David J. Sugarbaker, MD, former chief of Thoracic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, passed away on August 29, 2018. He was 65.
Dr. Sugarbaker served as chief of Thoracic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for 27 years before stepping down in 2014 to create the Lung Institute at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX.
During his dedicated service to the Brigham, Dr. Sugarbaker shaped the Division of Thoracic Surgery into one of the top in the nation. He pioneered the technique of extrapleural pneumonectomy and its application to patients with mesothelioma, developed innovative multimodality therapies and directed translational research programs in this disease that are known worldwide.
Dr. Sugarbaker attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL and Cornell University Medical College in New York City. He completed his residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and his cardiothoracic training at the Toronto General Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Following his training, he returned to BWH as chief of the then newly formed Division of Thoracic Surgery. He also served as the Richard E. Wilson Professor of Surgical Oncology at Harvard Medical School. During his tenure at HMS, he mentored many residents in both the General Surgery Program and the Cardiothoracic Program.