Joseph Cuschieri, MD, is Professor of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Vice Chair of Acute Care Surgery in the Department of Surgery, and Chief of Surgery at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the UCSF Department of Laboratory Medicine.
Dr. Cuschieri earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan and his Doctor of Medicine degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine. He completed his general surgery residency and Surgical Critical Care fellowship at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, followed by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) T32 research fellowship in Trauma, Burn, and Inflammation at the University of Washington. He is board certified by the American Board of Surgery in both General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care.
Following fellowship training, Dr. Cuschieri joined the faculty at the University of Cincinnati before moving to the University of Washington, where he spent nearly two decades in academic and clinical leadership roles. These included Medical Director of Surgical Critical Care, Acting Associate Medical Director of Critical Care, Associate Medical Director of Surgical Services, and Program Director of the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship. He joined UCSF in 2021 as Trauma Medical Director at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and subsequently became Chief of Surgery and Vice Chair of Acute Care Surgery.
Dr. Cuschieri’s clinical practice focuses on trauma surgery, emergency general surgery, and surgical critical care. His research program has centered on the inflammatory and immunologic response to injury, critical illness, and sepsis, helping to advance the understanding of genomic and immune dysregulation following severe trauma. His work has contributed to the development of precision medicine approaches in trauma and critical care and has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and other federal agencies.
A nationally recognized leader in trauma and acute care surgery, Dr. Cuschieri serves on the Board of Managers of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) and currently chairs its Critical Care Committee. He has also served in numerous leadership roles within the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma and the American Board of Surgery. He is an Associate Examiner for the American Board of Surgery and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery and Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open.
Dr. Cuschieri has authored more than 220 peer-reviewed publications and numerous book chapters and has received multiple national awards recognizing his contributions to research, education, and patient care. He is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of surgeons, intensivists, and clinician-scientists and has trained and mentored numerous leaders in trauma, acute care surgery, and critical care throughout North America and internationally.