Edward M. Barksdale, Jr., MD, named president-elect of the American Pediatric Surgery Association

Edward M. Barksdale, Jr., MD, Surgeon-in-Chief at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital (UH Rainbow), has been named president-elect of the American Pediatric Surgery Association (APSA).  Dr. Barksdale will be APSA’s 53^rd President, and will begin his one year term of service in May 2021.

Edward Barksdale, Jr. MD

Dr. Barksdale is nationally recognized as a leader in pediatric surgery, notably the management of short bowel syndrome/intestinal failure and the immunobiology of neuroblastoma. He is a passionate advocate for children’s healthcare, well known outside the operating room for extensive community service in child welfare, violence prevention and health disparities.

Last year Dr. Barksdale, who is also the Robert J. Izant, Jr., Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 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 wellbeing.

Dr. Barksdale received his undergraduate degree from Yale University, where he was also an NCAA All-American fencer. He earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and trained in general surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

He was the first African American selected to serve as the prestigious Chief of the West Surgery Service at MGH. He completed clinical fellowship training in pediatric surgery at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati.

Before coming to UH Rainbow, Dr. Barksdale worked at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. A frequent lecturer in pediatric intestinal failure, Dr. Barksdale was the co-founder of the first center to provide coordinated care and intestinal transplantation for children with intestinal failure.