University of Maryland School of Medicine Names Renowned Trauma Surgeon-Scientist, Dr. David Efron, as Professor of Trauma Surgery and New Chief of Trauma

Dr. Efron, Who Heads Trauma Surgery at Johns Hopkins Will Work With Longstanding Trauma Director and Physician-in-Chief Dr. Thomas Scalea

Thomas M. Scalea, MD, the Honorable Francis X. Kelly Distinguished Professor of Trauma Surgery and Director of the Program in Trauma at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), and Physician-in-Chief at the UM R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, along with UMSOM Dean, E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that David Thomas Efron, MD, one of the leading trauma surgeon-scientists in the U.S., will become the Inaugural Thomas M. Scalea Distinguished Professor of Trauma Surgery in the Department of Surgery, Chief of Trauma and Medical Director of the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.  He will begin his new position effective September 1.

Dr. Efron, who was the Jacob C. Handelsman, MD, Professor of Abdominal Surgery, Professor of Surgery, and Director of Adult Trauma Services at Johns Hopkins Medicine, will work closely with Dr. Scalea, who for more than two decades has been a leading pioneer and innovator in trauma care.

For the past 10 years, Dr. Efron has served as Chief of the Division of Acute Care Surgery at Johns Hopkins.  As a nationally recognized trauma researcher, he has made landmark findings in the regulation of inflammatory mediators of septic and post-injury states. He is particularly focused on the role that statins may play to reduce inflammation during trauma, especially with regard to potential translational research from the bench to the bedside.

“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Dr. Efron into this pivotal position and know it will be a perfect fit, given his broad experience leading trauma surgery,” said Dean Reece. “Working with Dr. Scalea, our team at University of Maryland Medicine will be unsurpassed in our global leadership in trauma research, clinical care, and education.”

Dr. Efron joins Dr. Scalea and an outstanding Trauma Program and Shock Trauma Center that features the only free-standing Shock Trauma Tower in the U.S., and is a renowned training ground for physicians, nurses, and medical students.

Through public health challenges and the growing complexity of trauma care, Dr. Scalea has enhanced and developed programs, processes, and protocols that are recognized as best practices worldwide. He has led the most coveted and competitive fellowship programs in the country for trauma care training and provided time-sensitive critical care medicine to every patient in need of immediate care.  

“It is amazing that we considered candidates from across the country in the recruitment for this position – only to find that the person most qualified was right next door!,” said Dr. Scalea.  “Dr. Efron is everything we wanted for this position, and will be the ideal person to fill this critical slot.  We are very excited for him to join our team!”

Dr. Efron, whose credo is, “it is all about the patient,” said he went into the field to treat the sickest patients with the widest range of health care needs.

“These patients come to us in the most dire, life-threatening circumstances, and they desperately need our help during their sickest days,” Dr. Efron said. “The Shock Trauma Center at University of Maryland sees the toughest cases in the state, and I am incredibly excited to be taking the helm of one of the foremost trauma centers in the world.”

Dr. Efron is profoundly committed to the delivery of high-quality care and has been known to make himself available on a 24/7 basis, regardless of whether he is on call. In 2017, he was recognized as “Physician of the Year” by Hopkins and was referred as “an exemplary leader who ensures that the patient is always at the center of the equation.” For the past 10 years, he has consistently been named a “Top Doctor” by Baltimore Magazine in trauma care.

After receiving his MD degree from Brown University School of Medicine in 1994, Dr. Efron completed his surgery residency at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in June 2002.  He went on to complete a Surgical Critical Care fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He has remained at Hopkins since then, and is certified by the American Board of Surgery in both the fields of Surgery and Surgical Critical Care.

In January 2008, Dr. Efron was appointed the Director of Trauma and Chief of the Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care in the Johns Hopkins Hospital Department of Surgery. He has published more than 150 research articles, numerous case reports, and dozens of book chapters. His research mainly focuses on sepsis and inflammation. Additional research interests include traumatic injury from interpersonal violence, measures of violence intensity, and trauma recidivism with an eye to prevention strategies.

Serving as an international model for civilian and military trauma teams, the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center is also the epicenter for trauma research, patient care, and teaching, both nationally and internationally today.  Since its inception more than four decades ago, Shock Trauma has provided world-class treatment for the region's most critically ill and injured patients.

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 45 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs; and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished two-time winner of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research.  With an operating budget of more than $1.2 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic, and clinically based care for nearly 2 million patients each year. The School of Medicine has more than $540 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total population of nearly 9,000 faculty and staff, including 2,500 student trainees, residents, and fellows. The combined School of Medicine and Medical System (“University of Maryland Medicine”) has an annual budget of nearly $6 billion and an economic impact more than $15 billion on the state and local community. The School of Medicine faculty, which ranks as the 8^th highest among public medical schools in research productivity, is an innovator in translational medicine, with 600 active patents and 24 start-up companies. The School of Medicine works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu