 |
Robert M. Mentzer, Jr.,
MD
Dean
Senior Advisor To The President
For Medical Affairs
|
Robert M. Mentzer, Jr., M.D.
Dean and Senior Advisor to the
President for Medical Affairs
Wayne State University School of
Medicine
Dr. Robert M. Mentzer, Jr. is
the 14th Dean of the Wayne State
University School of Medicine.
He also serves as Senior Advisor
to the President for Medical
Affairs and holds academic
appointments as Professor of
Surgery and Physiology. Dr.
Mentzer is a nationally
recognized cardiothoracic
surgeon and medical school
administrator with vast
experience in medical education,
research and clinical care. He
is a national advocate for organ
donation and has performed
numerous heart transplant
operations.
Dr. Mentzer received his
baccalaureate degree from The
College of William and Mary in
1967 and his doctor of medicine
degree from the University of
Maryland School of Medicine in
1971. He was a general surgery
intern and resident at the
University of Virginia Medical
Center and completed a residency
in thoracic and cardiovascular
surgery there in 1980. He served
as a thoracic surgeon with the
rank of major in the U.S. Army
Medical Center in Germany from
1980 to 1982.
Dr. Mentzer has held faculty
appointments at the University
of Virginia Medical Center,
State University of New York at
Buffalo, the University of
Wisconsin School of Medicine,
and the University of Kentucky
College of Medicine. He was
chief of the division of
cardiothoracic surgery at the
State University of New York at
Buffalo from 1987 to 1991 and
vice-chairman of the department
of surgery there from 1987 to
19990. From 1990 to 1991, he was
the interim chair of the
department of surgery while
holding appointments as a
professor of surgery and a
professor physiology. He joined
the faculty of the University of
Wisconsin School of Medicine in
1991, where he was professor and
chair of the division of
cardiothoracic surgery and
director of the cardiopulmonary
transplant program. Dr. Mentzer
became Chairman of the
Department of Surgery of the
University of Kentucky College
Of Medicine in 1997. There he
was named the Frank C. Spencer
Endowed Chair in Surgery and
held faculty appointments as
Professor of Surgery and
Physiology and was also the
Director of the University of
Kentucky Transplant Center.
Dr. Mentzer serves in many
professional organizations,
including the American
Association for Thoracic
Surgery, the Society of Thoracic
Surgeons, the Halsted Society,
the American Society of
Transplant Surgeons and the
Southern Thoracic Surgical
Association, and at local,
regional, and national levels of
the American Heart Association.
He was a member and Chairman of
the Surgery and Bioengineering
Study Section of the National
Heart Lung and Blood Institute
at the National Institutes of
Health and currently serves on
the Myocardial Ischemia and
Metabolism Study Section. Dr.
Mentzer is a fellow of the
American College of Surgeons and
the American College of
Cardiology, and is a diplomat of
the National Board of Medical
Examiners.
Dr. Mentzer’s current research
interests include thoracic organ
transplantation,
ischemia/reperfusion injury,
myocardial protection, organ
preservation, reducing
perioperative morbidity and
mortality after open-heart
surgery. He has published
extensively in scholarly
journals and has been
continuously funded by the NIH
for the last 20 years. Dr.
Mentzer has also been funded by
the American Heart Association
and industry, the latter the
source of funding for clinical
trials. |
