Martin Makary

 

Martin Adel Makary (/məˈkæri/) is a British-American surgeon, professor, author, and medical commentator. He practices surgical oncology and gastrointestinal laparoscopic surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, is Mark Ravitch Chair in Gastrointestinal Surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and is the chief of Islet Transplant Surgery at Johns Hopkins.

Makary is an advocate for disruptive innovation in medicine and physician-led initiatives, such as a surgical checklist that he developed at Johns Hopkins.[1][2] In 2018, Makary was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.[3]

While supporting universal masking early in the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines for adults, he opposed broad vaccine mandates and certain school and university restrictions.[4][5][6][7]

In November 2024, President-Elect Donald Trump announced Makary would be his nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as its commissioner.[8][9]

Early life and education

Makary was born in Liverpool, England, and moved to Baltimore as a young child. His Egyptian family later moved to Danville, Pennsylvania, when his father took a job as a hematologist at the Geisinger Medical Center. Makary holds degrees from Bucknell University, Thomas Jefferson University and Harvard University. He was president of the student body at Harvard and later served on the alumni board. He completed a Masters of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree, with a concentration in health policy.

Professional career

Makary completed a surgical residency at Georgetown University[10] in Washington D.C. where he also worked as a writer for The Advisory Board Company. Makary completed sub-specialty surgery training at Johns Hopkins in surgical oncology and gastrointestinal surgery under surgeon John Cameron, before joining Cameron's faculty practice as a partner.[11] In his first few years on the faculty at Johns Hopkins, Makary researched and wrote articles on the prevention of surgical complications.[12] He published on frailty[13] as a medical condition, and on safety and teamwork culture in medicine. Makary is the first author of the original scientific publications describing "The Surgery Checklist".[14] Makary worked with the World Health Organization[15] to develop the official World Health Organization Surgical Checklist.[1]

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