Pinson elected president of national association
Dr. C. Wright Pinson, H. William Scott Professor and chairman of the Department of Surgery, surgical director of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center and chief of staff of Vanderbilt University Hospital, has been elected president of the American Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association.
Pinson, who has served as the president-elect for two years in preparation for the top post, will lead this group of internationally known hepatobiliary, liver transplant and pancreatic surgeons and radiologists until 2005.
The AHPBA, made up of 1,000 members, is the voice of the hepato-pancreato-biliary surgeons in the Western Hemisphere. The proceedings are published in the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery. The purpose of the group includes promoting understanding of the causes and treatments of disorders of the liver, pancreas and biliary tree and to encourage interchange of clinical and scientific knowledge among surgeons, hepatologists, gastroenterologists and members of related disciplines. The AHPBA serves as the American chapter of the International HPBA.
Pinson, well known as a liver transplant and hepatobiliary surgeon, educator, investigator, administrator and leader, is excited about taking the reigns of this organization to encourage both clinical and research practices to further enhance the treatment of liver, pancreas, and bile duct ailments.
“In the two years during my term, the organization will develop and approve formal fellowships in HPB surgery, elevating further the standards of care,” Pinson said. “We will host the World HPB Congress in Washington, D.C. in June of 2004, which will aid education in this field around the globe. And we will expand the organization, especially among interventional radiologists.”
Pinson attended Miami University and the University of Colorado, where he graduated with distinction in Physics and received an M.B.A. in Finance. Graduating from Vanderbilt in 1980, he completed his residency and three fellowships (cardiovascular physiology at Oregon Health Sciences University, gastrointestinal surgery at Lahey Clinic and transplantation at Harvard University/New England Deaconess Hospital). He is board certified in Surgery and Critical Care.
After completing his training, he started the first liver transplantation program in the Pacific Northwest in 1988 and the first liver transplant program in the Veterans Affairs system in 1989. He came to Vanderbilt in 1990 to start the Liver Transplant Program and Hepatobiliary Surgery Division.
In 1993 he became the surgical director of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center, a post vacated by Dr. Bill Frist when he ran for the U.S. Senate. Pinson’s other appointments include chief of staff of the hospital, past chairman of the Medical Center Medical Board and medical director of the Surgery and Transplantation Patient Care Center.
Pinson has authored more than 250 publications and given more than 500 scientific presentations and lectures. He is on the editorial board of Annals of Surgery and the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery and an editor of the IHPBA journal HPB. He maintains a lab in the field of liver transplant surgery and is an active clinical researcher, having received more than 20 grants over his career. He earned the Sawyers research award and the Grant Liddle research-mentoring award.
He has served on the board of the United Network for Organ Sharing, chaired the surgery section of the Southern Medical Association, and is past president of the Tennessee Transplant Society. He is also active in the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, American Surgical Association and The Halsted Society among others. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American College of Physician Executives.