Dr. Kirk has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Eledon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since October 2023. He is currently David C. Sabiston Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the Duke University School of Medicine, and Surgeon-in-Chief for the Duke University Health System. Dr. Kirk also holds joint faculty appointments in the Duke Departments of Integrative Immunobiology and Pediatrics, is on the core faculty for the Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship program, and is a member of the Duke Cancer Institute. Prior to Duke, Dr. Kirk was Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at Emory University as well as scientific director of the Emory Transplant Center and vice chair for research of the Emory Department of Surgery. Before Emory, Dr. Kirk served as the inaugural Chief of the Transplantation Branch for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). He spent 18 years in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps reaching the rank of commander and principal investigator at the Naval Medical Research Center. Dr. Kirk’s research is directed toward understanding transplant rejection and translating this understanding into improved therapies for transplant recipients, and he helped pioneer the use of co-stimulation pathway blockade to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients. Dr. Kirk has been a principal investigator for multiple clinical trials including the first-in-human experience with novel immunosuppressive agents, has co-authored hundreds of peer-reviewed publications, and previously served as Editor-in-Chief for the American Journal of Transplantation. He earned an M.D. from Duke University School of Medicine, a Ph.D. from Duke University and a Bachelor of Science from Old Dominion University.
Transforming Lives. One Organ at a Time.