology at SUNY and received national and international awards for this work. Dr. Brunicardi’s principal research interests are in the areas of pancreatic cancer, islet cell transplantation, and pancreatic physiology and hormone secretion. He has received both national and international awards for his work, which is funded by two separate grants entitled, “Pancreatic Cancer Treatment Using Surgery and Gene Therapy” and “Intraislet Communication in Surgically-Altered Pancreas,” from the National Institutes of Health. His clinical interests include pancreas cancer, islet tumors, breast cancer, gastroenterology, islet transplantation, and minimally invasive surgery.

In 1989, Dr. Brunicardi began a six-year tenure with UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles . Along with his position as a staff surgeon, he became the acting director of trauma, co-director and director of the Islet Transplantation Program, successively. He was also an Associate Professor of Surgery at UCLA, where he directed a statewide National Institutes of Health-funded program for transplanting human islets of Langerhans, the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. In coming to Baylor, Dr. Brunicardi developed a research program in molecular physiology of the endocrine pancreas, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health. He has developed a basic science research program for the Division of General Surgery, which provides research fellowships for residents in general surgery.

Dr. Brunicardi has received 83 awards and honors since his undergraduate days, including memberships in the Blue Key Honor Society at Johns Hopkins and the Royal College of Surgeons Traveling Fellowship. He was bestowed with the Outstanding Teacher Award at UCLA School of Medicine three years in a row during his teaching career there and the Gene Guinn Outstanding Faculty Award at Baylor College of Medicine. Additionally, he has acted as Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago , at the University of Minnesota , at the University of Washington , at Baylor College of Medicine, at Creighton University , at Tulane University , at the VIIth National Medical Conference in Fortaleza , Brazil , and at the II Meeting of the Brazilian College of Surgeons in Recife , Brazil .

He is also a member of more than 37 professional societies, including the American Diabetes Association. A prolific writer, Dr. Brunicardi has co-authored 154 publications, 21 chapters, and 101 abstracts. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Schwartz’s Principles of Surgery textbook. Dr. Brunicardi also serves as a reviewer for such publications as Annals of Surgery, Diabetes, Pancreas, Journal of Surgical Research, Surgery, and American Journal of Physiology. He has also served as a reviewer for the National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. A widely sought speaker, Dr. Brunicardi has taken part in more than 244 lectures regarding his clinical interests.

Dr. Brunicardi’s personal interests include music, guitar, and golf. He is also a dedicated family man and believes in traditional values of loyalty and friendship. He and his wife, Melissa, have two boys, Isaac and Jackson.