Melina Kibbe, MD

Melina Kibbe, MD became president of UTHealth Houston and assumed the Alkek-Williams Distinguished Chair in September 2025. Before this appointment, she served as a medical school dean and chief health affairs officer at a public academic institution. She is nationally recognized for her work in vascular surgery and previously served as chair of the Department of Surgery at a major university. Earlier in her career, she held senior research leadership roles within academic surgery and a multidisciplinary biomedical research institute. She earned her medical degree from the University of Chicago and completed her internship, residency, and research fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She later completed a vascular surgery fellowship at Northwestern University. Her clinical experience includes both open and endovascular procedures, and she is board-certified in general and vascular surgery with RVT and RPVI certifications.

Her research focuses on the development of drug-eluting therapies for patients with vascular disease and on understanding how these treatments affect the vasculature. She has served as a principal investigator on research supported by multiple federal and national organizations. She has also contributed as a co-investigator, consultant, or mentor on many additional projects. She has taken leadership roles in gene- and cell-based clinical trials for patients with critical limb ischemia and has advised on trials related to peripheral artery disease. Her work has resulted in more than ten patents or provisional patents. In 2009, her research contributions were recognized with a national early-career award for scientists and engineers.

She has held numerous leadership roles at the national level within academic surgery. She serves as editor-in-chief of a leading surgical journal and has previously been president of several professional surgical societies. She has also served in officer and committee leadership roles within major national organizations and remains actively involved in many professional groups. Her professional accomplishments led to election into respected medical honor societies, including one of the nation’s highest advisory bodies in medicine.

She has also been a strong advocate for sex inclusion in biomedical research. Her publications addressing sex bias in surgical research received national and international attention and led to interviews with major media outlets. This work contributed to policy discussions with federal agencies and supported legislative efforts to improve inclusive research practices.

Her academic record includes more than 300 peer-reviewed publications and over 240 abstracts presented at national and international meetings. She has received numerous awards for leadership, service, equity, and education, including more than twenty honors for teaching excellence. Melina Kibbe, MD also co-founded a biomedical company focused on vascular device development and served as its chief medical officer. Born and raised in Southern California, she later completed executive leadership and management training to support her work in academic medicine.