Dr. David Gerber

David A. Gerber, MD is the George F. Sheldon Distinguished Professor with Tenure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Vice-Chair of the Department of Surgery at UNC. In 2008 he became the Chief of the Division of Abdominal Transplantation at UNC and in 2016 he was selected as Executive Medical Director of the UNC Healthcare Center for Transplant Care and Jason Ray Transplant Clinics.

Clinically he has expertise in solid organ transplantation and liver cancer including the integration of navigation into minimally invasive surgery procedures. He is actively engaged in basic science research focusing on stem biology and tissue engineering in the field of Regenerative Medicine. By integrating novel bioengineering technologies his research has focused on the relationship of the matrix/environment that supports the growth and differentiation of select stem cell populations into functional tissues.

Dr. Gerber has received >25 basic science grants including extramural funding from the National Institutes of Health, the American Liver Foundation, the Roche Organ Transplant Research Foundation, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons. He has been principal investigator or co-investigator of >40 industry-sponsored clinical trials focusing on advancing patient outcomes in transplantation and hepatocellular carcinoma. He has published >200 peer reviewed publications, peer-reviewed abstracts and book chapters in the areas of transplantation, stem cell biology, regenerative medicine and liver cancer. In addition, he has received two patents and has given over 100 national and international presentations in healthcare and biotechnology.

His extracurricular activities in national and international organizations include selection as a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Fellow of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and Diplomate in the American Board of Surgery. He has elected memberships in the American Surgical Association, the Southern Surgical Association and the Halsted Society. He also is an active member in the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, The Transplantation Society, Society of University Surgeons and AHPBA. In 2010 he was appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the Advisory Committee on Transplantation. In 2019 he was appointed by the Governor of North Carolina to serve as a member of the License to Give Trust Fund Commission. He was elected as the Associate Councilor for Region 11 in the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) from 2019-2021 followed by a term as Councilor from 2021-2023 and he serves on UNOS’ Board of Directors.

He has been elected by the UNC faculty to UNC’s Faculty Council and the University’s Faculty Executive Committee that oversees faculty governance for the University of North Carolina, and since 2020 he has been elected to serve on the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee. In 2007 he was selected to the School of Medicine’s Academy of Educators and he has been one of the key players to develop an educational platform that introduces entrepreneurship to the academy. In 2008 he developed an introductory course on “Entrepreneurship in Life Sciences” that he taught in the School of Medicine as a way of introducing the concepts surrounding biotechnology commercialization. He is a founding

member of the UNC Healthcare Innovation Council. In 2012 he began serving as the Chair of UNC’s Institutional Conflicts of Interest committee.

He is a retired Colonel in the US Air Force Reserve Medical Corps with an Adjunct Professorship at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU). In 2013 he received the Clinical & Academic Grand Master Special Experience Identifier Award from the Office of the Surgeon General in the USAF. In 2020, the Secretary of Defense authorized the award of the Defense Meritorious Service Medal be awarded to Dr. Gerber for exceptionally meritorious service to the Armed Forces of the United States.

He has received numerous honors and awards including being selected as a James IVth Traveling Fellow, an ASTS Presidential Award, UNC Healthcare Hero and the HEROES award for alumni from Cornell University. From 2007-present he has been continuously selected to “Best Doctors in America” and “Top Doctors, North Carolina.” He has also received multiple teaching awards throughout his career.

He serves as the Chief Medical Officer of Biomed Innovations, LLC a company focused on developing ex vivo organ preservation technologies. He has served in multiple roles for biotechnology companies including consultant for tissue engineering company ProKidney, LLC. Dr. Gerber was also on the Scientific Advisory Board of Pathfinder Therapeutics, Inc. and assisted during their acquisition by Analogic Corp., a global medical device company. He is a clinical advisor to Excelerate Health Ventures. His external activities include prior service as a board member for SECU Family House at UNC Hospitals, a facility built for families and critically ill patients.

Dr. Gerber was born in NY and graduated with a B.S. from Cornell University in 1985 and in 1989 received an M.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. From 1989-1996 he completed general surgery training at Emory University in Atlanta, GA and a post-doctoral fellowship in Transplantation Immunology. Between 1996-1998 he was a clinical transplant fellow at the Starzl Transplantation Institute at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He has completed the US Air Force’s Combined Senior Leadership Course, the 3-year Air War College program with a focus on Strategic Decision Making and Leadership and participated in a one-year program in Deloitte’s Physician Leadership Academy.