Randall S. Burd, MD, PHD

Division Chief, Trauma Surgery

Randall Burd, MD, PhD, is a pediatric surgeon and chief of the Division of Trauma Surgery at Children’s National Hospital. He leads the Trauma Program at Children’s National, a Level I (highest level) pediatric trauma center designated by the American College of Surgeons, the State of Maryland and the District of Columbia. The Trauma Center is a leading center for injured children in the greater Washington, D.C., region, treating over 1,200 hospitalized children annually. Dr. Burd also leads the Burn Program at Children’s National, one of two pediatric burn centers designated by the State of Maryland. Dr. Burd is a Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Burd received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. He completed his surgical residency and obtained his PhD in surgery/microbiology at the University of Minnesota and completed a pediatric surgical fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Detroit.

Dr. Burd is a general and thoracic pediatric surgeon specializing in surgery on infants, children and adolescents. He has a specific interest and expertise in neonatal surgery, minimally invasive surgery, pediatric burn care and pediatric trauma.

Dr. Burd’s areas of research interest are in developing new approaches for improving teamwork during the initial management and treatment of injured patients. For the past 15 years, Dr. Burd has led a multidisciplinary research team studying errors and teamwork in trauma resuscitation, including collaborators in emergency medicine and surgery, human factors, informatics, computer science and biomedical engineering. His research in trauma resuscitation is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Burd’s group has identified factors associated with team performance and workload and the features of team leadership that influence team performance. His group also has developed novel approaches for tracking people and objects using computer vision and speech recognition technologies.

Dr. Burd is an active member of the American Pediatric Surgery Association, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma and the American Burn Association. He served as a founding member and past president of the Pediatric Trauma Society, an organization focused on improving the care of injured children and adolescents by developing optimal care guidelines, education, research and advocacy.

• General and Thoracic Surgery
• Trauma Care