Recognized for his outstanding contributions to trauma surgery and research, Matthew R. Rosengart, MD, MPH, has been named the Theodore and Bertha Bryan Professor of Environmental Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The installation ceremony took place on Wednesday, March 18 at the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center in the Connor Auditorium.
“To the Bertha and Theodore Bryan family, I am humbled,” Rosengart said. “I possess no special skill, talent, knowledge, nor wisdom aside from one, and that’s just being me. And even that is a quality unique to and possessed by each of us, and that really should be shared with all of us.”
Rosengart is a highly esteemed surgeon-scientist renowned for his work in the molecular biology of sepsis, hemorrhage, and traumatic injury. His journey began with earning his medical degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1995, followed by a general surgery residency and trauma/surgical critical care fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle. He also completed an NIH/NRSA Fellowship in Molecular Biology and earned a master’s degree in public health there. Rosengart was previously at the University of Pittsburgh, where he served in several key roles including co-director of the trauma/emergency surgery ICU and director of the Pittsburgh Surgical Outcomes Research Center.
The ceremony commenced with welcoming remarks by David H. Perlmutter, MD, the George and Carol Bauer Dean of WashU Medicine. In his opening remarks, Dean Perlmutter provided insight into the professorship
“Starting with a small gift in 1965, the Bryans gave to WashU for over three decades, culminating with a planned gift to endow this environmental medicine professorship, which has since been converted into six different endowed professorships,” said Dean Perlmutter. “The Bryans’ goal was explicit: to expand the medical school’s research in preventing and treating environmentally related diseases and to better prepare future physicians to care for patients suffering from them. I am confident that the Bryans will be delighted to see Dr. Matthew Rosengart installed today in this part of that incredible gift that they gave years ago.”
Rosengart has made significant contributions to our understanding of the mechanisms of sepsis and injury, particularly in calcium-dependent regulation and signaling. His research, continuously funded by the NIH since 2005, has led to hundreds of peer-reviewed articles. He has an h-index of 43 and total career funding exceeding $5 million. Rosengart’s address at the ceremony was titled “Environ, Enliven, Enlighten…ment for all,” reflecting his vision and commitment to advancing medical science and patient care.