Melina R. Kibbe, MD, became president of UTHealth Houston and Alkek-Williams Distinguished Chair in September 2025, bringing with her a distinguished career as a physician-scientist, educator, and national leader in academic medicine.
Kibbe leads UTHealth Houston’s mission to chart bold new paths in education, research, and clinical care, building on a legacy of excellence to shape the future of health care in Texas and beyond.
Prior to joining UTHealth Houston, Kibbe served as dean of the School of Medicine, the James Carroll Flippin Professor of Medical Science, and Chief Health Affairs Officer at the University of Virginia (UVA), and was also professor in the Departments of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering. Before her time at UVA, she was chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of North Carolina (UNC), where she was the Colin G. Thomas, Jr. Distinguished Professor and held an adjunct professorship in Biomedical Engineering. She began her academic career at Northwestern University, serving as vice chair of research in the Department of Surgery and deputy director of the Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology.
Clinically, Kibbe has extensive experience in both open and endovascular surgery. She is board-certified in general and vascular surgery.
Kibbe’s research interests focus on developing novel drug-eluting therapies for patients with vascular disease, while simultaneously studying the mechanism of how these therapies impact the vasculature. She has been funded as principal investigator by the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, American Heart Association, and American Medical Association, among others, and has served as co-investigator, consultant, or mentor on other federally supported awards. She has also led national and site gene and cell-based clinical trials for patients with critical limb ischemia and has served as a consultant for clinical trials related to the care of patients with peripheral artery disease. She holds more than 10 patents or provisional patents. Her research was recognized by President Barack Obama with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2009.
Throughout her career, Kibbe has served in national positions of leadership. She is the editor-in-chief for JAMA Surgery. She has served as president for the Association for Academic Surgery, the Midwestern Vascular Surgical Society, the Association of VA Surgeons, and the Surgical Biology Club II. She is also the secretary for the American Surgical Association, chair of the Scholarship Committee for the American College of Surgeons, and an active member of other societies. She was inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the National Academy of Medicine.
Kibbe has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, reviews, and book chapters, and presented more than 240 abstracts nationally and internationally. Her awards include the Society of Vascular Surgery Women’s Leadership Award, American Medical Women’s Gender Equity Award, American Medical Student Association Women Leaders in Medicine Award, Northwestern University Tripartite Award, Association of VA Surgeons Presidential Citation, University of Chicago Distinguished Service Award, and Virginia Business 2023 Women in Leadership Award. She is also a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society and has received 24 teaching awards for her commitment to medical education.
In addition to her clinical and academic work, Kibbe co-founded VesselTek BioMedical, LLC, and served as its chief medical officer.
A native of Southern California, Kibbe graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in biological sciences in 1990 and earned her medical degree from the university’s Pritzker School of Medicine in 1994. She completed her internship, residency, and research fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, followed by a vascular surgery fellowship at Northwestern University.