Thomas S. Huber, M.D., Ph.D.
Thomas S. Huber, M.D., Ph.D., who joined UF’s College of Medicine more than 15 years ago, is the new chief of vascular surgery and endovascular therapy in the department of surgery. He has served as interim chief since October, assuming the leadership role after the death of James M. Seeger, M.D.
The division was established in 1989 by Seeger, who nurtured its expansion and faculty development to build a nationally recognized team of leaders in the area of vascular research, surgical care and fellowship education.
“I am delighted that Dr. Huber will assume the leadership position of chief of the division of vascular surgery,” said Kevin Behrns, M.D., chairman of the department of surgery. “His national reputation as an expert in vascular access surgery, along with his indefatigable work ethic, impeccable integrity, commitment to teaching and vision for research, make him a natural leader.
“Although he is assuming leadership of an already strong division, I anticipate that under his guidance the division will continue to achieve excellence and strive for even greater accomplishments,” Behrns added.
Huber is a skilled physician whose surgical work focuses on complex aortic disorders, dialysis access and visceral artery occlusive disease. He currently holds a $1.1 million five-year National Institutes of Health grant to evaluate a common surgical procedure, an arm fistula, used to create access sites for patients needing hemodialysis. Through the grant he is heading up a team of UF physicians, surgeons and scientists who are partnering with five other groups from across the country to outline practice patterns and create surgical guidelines with the aim of increasing the number of successful fistula procedures.
A professor of surgery, Huber cares for patients at Shands at UF and the Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He has served as the vascular surgery fellowship program director for three years, prior to which he served as associate program director. In addition to his role as division chief, he will serve and vice chairman for clinical affairs of the department of surgery.
He has received numerous awards for outstanding work in research, patient service and education, including the department’s Lester R. Dragstedt Physician-Scientist Award and research honors from the Southern Association for Vascular Surgery. He served as a distinguished reviewer of the Journal of Vascular Surgery and is currently on the editorial board for the 2010 Yearbook of Surgery.
Huber earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. He completed his general and vascular surgery training at the University of Michigan Hospitals, during which he earned a doctorate in physiology.