MD, PhD

Allan Douglas Kirk, MD, PhD is Chairman of the Department of Surgery and Surgeon-in-Chief for Duke University Health System.  He is the David C. Sabiston Jr. Professor of Surgery and a professor of immunology and pediatrics. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief for the American Journal of Transplantation.

He is internationally recognized for work in transplant immunology serving as the inaugural Chief of the Transplantation Branch for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and principal investigator for multiple clinical trials, including the first-in-man experience with novel immunosuppressive agents. Dr. Kirk pioneered the use of co-stimulation pathway blockade to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients.