UMSOM Department of Surgery Chair Stephen T. Bartlett, MD to Transition to Increased Role at University of Maryland Medical System

Leadership of Department Will Transition to Interim Chair While Dr. Bartlett Maintains Teaching, Research and Clinical Responsibilities at UMSOM

University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that Stephen T. Bartlett, MD, the Peter Angelos Distinguished Professor in Surgery and Chair of the UMSOM Department of Surgery, will transition from his long-term service as chair of the Department to an increased role at the University of Maryland Medical System as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer (CMO), effective January 1, 2018. He will continue as an active member of the UMSOM faculty and maintain teaching, research, and clinical responsibilities as he transitions to his new role as CMO of the 14-hospital system.

“Dr. Bartlett is one of the great talents and visionaries of University of Maryland Medicine (UMMS and UMSOM), across all of our key mission areas of research, education and clinical care,” said Dean Reece, who is also Vice President of Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor. “We are grateful to have him continue on the UMSOM faculty as one of our top academicians, mentors, and investigators, while providing valuable leadership across the University of Maryland Medical System. His deep understanding of the unique partnership we share with UMMS and his knowledge of every level of patient care – from bench to bedside – makes him an invaluable part of our faculty and of our entire institution.”

Added Robert A. Chrencik, President and Chief Executive Officer of UMMS: “Through our partnership between UMSOM and UMMS, we must continually strive to accelerate improvement in how we deliver patient care and how we operate in today’s increasingly complex health care delivery environment. Based on Dr. Bartlett’s extraordinary record of achievement, over several decades in our joint medical enterprise, he is well suited to serve as CMO while continuing to add value in his role as a member of the UMSOM faculty,” he said.

Dean Reece also announced, after consultation with University of Maryland Medical Center President and CEO, Mohan Suntha, MD, that Rajabrata Sarkar, MD, PhD, the Barbara Baur Dunlap Professor in Surgery, has been named Interim Chair of the Department of Surgery, UMSOM, and Interim Surgeon-in Chief at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), effective January 1, 2018. Dr. Sarkar is also Division Head of Vascular Surgery and Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs and Operations in the Department of Surgery. He is a surgeon scientist, an expert in treating blood vessel disorders and is nationally known for clinical and basic science research focusing on blood vessel growth and development, among other areas. He came to the UMSOM in 2009 from the University of California, San Francisco, where he was an associate professor and vascular surgeon.

Internationally-Recognized Academic Leader

Dr. Bartlett is an internationally known transplant and vascular surgeon, research scientist, and leader in academic medicine. As professor and chair of the UMSOM Department of Surgery, he has led one of the country’s highly NIH-funded departments. As Surgeon-in-Chief, he lends his surgical expertise across the 14 hospitals within the University of Maryland Medical System.

Under Dr. Bartlett’s leadership, the Transplant Program at University of Maryland Medicine has grown to become one of the largest and most comprehensive organ transplant programs in the world, with leadership positions in liver and kidney transplants. Dr. Bartlett has been recognized for blazing the trail for revolutionary transplant procedures. He established successful new approaches to assessing and matching donor kidneys that have been proven to extend patient survival—and have translated into a widely utilized national policy for sharing expanded criteria donor kidneys. He also led a 10-year basic science research effort for people with massive craniofacial injury that in 2012 resulted in the most extensive full-face transplant in the world. Today, he continues to spearhead research on using vascularized bone marrow in transplant surgery, which allows the patient’s immune system to accept the transplant with fewer immunosuppression drugs.

Dr. Bartlett continues to spearhead basic science research to improve the outcomes of patients with VCAs and with funding from the Department of Defense to support these efforts. He is the author of more than 230 peer-reviewed journal articles and 11 book chapters, and is currently the Principal Investigator on a $24 million grant from United Therapeutics to do the first-in-man porcine heart transplant.

“As we integrate surgical services across our two UMMC campuses, Dr. Bartlett’s expertise will continue to play a pivotal role in helping us achieve optimal performance in patient safety, quality, patient satisfaction and cost management,” said Dr. Suntha, MD, who is also the Marlene & Stewart Greenebaum Professor of Radiation Oncology at UMSOM. “Our entire clinical team as well as our patients, are grateful for Dr. Bartlett’s leadership and expertise over the years and look forward to our continued partnership as his role expands.”

System-Wide Management Executive

As UMMS Executive Vice President, Dr. Bartlett, has developed operational and clinical goals across the School of Medicine and the Medical System. Additionally, he has provided senior medical leadership, articulating the values and goals of the UMMS and UM SOM clinical network, and engaging and strengthening relationships with key faculty and aligned physicians. He has played a key role in representing UM Medicine in the formation of the newest UMMS affiliate, University of Maryland Capital Region Health in Prince George’s County.

“I am very excited to have this opportunity to help guide our system-wide medical enterprise to achieve the highest levels of excellence in all aspects of how we deliver care to our patients,” Dr. Bartlett said. “This is an organization with exceptional people and an unbounded commitment to discovery-based medicine. I am fortunate to be able to continue my academic and clinical activities at UMSOM so that I can maintain direct contact with my patients and continue collaborations with my colleagues in the Department of Surgery and across the UMSOM.”

Academic Background and Awards

Dr. Bartlett received his MD degree from the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine; completed his Residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and his fellowship at Northwestern University Memorial Hospital. He has a BA Degree in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University.

He has received numerous honors and awards during his career – including National Kidney Foundation Sante Kidney Champion, 2013; University System of Maryland Board (USM) of Regents Faculty Award, 2014; the USM Board of Regents Public Service Award, 2009; and has served as President, International Pancreas and Islet Transplant Association. He is a member of American College of Surgeons, American Diabetes Association, American Medical Association, American Society of Transplant Surgeons, American Surgical Association, and Association for Academic Surgery.

His pioneering work in complex kidney transplantation and vascular disease surgery has dramatically improved patient access to viable organs—and have resulted in numerous recognitions as a “Top Doctor” by Baltimore Magazine.

Learn More

• University of Maryland Medical System

• Stephen T. Bartlett, MD

• Department of Surgery