Edward Barksdale, MD

• Vice Chairman, Department of Pediatric Surgery, UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital
• Division Chief, Pediatric Surgery, UH Cleveland Medical Center
• Division Chief, Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery, UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital
• Surgeon-in-Chief, UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital
• Professor, CWRU School of Medicine
• Professor, CWRU School of Medicine

Edward Barksdale, MD, is the division chief of Pediatric Surgery, vice chairman of the Department of Pediatric Surgery and division chief of Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. He is Surgeon-in-Chief at UH Rainbow, holds the Robert J. Izant, Jr., MD, Endowed Chair in Pediatric Surgery, and is a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Dr. Barksdale is nationally recognized as a leader in pediatric surgery. Notable areas of expertise include the management of short bowel syndrome, in utero malformations and the immunobiology of neuroblastoma. Additionally, Dr. Barksdale recently launched a hospital-based violence intervention program for teens called the Antifragility Initiative. The program aims to reduce recidivism, prevent adverse outcomes, and improve the patient’s overall well-being.

Dr. Barksdale graduated from Yale University with a BS in biology and earned his medical degree at Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency in general surgery followed by a pediatric surgery research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). While there, he became the first African American to serve as the prestigious Chief of the West Surgery Service. He continued his residency training in pediatric surgery at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Before joining UH Rainbow as Chief of Pediatric Surgery, Barksdale spent 13 years as an attending pediatric surgeon at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

A distinguished researcher, Dr. Barksdale has authored dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and has been invited to present at meetings and conferences across the country.

Dr. Barksdale has earned numerous awards and accolades over the course of his career. These include being named one of both the Best Doctors in America and Cleveland Magazine’s Best Doctors for the past 13 years, Patients’ Choice Award, Who’s Who in Black Cleveland, and one of the Top Influential Black Doctors by Savoy Magazine. Additionally, Dr. Barksdale was included in the Inaugural Academy of Distinguished Clinicians at University Hospitals.

Dr. Barksdale is a member of many prestigious professional societies, and in 2021 began a one-year term as president of the American Pediatric Surgical Association. Other memberships include the National Medical Association, Society of University Surgeons, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Society of Black Academic Surgeons.

Expertise

• Hirschsprung's Disease
• In-Utero Malformations
• Pediatric Hematology
• Pediatric Oncology
• Pediatric Surgery
• Short Bowel Syndrome