2008 Ernest Amory Codman Award Program Individual
Shukri F. Khuri, M.D. Former Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Former Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery, VA Boston Healthcare Systems
Former Vice Chairman, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, Massachusetts
At the time of his death on September 26, 2008, Dr. Khuri's work in the field of surgical quality improvement and risk-adjusted surgical outcomes spanned more than 20 years. Dr. Khuri achieved national and international prominence in the fields of cardiac pathophysiology, cardiac surgery, medical informatics, quality improvement, and health policy research.
For 16 years, Dr. Khuri oversaw the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Recognized today as the model for continuous improvement in surgery, the NSQIP is the first national, validated, outcome-based, risk-adjusted, and peer-controlled program for the measurement and enhancement of the quality of surgical care. Since the inception of NSQIP, 30-day postoperative mortality and morbidity have dropped by 47 percent and 43 percent, respectively. Dr. Khuri was also instrumental in implementing the NSQIP in the private sector through collaboration with the American College of Surgeons. The ACS created the ACS-NSQIP and Dr. Khuri served on the Advisory and Steering Committees.
Additional Achievements
- Dr. Khuri's research laboratory at the VA Boston Healthcare System made major contributions in the fields of myocardial protection, endothelial preservation and blood conservation in cardiac surgery.
- Dr. Khuri developed four important contributions: the Khuri Myocardial pH Monitor, the first metabolic tool for the on-line assessment of myocardial protection during cardiac surgery; the first perfusion machine for the preservation of the donor heart in the beating state; the GALA preservation solution and its application apparatus, which enhances the long term patency of vascular conduits; and the Lazarus Organ Preservation Solution, which enables organ harvesting from non-beating heart donors.
- In 1978, Dr. Khuri established the first automated data management system in a surgical intensive care unit in the Northeast and chaired the VA Surgery Specific Interest Users Group, which developed the first clinical module in the VA's Decentralized Hospital Computer Plan. Today, the electronic patient record in the VA is the most advanced and comprehensive electronic medical record system in the world. Dr. Khuri supplemented his efforts to automate medical records in the VA by collaborating with private sector enterprises including LiveData Corporation, which is designing the electronic infrastructure for the operating room of the future.
- Dr. Khuri was a member of numerous professional organizations, including the prestigious American Surgical Association where he served as vice president in 2005-2006, and authored more than 380 peer-reviewed publications.
- Dr. Khuri's awards include the prestigious Frank Brown Berry Prize, which singles out an outstanding physician in the U.S. federal health system; The American University of Beirut's Stephen Penrose Award; the Brigham and Women's Robert Matson Award; the American Heart Association's Paul Dudley White Award; the Nicholas G. Berans Veterans Association's Distinguished Service Award; the 2006 Philip Crosby Award for Quality; and the 2006 American Heart Association Mentorship Award in Surgery.