The Eldridge L. Eliason Professorship of Surgery

Established in 1994 through the extraordinary generosity of the late Dr. Elizabeth Welty and the late Dr. Robert Welty, who graduated from the Perelman School of Medicine in 1939, the Professorship honors and memorializes Eldridge L. Eliason, MD. A 1905 alumnus of the School who was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree in 1945, Dr. Eliason was Dr. Robert Welty’s mentor and teacher at the School.

A consummate clinical surgeon, particularly expert in abdominal surgery and the treatment of fractures, Dr. Eliason spent his entire professional career as a University of Pennsylvania faculty member but for a period during World War I, when he served as Chief of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania’s Base Hospital #20 in France. Dr. Eliason was a member of the American Surgical Association, the Founders Group of the American Board of Surgeons, and the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. He was President of the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery and the Medical Board of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1936, he became John Rhea Barton Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery, remaining in that position until 1945. Dr. Eliason was one of the first surgeons to establish a residency program, and his deep interest in nursing education is evidenced by his designation as an honorary member of the University of Pennsylvania Nurses Alumnae Association and by the multiple editions of his book, Surgical Nursing. A former national intercollegiate gymnastics champion, Dr. Eliason maintained his interest in the sport and, for many years, coached the University of Pennsylvania team. In 1950, Dr. Eliason was conferred the Award of Merit by the University of Pennsylvania General Alumni Association.

Current Chairholder
Abraham Shaked, MD, PhD

Abraham Shaked, MD, PhD holds a medical degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, and a PhD in Molecular Pathology from CUNY. He completed his residency training in general surgery at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and served as a faculty member in Transplantation Surgery at UCLA. He is the Director of the Penn Transplant Institute, with a clinical practice focused on liver surgery and transplantation. As a surgeon-scientist his NIH-supported research interests are transplant immunobiology in the human setting—specifically, the application of omics technologies for the characterization of the interrelation between donor and recipient genetics, the consequent pro-inflammatory and alloimmune response pertinent to solid organ transplantation, and biomarkers for the management of immunosuppression. A leader in transplantation and past President of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, Dr. Shaked is involved in the development of policies aiming at advancing transplantation practice and research in the U.S. and internationally.

Previous Chairholders

• Larry R. Kaiser, MD 1997–2005