Newswise — Lillian Kao, M.D., M.S., professor of surgery at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), has been appointed chief of the Division of Acute Care Surgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth.

“She is an outstanding faculty member here at UTHealth and an excellent role model and mentor for many faculty, residents and students,” said Richard Andrassy, M.D., the Denton A. Cooley, M.D. Chair in Surgery, the Dr. Thomas D. Cronin Chair in Plastic Surgery and the Jack H. Mayfield, M.D. Distinguished University Chair in Surgery at UTHealth.

“Acute care surgery is the urgent assessment and treatment of adult trauma and non-trauma surgical emergencies,” said Kao, the John B. Holmes Professor in the Clinical Sciences at McGovern Medical School. “At UTHealth, acute care surgery encompasses the areas of trauma, emergency general surgery, critical care and burn care.”

Kao is the co-founder and co-director of the Center for Surgical Trials and Evidence-Based Practice at UTHealth. In addition, she is vice chair for Quality of Care and vice chair for Research and Faculty Development in the Department of Surgery.

“She is an excellent surgeon and the department is fortunate to have her as a leader in the field,” Andrassy said. “She is an outstanding ambassador for UTHealth and the UT System.”

She is past president of the Association for Academic Surgery, the current president of the Association for Academic Surgery Foundation, and serves on the Executive Council of the Surgical Infection Society.

Kao was a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan and subsequently received her Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Michigan Medical School. She completed her general surgery training and a fellowship in gastrointestinal surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. She also completed a critical care fellowship at McGovern Medical School.