Houston physician named new surgery chairman

David W. Mercer, M.D.

David W. Mercer, M.D., a Houston surgeon with Midwest ties, has been named chairman of the UNMC Department of Surgery.

The appointment, which was announced today by John Gollan, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the UNMC College of Medicine, is effective Aug. 1, pending approval of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents.

“We are thrilled that Dr. Mercer will be joining our staff,” Dr. Gollan said. “David brings an array of talent. He is an outstanding leader, who has received national recognition for his research and as an innovator in education.

“He also is an excellent general surgeon who specializes in gastrointestinal surgery. I am confident that David will do a spectacular job of leading the department of surgery into national prominence.”

More about Dr. Mercer Training: Internship and surgical residency, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia. Past positions at University of Texas Medical School at Houston (UTMSH): Assistant professor, 1993-1997; Associate professor, 1997-2003; professor and vice chairman of surgery, 2003-2009. Memberships: President of the Society of University Surgeons, 2005; Current member of the VA Merit Review Board. Honors: Physician of the Year for Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital, Houston 2005; Multiple teaching awards from residents and students as well as the UTMSH Dean’s Excellence Award for Teaching. Family: Dr. Mercer and his wife, Mary Ellen, who has a pharmacy degree, have three children — daughters, Elizabeth and Andrea, and a son, David Jr.

Dr. Mercer succeeds Byers W. Shaw, Jr., M.D., who led the department of surgery for the past 12 years before stepping down last year to become medical director of the Advanced Computer Applications Project (ACAP). The ACAP is a joint venture between UNMC, and its physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center. The ACAP aims to implement electronic documentation tools to improve patient care and research.

Trained in gastrointestinal surgery and trauma and critical care, Dr. Mercer is professor and vice chairman of surgery for the University of Texas Medical School at Houston (UTMSH). In 2007, he was named the Jack H. Mayfield Chair in Surgery and chief of the division of acute care surgery. He has been at UTMSH since 1993.

“I am honored and delighted to be appointed to this very prestigious position,” Dr. Mercer said. “It is a privilege to follow in the footsteps of the two previous chairmen — Dr. (Layton) Rikkers and Dr. Shaw, who are extremely well respected in the surgery field.

“I hope to build on the strengths of the department and continue to move it forward by enhancing our research, improving our NIH rankings and strengthening our educational programs.”

Dr. Rikkers was chairman of surgery at UNMC for the 12 years prior to Dr. Shaw. Since leaving UNMC in 1996, he has held the same post at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Mercer’s Midwest ties also pertain to Wisconsin, as he earned both his undergraduate (1982) and medical degrees (1986) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“I consider myself to be a Midwestern guy,” Dr. Mercer said. “I have to admit I didn’t know much about Omaha (before the interview process). But having been there three times, I have been extremely impressed by the city, the university and the surgery program.”

As chairman of the department of surgery, Dr. Mercer plans to continue to practice as a trauma and general surgeon and hopes to maintain a private practice, performing surgeries at The Nebraska Medical Center and the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System.

His surgical specialties include colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and ulcer disease.

Seeing double Starting Aug. 1, there will be two physicians named David Mercer in the UNMC Department of Surgery. The new department chairman is David W. Mercer. His e-mail address will be dwmercer@unmc.edu. The other one is David F. Mercer, a solid organ transplant surgeon. His e-mail is dmercer@unmc.edu. If you type in David Mercer on the e-mail address line, both e-mail addresses will come up. The distinguishing feature will be that the word “chairman” will appear with David W. Mercer’s name.

Research has always been a priority for Dr. Mercer, 48, who:

• Has been funded continuously for the past 12 years and received more than $10 million in total support from the National Institutes of Health;
  
• Is principal investigator on two active grants, including a $10.4 million Trauma Research Center Grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences that looks at the role of the gut in the pathogenesis of multiple organ failure; and
  
• Is involved in three mentoring grants designed to build research careers for junior faculty.

“Research is vital,” Dr. Mercer said. “We can’t continue to practice the medicine of yesterday. Someone has to engage in the development of new knowledge. Research is an investment in the future.

“I hope to start working on the research enterprise right away and want to set up some core laboratories and create an environment for junior faculty to allow them to get career development awards.”