Galen Perdikis, M.D., professor and chair of the Division of Plastic Surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, has been named professor and chair of Vanderbilt’s Department of Plastic Surgery. His appointment is effective Aug. 1.
Peridikis succeeds Reuben Bueno Jr., M.D., interim department chair since May 2016 and Bruce Shack, M.D., previous department chair from 1997 until 2016. Perdikis will be the department’s fourth leader since it was established in 1973.
“The Department of Plastic Surgery has a distinguished history and plays an integral role in the unique services we provide for the region’s pediatric and adult patients. We are excited to welcome Dr. Perdikis back to Vanderbilt and into this leadership role. Galen is an outstanding clinician educator with the experience and vision necessary to lead the department into the future,” said Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “I want to express my appreciation to Dr. Bueno for his leadership as the department’s interim chair while we conducted the search for Dr. Shack’s successor.”
Perdikis, an internationally recognized leader in the field of Plastic Surgery, was selected after a national search.
“Burn and trauma patients throughout Tennessee and adjoining states count on the life-saving expertise that, in many instances, is only available here at Vanderbilt,” said C. Wright Pinson, MBA, M.D., Deputy CEO and Chief Health System Officer for VUMC. “Dr. Perdikis will work closely with specialists in his own department, and in collaboration with colleagues in areas such as Oncology, Oral Surgery, Orthopaedics, and with Vanderbilt University’s Biomedical Engineering program, to expand and enhance the Department of Plastic Surgery’s mission and services. I look forward to his contributions as we grow to meet the needs of the patients we serve.”
Established 44 years ago as a multidisciplinary surgical service, the Department of Plastic Surgery has a robust research program, a well-regarded education program and offers cutting-edge adult and pediatric patient care procedures in reconstruction, microsurgery and aesthetics surgery. The department is one of the nation’s most active plastic surgery services, with more than 23,365 operations, clinic visits and procedures annually.
“We are thrilled that Dr. Perdikis will be joining the faculty to lead the Department of Plastic Surgery,” said R. Daniel Beauchamp, M.D., chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences and the John Clinton Foshee Distinguished Professor of Surgery. “He brings considerable experience in leadership of a busy Plastic Surgery group and in the area of educational oversight of the health professions at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. He is committed to growing the Plastic Surgery clinical practice, enhancing the research efforts in Plastic Surgery and Regenerative Medicine, and building on a strong tradition in education in the department. I want to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to Dr. Reuben Bueno who has stepped up to provide interim leadership of the Department of Plastic Surgery following the departure of Dr. Bruce Shack last fall.
“I also want to thank the search committee, led by Dr. John Brock, and made up of distinguished faculty across many disciplines, who did an outstanding job in identifying and vetting top-notch applicants for the position. The search committee was assisted by Yvonne Snyder, who provided excellent administrative support and coordination.”
“It is indeed a great pleasure for me that Dr. Perdikis has accepted the chair position in Plastic Surgery,” said John W. Brock III, M.D., Monroe Carell Jr. Professor and Surgeon-in-Chief at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. “Galen is an accomplished surgeon and educator. He is a proven leader in the Mayo system. He is absolutely the right person to lead this program into the future and build upon the legacy of Drs. J.B. Lynch and Bruce Shack.”
Perdikis received his medical degree at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. He served as house officer at Groote Schurr Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, and senior house officer at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St. Edmunds, United Kingdom. He completed a general surgery residency and a research fellowship at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, as well as a fellowship in Plastic Surgery at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
Perdikis is board certified in Plastic Surgery by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He has presented his research on numerous topics ranging from facial aesthetic surgery to breast reconstruction outcomes at national and international conferences. He is a journal submissions reviewer for the Annals of Plastic Surgery and the Journal of Laparoendoscopic & Advanced Surgical Techniques and has served on the editorial boards of ePlasty and the Journal of Plastic Surgery.
“It is a privilege and an honor to have been selected as the new chair of Plastic Surgery in the Section of Surgical Sciences,” Perdikis said. “I am looking forward to working with an extraordinarily talented group of surgeons and staff in furthering an already rich heritage of excellence and collegiality. Being given the opportunity by VUMC leadership to return home to Vanderbilt, the institution where I trained, is one that I take on with excitement and significant responsibility.”
Perdikis and his wife, Ingrid, along with their teenage sons, Luke and Blake, will relocate to the Nashville area from Jacksonville, Florida, where they have lived for the past 15 years.
