Biographical Sketches

Roger W. Yurt, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Dr. Yurt is the Johnson and Johnson Distinguished Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University and also serves as the Director of the William Randolph Hearst Burn Center at the New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Dr. Yurt received his M.D. degree at the University of Miami School of Medicine and performed his residency training at Parkland Memorial Hospital and the New York Hospital. He completed a three-year research fellowship in medicine at Harvard Medical School during his residency training. His training in burn care was initiated under Drs. Charles Baxter, P. William Curreri and G. Tom Shires at Parkland Hospital and continued under Dr. Basil Pruitt at The United States Army Institute of Surgical Research where he attained the rank of Major during his three year tour on active duty.

Dr. Yurt was the founding director of the Trauma Center at the New York Hospital. In 1991 he was appointed acting Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Cornell and acting Surgeon-in-Chief of the New York Hospital; positions that he held for two and one half years. He is the past Chairman of both the New York City Burn Center Advisory Committee and the Trauma Center Advisory Committee. He is past Chairman of the American College of Surgeons, New York / Brooklyn Committee on Trauma and completed a six-year term as Governor of the American College of Surgeons. Currently, Dr. Yurt serves as member of the Regional Emergency Services Medical Advisory Committee for New York City.

He is the author of over 100 original manuscripts and book chapters dealing with trauma, burns and acute inflammatory response to injury. He is a past President of The Surgical Infection Society and a member of the major surgical societies of the United States. He is immediate past first vice president of the American Burn Association. Dr. Yurt and his team were featured in multiple reports in the media for their work with the victims of the 9/11 disaster. In particular the care of the burn injured patient was chronicled in the N.Y. Times best seller, Love, Greg and Lauren by Greg Manning.

In 2003, the American Skin Association presented Dr. Yurt and the William Randolph Hearst Burn Center with the Meritorious Humanitarian Recognition Award. During that same year, the Royal Society of Medicine presented Dr. Yurt with the Richard T. Hewitt Award, recognizing him as an influential contributor to quality assurance in surgery, medical education, public health, and research in the burn and trauma areas. Dr. Yurt received the Outstanding Physician of the Year Award in 2006 at the New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Dr. Yurt and his wife Joan live in Ramsey, New Jersey. They have three children, Jennifer, Daniel, and Gregory. They are also the proud grandparents of Emma and her new twin sisters, Elizabeth and Paige.