Reid B. Adams, MD ’87, Res ’94, Claude A. Jessup Professor of Surgery, has been named chair of the UVA Department of Surgery, effective June 1, 2019.

While in medical school at the University of Virginia, Dr. Adams was inducted as a junior into Alpha Omega Alpha, Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership and Scholarship Honorary Society, and the Raven Society. He was recognized with a Merck Award for Academic Excellence and the School of Medicine Leadership Award. After receiving his medical degree in 1987, Dr. Adams completed his internship in Surgery (1988) and residency in General Surgery (1994) at UVA. While at UVA, he was a research fellow in Immunology and Surgical Infectious Disease (1989-91) in the laboratories of James K. Roche, MD, PhD, and Timothy L. Pruett, MD. He completed fellowships in Transplant Surgery and Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery at Toronto General Hospital at the University of Toronto (1995). He was appointed Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Virginia in 1995, rising to the rank of full Professor of Surgery in 2008.

Dr. Adams has served many leadership roles in the Health System. Currently, he is Chief Medical Officer for the UVA Regional Network and Chief of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery in the Department of Surgery. He has served as Physician Service Line Leader for Oncology, Associate Director for Clinical Affairs at the UVA Cancer Center, and numerous other roles during his tenure.

At the national level, Dr. Adams is a Director on the American Board of Surgery, Chair of the Complex General Surgical Oncology Board, and Second Vice President of the Southern Surgical Association. He has been president of several national organizations including the Society of Clinical Surgery and the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association. At the American College of Surgeons, he is a Governor from the Commonwealth of Virginia and Chair of the Physician Competency and Health Workgroup for the Board of Governors. He has been a member of its National Ultrasound Faculty Executive Committee for more than 10 years. Finally, he has had several journal editorial roles and currently serves as Associate Editor of the World Journal of Surgery.

Recognized annually since 2006 as one of America’s Top Doctors, Best Doctors, and Most Compassionate Doctors, Dr. Adam’s clinical practice focuses on liver, pancreatic, and biliary cancers and diseases. He established a multi-disciplinary Gastrointestinal Cancer Program, a Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic (HPB) Surgery Program and helped develop the Pancreatic Cancer High Risk Program that involves screening for high-risk patients with pancreatic cystic neoplasms or at high risk for developing pancreatic cancer. He has done innovative work that led to outpatient laparoscopic cholecystectomy and the development of laparoscopic liver and pancreatic surgery. His current research interests include process improvement, implementation science, and outcomes in HPB patients and the management of their diseases.