Jeffrey Kerby, M.D., Ph.D.
, Brigham Family Endowed Professor and director of the UAB Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, has been named the new medical director of trauma education for the American College of Surgeons (ACS).
Kerby has served as the Chair of the ACS Committee on Trauma since 2022, and will step into this new role when his tenure as Chair ends on March 16, 2026.
As medical director of trauma education, Kerby will help shape trauma care nationally and globally by providing strategic, clinical, and scientific guidance for key ACS trauma education initiatives.
“It’s been an absolute honor to have served as Chair of the COT for the past four years, and I’m eager to continue having an impact in the future of trauma care in this new role,” Kerby said. “Evidence-backed education in trauma best practices is essential to improve care for injured patients across the globe.”
Trauma education through the ACS consists of educational courses focused on the immediate management of trauma patients. Courses are available for doctors, nurses, EMS providers, medical students, residents, and fellows, and are offered across the U.S. and in 100 countries worldwide. Content covered in the courses includes:
- Assessing and managing life-threatening injuries
- How to slow and stop hemorrhage
- Determining when to transfer a patient to a higher-level trauma center
- Operative techniques for exposure in traumatic injuries
- Preparing a rural facility for trauma care with limited resources
- Providing trauma-informed care
The Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery offers many of these courses internally as well as externally to hospitals across the state.
“I strongly believe that where someone is injured should not impact whether they survive,” Kerby said. “Trauma education programs through the ACS strengthen a country’s overall trauma system by ensuring patients can be safely and effectively cared for, even in rural areas.”
Kerby is an internationally respected trauma surgeon, researcher, and U.S. Air Force veteran.
A native of Missouri, he received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. At UAB, he completed his general surgery residency, his postdoctoral research fellowship, and earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular genetics. He served as an active-duty combat trauma surgeon with the Air Force, deploying in 2002 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Since returning to UAB in 2003, Kerby has served as a clinically active trauma surgeon. He also served as chief of General Surgery at the Birmingham VA Medical Center from 2009 to 2014.
Kerby is a prolific researcher with a focus on trauma, critical care and emergency general surgery. From 2005 to 2015, he was the principal investigator for an NIH-funded trials network focused on prehospital interventional trials for both traumatic injury and out of hospital cardiac arrest. The Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery is home to the UAB Center for Injury Sciences and an active investigative site in the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network.
Kerby was instrumental in establishing unique military-civilian partnerships with the United States Air Force. These include the Special Operations Surgical Teams, which have been based at UAB since 2010. The partnership allows active-duty Air Force personnel to work at a high-volume trauma center in a metropolitan area — an environment where they will see similar types of traumatic injuries they may see on the battlefield.
Outside of UAB, Kerby serves as the state trauma consultant for the Office of Emergency Medical Services in the Alabama Department of Public Health. He serves on editorial boards and as a reviewer for journals including the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, JAMA Surgery, and Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
“The ACS is very fortunate to have such an esteemed leader, educator, visionary, and clinician join our leadership team in this new capacity,” said Patricia Turner, M.D., MBA, executive director and CEO of the ACS, in a statement announcing Dr. Kerby’s appointment. “I look forward to his continued guidance and contributions to our organization and the care of surgical patients worldwide.”