Newswise — Bethesda, MD – An internationally-recognized expert in the field of critical care and burn resuscitation, Army Col. (Dr.) Kevin Chung, has been selected to serve as the next chair of the Department of Medicine at the F. Hébert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU). 

Chung is currently the chief of Medicine at San Antonio Military Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and holds dual faculty appointments as a professor in USU’s departments of Medicine and Surgery.

Among Chung’s numerous academic and military achievements, he was the co-inventor of the Burn Resuscitation Decision Support System, also known as the Burn Navigator, which was recognized as one of the U.S. Army’s top inventions in 2009.  Burn patients are predisposed to organ failure if they get too little fluid and over-resuscitation if they get too much fluid.  Chung’s decision-assist algorithm helps restore the right amount of fluids to burn victims. In 2013, it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and later earned the Army Medical Department’s Annual Wolf Pack Award in 2014.

Chung deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (2008) and Operation Enduring Freedom (2012) and has cared for some of the nation’s most critically injured service members.  He has received the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal with 4 oak leaf clusters, and the Combat Action Badge. He has also authored numerous manuscripts and book chapters, and is a reviewer of several medical journals.

Chung is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, and Georgetown University School of Medicine.  He completed his residency in internal medicine at Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, at Fort Gordon, Georgia. After completing a critical care medicine fellowship in 2005 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, he was assigned to the United States Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR). He later served as the USAISR’s medical director for the Burn Intensive Care Unit, task area manager of the clinical trials in burns and trauma, and as director of research for the USAISR’s research directorate.

“Col. Chung is one of the most highly respected internal medicine doctors in the U.S. military,” said Dr. Arthur Kellermann, dean of the Hébert School of Medicine.  “His clinical, research, teaching and leadership skills will be welcome at ‘America's Medical School.’”

Later this summer, Chung will assume his new position at USU, succeeding Dr. Louis Pangaro, who has served as chair for the last decade.

"I am thrilled and honored to be given the rare opportunity to lead a major department with such a proud and accomplished tradition.  Like many of my colleagues, I have devoted my career to advancing military medicine,” Chung said.  “There is no better place than USU to make a broad, lasting impact.  I am grateful to Dean Kellermann for entrusting me with the amazing legacy that Dr. Pangaro and his team have built over decades of distinguished service."

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About USU

The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), founded by an act of Congress in 1972, is the academic heart of the Military Health System. USU students are primarily active-duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service who receive specialized education in tropical and infectious diseases, TBI and PTSD, disaster response and humanitarian assistance, global health, acute trauma care, and advanced practice nursing and dentistry. For more information, visit www.usuhs.edu.