Carmen Solórzano, MD, Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, Chair of the Department of Surgery, and Director of Endocrine Surgery, has been chosen to serve as Interim Chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences, while David Penson, MD, MPH, MMHC, Professor of Urology, Medicine and Health Policy, and Chair of the Department of Urology, has been chosen to serve as Interim System Surgeon-in-Chief for Vanderbilt Health.
Solórzano and Penson will assume these responsibilities on Oct. 16. Their appointments follow the April announcement that Seth Karp, MD, would step down as System Surgeon-in-Chief and Chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences on Oct. 15 to join Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
A 12-member committee appointed by Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and CEO of Vanderbilt Health and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and Donald Brady, MD, Executive Vice President for Educational and Medical Staff Affairs for Vanderbilt Health and Executive Vice Dean for Academic Affairs for VUSM, and to be chaired by Penson, will lead the search to identify the next chair of the section and surgeon-in-chief.
Other members of the search committee include Ronald Alvarez, MD, MBA; Anna Hemnes, MD; Adam Huggins, MD, MMHC; Lee Ann Liska, MBA; Kendra Parekh, MD, MHPE; Jamie Phillips, MHA; Eben Rosenthal, MD; Warren Sandberg, MD, PhD; Cecelia Theobald, MD, MPH; David Wallace, MD, MPH; and Rick Wright, MD.
“In Drs. Solórzano and Penson, we are fortunate to have such highly accomplished leaders with extensive organizational experience to serve in these roles while the search committee goes about this important work,” said Balser. “I am grateful for their support and that of the committee’s as we seek a superior candidate to extend the section’s record of outstanding accomplishments.”
For nearly 100 years, the mission of Vanderbilt Health’s Section of Surgical Sciences has been to provide the finest quality care to patients, solve surgical problems that change practice, and educate the next generation of health care providers. The section is comprised of eight departments and nine divisions, which are home to nearly 400 clinical and research faculty, residents and fellows.
“In addition to providing lifesaving care that transforms patients’ lives every day, the section’s mission is vital because it unites multidisciplinary surgical specialties that drive advancements in care delivery and make important research discoveries while training future generations of surgeons. Our health system is dependent on the continued growth and quality of these services,” said Jane Freedman, MD, Deputy CEO and Chief Health System Officer. “I want to thank Drs. Solórzano and Penson for their leadership through this period of transition.”
Solórzano, who also holds the John L. Sawyers Chair in Surgical Sciences, joined Vanderbilt Health in 2010 as Director of the Endocrine Surgery Center. In 2012, she also became Chief of the Division of General Surgery at the Nashville VA Medical Center. In 2015, Solórzano began serving as Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery and as Deputy Vice Chair for the Department of Surgery. In 2019, she was named Chair of the Department of Surgery, the largest in the Section of Surgical Sciences.
Solórzano is an internationally recognized expert in endocrine surgery, including neoplasms and cancers of the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands, and neuroendocrine tumors. She has authored more than 230 publications, lectured around the world, and served in leadership roles in her specialty’s professional associations and societies. In 2024, she served as President of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons.
“I appreciate the confidence placed in me to lead the Section of Surgical Sciences as interim chair. The section has benefited from outstanding leaders over the last 100 years. My goal is to continue the Vanderbilt Health mission by supporting our faculty, staff and trainees who work hard every day to provide best-in-class personalized surgical care,” said Solórzano.
Penson, a world-renowned expert in the treatment of prostate cancer, is also the Paul V. Hamilton MD and Virginia E. Howd Professor of Urologic Oncology. He joined Vanderbilt Health in 2009 and has been Chair of the Department of Urology since 2015. Penson is also the long-serving Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Surgical Quality and Outcomes Research, a collaboration between 11 different surgical and nonsurgical Vanderbilt departments.
“I am honored to serve as interim surgeon-in-chief and to lead the search for the next chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences. I recognize this is a critical recruit for our institution and am confident that the committee will identify several outstanding candidates for the position,” said Penson.
