Douglas A. Girod, MD FACS

Professional Background

Douglas A. Girod began as the 18th chancellor of the University of Kansas in July 2017. In this role, Chancellor Girod leads KU's mission to educate leaders, build healthy communities and make discoveries that change the world. Chancellor Girod has established a bold vision for the University of Kansas to be a destination for top scholars from across the world, an engine of economic growth for Kansas, and one of the nation’s leading research universities.
Before becoming chancellor, Dr. Girod served as executive vice chancellor at KU Medical Center, where he oversaw the educational, research, patient care and community engagement missions of the schools of Medicine, Nursing and Health Professions.
A head-and-neck surgeon, Girod first joined the KU Medical Center faculty in 1994 and quickly rose through the academic ranks, becoming chair of the Otolaryngology department in 2002. In that role, he was instrumental to the University of Kansas Health System being named in the U.S. News andamp; World Report "Best Hospitals" national rankings. He also served as interim executive dean of the KU School of Medicine and as senior associate dean for clinical affairs at the medical center.
Chancellor Girod earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of California at Davis and his medical degree from the University of California at San Francisco. He completed his residency and an NIH research fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle. Prior to joining the University of Kansas Medical Center, Girod served as vice chairman and research director in the Department of Otolaryngology at the Naval Medical Center in Oakland.
He served in the United States Navy Reserve from 1982 until 1997, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander and earning the Meritorious Service Medal. He was honorably discharged in 1997.
Committed to caring for patients throughout the world, Girod has led or participated in a dozen international medical missions in places such as Uganda, Guatemala, Mali, the Philippines and Mexico.
Girod serves on the the Civic Council of Kansas City and on boards of the chambers of commerce in Lawrence and Greater Kansas City, as well as MRI Global. He also serves on the board of directors at the Big 12 Conference and at the University Innovation Alliance. He Co-Chaired the regional civic community effort known as KC Rising to develop long term economic prosperity for the Kansas City region for which he was recognized with a Regional Leadership Award from the Mid America Regional Council in 2016.
Girod has served as president of the American Head and Neck Society, and vice president of the Triological Society, in addition to other national leadership roles.

• BA, BA, Univ. of California-Davis
• MD, MD, Univ. of California-San Francisco
• Residency, General surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
• Post Doctoral Fellowship, auditory neuroscience, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
• Residency, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

• Board Certification, American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Board Certification, American Board of Otolaryngology
• Diplomate, National Board of Medical Examiners
• Medical License, Kansas Board of Healing Arts
• Medical License, Kansas Board of Healing Arts

• Association of American Universities, Ad-Hoc Member, 2017 - Present
• American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Physician Resources Comittee, Member, 2016 - 2018
• American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Head and Neck Surgery & Oncology Committee, Member, 2010 - 2016
• American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Patient Safety and Quality Committee, Member, 2009 - 2013
• American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Resident On-Line Curriculum, Member, 2007 - Present
• American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Microvascular Committee, Founding Member, 1998 - 2004
• American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Member, 1987 - Present

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Research

Overview

Dr. Girod's research interests span the field of Otolaryngology. His NIH fellowship was in auditory neuroscience and he spent much of his career looking cochlear hair cell regeneration to restore hearing loss. These efforts were funded by both the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health.
As a practicing head and neck surgical oncologist and reconstructive surgery, he has been involved in clinical research into development and use of the radial forearm free flap and other microvascular techniques for head and neck reconstruction in addition to other issues such as thyroid and parathyroid disease, head and neck cancer treatment and functional recovery from cancer therapy.

• Kumar, D, New, J, Vishwakarma, V, Joshi, R, Enders, J, Lin, F, Dasari, S, Gutierrez, W., R, Leef, G, Ponnurangam, S, Chavan, H, Ganaden, L, Thornton, M., M, Dai, H, Tawfik, O, Straub, J, Shnayder, Y, Kakarala, K, Tsue, T., T, Girod, D., A, Van Houten, B, Anant, S, Krishnamurthy, P, Thomas, S., M. 2018. Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Drive Glycolysis in a Targetable Signaling Loop Implicated in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Progression.. Cancer research, 78 (14), 3769-3782
• McCann, A., C, Shnayder, Y, Przylecki, W., H, Kakarala, K, Nazir, N, Girod, D., A, Andrews, B., T. 2019. Comparison of Modern Rigid Fixation Plating Outcomes for Segmental Mandibular Microvascular Reconstruction.. The Laryngoscope, 129 (5), 1081-1086