Timothy R. Billiar, M.D.

• ​George Vance Foster Professor and Chair, Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

​Timothy R. Billiar, M.D., has served as the George Vance Foster Professor and Chair in the Department of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine since 1999. He received his medical degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Dr. Billiar completed his surgical residency at the University of Minnesota and the University of Pittsburgh. In 1992, he was named the first Samuel P. Harbison Endowed Assistant Professor of Surgery and in 1997 was named the Watson Professor of Surgery.

Dr. Billiar has been recognized with membership in the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences. He received the Flance-Karl Award from the American Surgical Association. He previously served as president of the Society of University Surgeons, the Surgical Infection Society and the International Nitric Oxide Society. He also served on the Surgery Anesthesia Trauma Study Section of the National Institutes of Health and currently serves on the Surgery Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Dr. Billiar’s laboratory is funded in a number of areas. The main research focus is on studying the immune response to injury and shock. His laboratory is credited with initially cloning the human inducible nitric oxide synthase gene. Dr. Billiar’s work extends into areas of liver disease and innate immunity. His laboratory currently is funded by three NIH grants and he holds seven U.S. patents associated with his research.