Drs. David Bartlett (L) and Herbert Zeh (R) present Dr. Keith Lillemoe (center) with the Blechman Award for the 2017 Donald Blechman Lecture in Surgical Oncology
On November 29, 2017, honored guest speaker Keith D. Lillemoe, MD (Surgeon-in-Chief; Chief of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital; W. Gerald Austen Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School) presented the 2017 Donald Blechman Lecture in Surgical Oncology. David L. Bartlett, MD and Herbert J. Zeh III, MD, FACS presented Dr. Lillemoe with the Blechman Award for his lecture, “Pancreatic Cancer: Progress but Still Controversy.”
Dr. Keith D. Lillemoe completed his undergraduate education at the University of South Dakota and his MD at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1978. He served his entire surgical training at The Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1978 to 1985. He joined the faculty at Hopkins in 1985 and rose to the rank of Professor of Surgery in l996. He served as Associate Program Director of the Hopkins Surgical Residency from 1993 to 2003 and Vice-Chairman and Deputy Director of the department from 1997 to 2003. During his time at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Lillemoe was recognized with the Department of Surgery Faculty Teaching Award on five occasions. In September 2003, he was appointed the Jay L. Grosfeld Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine. He also served as the Program Director of their general surgery residency. In May 2011, Dr. Lillemoe was appointed to the position of Surgeon-in-Chief and Chief of the Department of Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and the W. Gerald Austen Professor of Surgery at the Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Lillemoe is a member of most surgical societies and has held office in many. He has served as Secretary, President, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract. He previously served as President of the Society of Clinical Surgery, Secretary and President of the Society of University Surgeons, and President of the Halsted Society. He has served as the Recorder and is the immediate past President of the American Surgical Association. Dr. Lillemoe is a Senior Director of the American Board of Surgery. In April of 2015, he was inducted into the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars.
Dr. Lillemoe’s research interests have ranged from basic science investigations into the pathophysiology of gallstones and other benign biliary tract disease to the clinical management of pancreatic carcinoma and bile duct injuries. He has been funded in the past by the National Institute of Health and with numerous grants from industry. His bibliography lists over 400 journal articles and 130 book chapters. He has served as a visiting professor over 110 times and has spoken nationally and internationally on over 450 occasions. He is currently the Editor of one of the leading surgical texts Surgery: Scientific Principles and Practice and is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Annals of Surgery.
Dr. Lillemoe’s clinical interests are in gastrointestinal and pancreaticobiliary tract surgery. He has contributed to major advances in the management of pancreatic cancer, bile duct injuries and strictures, and numerous other abdominal conditions. In recent years, his research interests have included surgical education, patient safety, quality, and health care disparities.