After 15 years of distinguished leadership at Vanderbilt Health, Seth Karp, MD, the H. William Scott Jr. Professor of Surgery, will be stepping down as System Surgeon-in-Chief and Chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences on Oct. 15. He will be moving to Boston to accept a new position as Chair of the Roberta and Stephen R. Weiner Department of Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Surgeon-in-Chief at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
A national search will be launched to name Karp’s successor, which will be finalized by the incoming Dean / Chief Executive Officer of Vanderbilt Health sometime after Jan. 1, 2027. Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and CEO of Vanderbilt Health and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, will work with Karp and the department to identify interim leadership for the Section in the coming months.
For Karp and his wife, Lauren, relocation back to the Northeast is personal and will allow them to rejoin their adult children who now reside in the region along with other family members.
Prior to joining Vanderbilt Health, Karp attended Harvard University and earned his medical degree from Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology. His residency in surgery was at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He later worked at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he was Director of the Pancreas Transplant and Fellowship Training Programs. His plan to return to the Northeast represents a full-circle transition.
A highly accomplished liver and pancreas transplant surgeon who is beloved by his patients and their families, Karp joined Vanderbilt Health on July 1, 2011, as the third Director of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center and Director of the Liver Transplant Program. After a series of successively responsible leadership roles culminating with his service as Surgical Section chair. Karp leaves a legacy at Vanderbilt Health of enormous consequence.
Like legendary coaches of championship athletic teams, Karp’s drive, determination and acumen for assembling skilled teammates, along with the ability to secure necessary clinical and research resources, helped set the stage for the Transplant Center in 2025 to become the world’s leader in solid organ transplantation, having performed 960 solid organ transplants.
“From leading the Liver Transplant Program and Transplant Center to serving as Section Chair, each time Dr. Karp has advanced in our organization in ways that have far exceeded expectations. Seth will be remembered as a legendary leader and as one of our highest-impact chairs. We will miss him professionally and personally. I want to thank him for all he has contributed and wish him and his family the very best as they relocate closer to family,” said Balser.
At a gathering of Transplant Center faculty and staff shortly after his 2011 arrival, Karp told those in attendance, “What has always been important to me is making a difference. I have always chosen positions where I thought I could make the most difference and have the greatest impact.”
Understanding the Transplant Center was already mature and possessed a unique set of resources, at that meeting Karp set forth a list of goals to bring clinical and research resources together. The results have helped save the lives of thousands of additional transplant patients.
While continuing to serve as Transplant Center director and leading the Liver Transplant Program to increasing national prominence, in 2015, Karp was named Chair of the Department of Surgery where he oversaw the Divisions of General Surgery; Hepatobiliary Surgery and Liver Transplantation; Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery; Kidney and Pancreas Surgery; Trauma and Surgical Critical Care including Burn Surgery; and Vascular Surgery.
Throughout this period, the Transplant Center’s programs continued to grow rapidly and by 2017 surpassed the milestones of 1,000 heart and 2,000 liver transplants. By the end of 2020, the Heart Transplant Program had taken its place as the world leader by volume, where it remains today. In 2024, the Liver Transplant Program celebrated its 3,000th transplant.
In 2018, Karp was chosen to serve as Chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences, which includes the responsibility of serving as Vanderbilt Health’s System Surgeon-in-Chief. In these roles he has worked closely with the Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Health System Officer, previously Wright Pinson, MBA, MD, and more recently Jane Freedman, MD, on administrative activities that support Vanderbilt Health’s broad programmatic initiatives in perioperative care. He also serves as the leader for the Section’s many academic programs across the School of Medicine and works closely with the Section’s department chairs and others in leadership across the health system.
“The era of Dr. Karp’s service as Surgical Section chair has been one of significant clinical growth and a focus on innovation. Under Seth’s leadership the Section has made important investments in new technology, while his recruitment of talented new faculty is helping set the stage for our future,” said Freedman, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Health System Officer for Vanderbilt Health. “I want to thank Seth for his many contributions that have benefited the health system and our patients so much.”
Karp is highly visible in the field of organ transplantation and has held leadership positions in the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and has served on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) Board of Directors. He has served as associate editor of the American Journal of Transplantation and on the editorial board of the journal Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology. He also maintains an active research lab and leads a number of clinical research projects.
His impactful research on the need for reform of the nation’s organ procurement organizations and recent UNOS directives that have negatively impacted organ allocation and distribution resulted in Karp offering testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform in 2021, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations in 2024, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in 2025, where he advocated for stricter performance standards and structural reforms to increase the availability of organs for transplant.
“I was fortunate to help recruit Seth to Vanderbilt and am very proud of what he has accomplished. Over the past 15 years, from his early leadership of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center to his service as Surgeon‑in‑Chief and Chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences, he has built something extraordinary,” said Pinson, President of the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network and former Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Health System Officer for Vanderbilt Health.
“Seth has been instrumental in strengthening what has become the nation’s busiest adult and pediatric transplant center, while also advancing surgical excellence across Vanderbilt Health. He has set a high standard for academic leadership — combining clinical distinction, research innovation, national service in transplantation, and deep commitment to faculty and trainee development. I have great admiration for Seth, deep respect for his accomplishments, and genuine gratitude for his friendship. We wish him and Lauren every success in the next chapter of his career,” he said.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center announced in 2023 that it was collaborating with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to advance the future of cancer care and build the region’s only freestanding inpatient hospital for adult cancer patients. There, Karp’s new roles will bridge between both organizations.
“Working at Vanderbilt for the last 15 years has been the opportunity of a lifetime and the highlight of my career. I am enormously grateful to Drs. Balser, Pinson, Beauchamp and Abumrad for giving me the opportunity to become part of this community where clinical care, research and education seamlessly and uniquely merge to benefit patients. This is a special place, and I look forward to watching it continue to grow and thrive,” said Karp.
