James Kirklin

James K. Kirklin (born 1947 in Rochester, Minnesota) is a cardiac surgeon who has made important scientific and surgical contributions in the fields of heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support devices to assist the pumping action of the heart. He is Professor of Surgery in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, past Division Director of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery 2006-2016, Director of the James and John Kirklin Institute for Research in Surgical Outcomes, co-director of UAB Comprehensive Cardiovascular Center and holds the John W. Kirklin Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery at UAB.

Kirklin is the son of heart surgery pioneer John Kirklin. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1969, where he was an All-American diver. He completed his M.D. at Harvard Medical School in 1973 as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha academic honor society. After graduating he completed general and cardiothoracic surgery residencies as chief resident at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1978, and pursued additional training at Boston Children's Hospital in 1979 and the UAB School of Medicine, where he completed his training in 1981.

Kirklin was appointed assistant professor of surgery at UAB in 1981, director of cardiac transplantation in 1986, professor of surgery in 1987, and director of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery in 2006. Kirklin's surgical expertise includes surgery for congenital heart disease, heart transplantation, and mechanical circulatory support pumps.

Kirklin and his colleagues at UAB accomplished several firsts in the field of artificial heart implants and heart transplants, especially in children. In 2012, Kirklin and his colleagues developed Alabama's first pediatric cardiac surgical unit at Children's Hospital.

They established the Cardiac Transplant Research Database (now the STS Intermacs Database) in 1990, expanding it with research funding from the National Institutes for Health. He also initiated the Pediatric Heart Transplant Study Group in 1993.

Kirklin's group pioneered development of "multi-institutional collaborative outcomes research" in pediatric and adult heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. That research led to the establishment of the James and John Kirklin Institute for Research in Surgical Outcomes (KIRSO) in 2016.

Kirklin has served as president of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT).

Kirklin has authored over 500 scientific publications. He was first author of the textbook of Heart Transplantation, and co-authored the 4th edition of the textbook of heart surgery, Cardiac Surgery. He served as editor of the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation from 2000 to 2009 and was principal editor of the ISHLT Monograph Series. In 2014 Kirklin was the first recipient of the ISHLT's "Distinguished Educator Award".

References

• "Dr. James Kirklin to assume late father's post at UAB." (December 20, 2005) Birmingham Business Journal