Kevin C. Chung, MD, MS, the Charles B. G. De Nancrede Professor of Surgery, Plastic Surgery and Orthopaedic Surgery, received his health services research training as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar from the University of Michigan. He obtained his general surgery training from the University of Texas in San Antonio, his plastic surgery training from the University of Michigan and his hand surgery training from the Curtis National Hand Center in Baltimore. At the University of Michigan Medical School, he serves as the Assistant Dean for Faculty Affairs in charge of Tenure and Promotions, and is the Associate Director for Global REACH, the global health program of the Medical School. Dr Chung is Chief of Hand Surgery for Michigan Medicine and Director of the Comprehensive Hand Center.
Dr. Chung is serving as the 75th President for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, which is the largest hand surgery organization in the world with a membership of over 4,000 from the US and internationally. Dr Chung was a Director for the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery. He has served as the Treasurer/Secretary for the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He was the past Vice-President of Research and current Trustee for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. He was the Past President of the Plastic Surgery Foundation, the academic arm of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons with over 10,000 members. He has served as a member of the Plastic Surgery Residency Review Committee. He was past Chairman of the AO North America Hand Education Committee in charge of hand surgery educational programs for the US and Canada.
He has published over 650 peer-reviewed manuscripts (over 25,000 citations, H index 76), over 350 book chapters, and 27 textbooks. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the legacy textbook in the field of Plastic Surgery, Grabb and Smith’s Plastic Surgery, 8th Edition, which is the standard textbook for this specialty. He has over 20 years of continuous National Institutes of Health funding and was the principal investigator of an R01 grant for a multicenter clinical study on the rheumatoid hand that received a competitive renewal, and another R01 grant on a 20 center clinical trial for the treatment of distal radius fracture in the elderly. He had received a 10-year K24 Midcareer Investigator Grant in Patient-Oriented Research, and is a co-principal investigator of a 20-year T32 training grant in health services research. He held a U34 grant from the National Institutes of Health in planning a clinical trial in treating ulnar neuropathy at the elbow, and has received in the past a R34 Clinical Trial Planning grant and a R21 Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award also from the National Institutes of Health. He has a current U01 grant from the NIH to conduct a 10 center Surgery of the Ulnar Nerve (SUN) clinical trial.
Dr Chung was the first recipient of the Weiland Medal from the American Society for Surgery of the Hand to honor a hand surgeon whose research work advanced the specialty. He was the 2011 Researcher of the Year for the American Association of Plastic Surgeons. In 2008, Dr. Chung received the Dean's award from the University of Michigan Medical School for Clinical and Health Services Research that is bestowed onto one faculty member for outstanding research accomplishments. In 2016, Dr Chung again received the Dean’s award for the Outstanding Clinician Award recognizing the exemplary performance of a practicing clinician. In 2020, he was recognized by the Plastic Surgery Foundation for the Distinguished Career Researcher Award, as well as receiving from the American College of Surgeons the Dr. Rodman E. Sheen and Thomas G. Sheen Award to recognized an outstanding Doctor of Medical Science in the United States. Dr. Chung was the past Deputy Editor for the Journal of Hand Surgery (American) and Associate Editor, and current Associate Editor for Journal of Hand Surgery (European). He was the past Outcomes Section Editor for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He is the Editor for Hand Clinics. He was chosen as the Editor-in-Chief-Designate of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and will be the Editor-in-Chief in 2022.
