Martin Adel Makary is a British-American
surgeon
In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...
, professor, author and
medical commentator. He practices surgical oncology and gastrointestinal
laparoscopic surgery
Laparoscopy () is an operation performed in the abdomen or pelvis using small incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm) with the aid of a camera. The laparoscope aids diagnosis or therapeutic interventions with a few small cuts in the abdomen.Medl ...
at the
Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 mo ...
, is Mark Ravitch Chair in Gastrointestinal Surgery at
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hospi ...
, and teaches
public health policy
Health policy can be defined as the "decisions, plans, and actions that are undertaken to achieve specific healthcare goals within a society".World Health Organization''Health Policy'' accessed 22 March 2011(Web archive)/ref> According to the ...
as Professor of Surgery and Public Health at the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the public health graduate school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. As the second independent, degree-granting institution for research in epi ...
.
Makary is an advocate for disruptive innovation in medicine and physician-led initiatives such as ''The Surgical Checklist'', which he developed at Johns Hopkins, and was later popularized in
Atul Gawande
Atul Atmaram Gawande (born November 5, 1965) is an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. He practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a professor in the Departmen ...
's best-selling book ''
The Checklist Manifesto
''The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right '' is a 2009 non-fiction book by Atul Gawande. It was released on December 22, 2009, through Metropolitan Books
Henry Holt and Company is an American book-publishing company based in New York C ...
''.
Makary was named one of the most influential people in healthcare by ''HealthLeader'' magazine.
In 2018, Makary was elected to the
National Academy of Medicine
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, En ...
.
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, Makary has been a prolific pundit discussing the topics of COVID-19 and mitigation strategies. He was an early advocate for universal masking to control the pandemic and recommends vaccines for adults, but has been an outspoken opponent of broad
vaccine mandates
A vaccination policy is a health policy adopted in order to prevent the spread of infectious disease. These policies are generally put into place by State or local governments, but may also be set by private facilities, such as workplaces or s ...
and some COVID restrictions at schools.
Education
Makary was born in
Liverpool, England
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, and moved to
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
as a young child. His family later moved to
Danville, Pennsylvania
Danville is a borough in and the county seat of Montour County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the North Branch of the Susquehanna River. The population was 4,221 at the census.
Danville is part of the Bloomsburg-Berwick micropolitan area.
...
, when his father took a job as a
hematologist
Hematology (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to ...
at the
Geisinger Medical Center
Geisinger Medical Center is a hospital in Danville, Pennsylvania. It is the primary hospital for the Danville-based Geisinger Health System, a primary chain of hospitals and clinics across northeastern and central Pennsylvania
Pennsylv ...
. Makary holds degrees from
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...
,
Thomas Jefferson University
Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...
and
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. He was president of the student body at Harvard, and later served on the alumni board. He completed a Masters of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree, with a concentration in health policy.
Professional career
Makary completed a surgical residency at
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
in Washington D.C. where he also worked as a writer for
The Advisory Board Company
The Advisory Board Company was a consulting firm focusing on health care organizations and educational institutions. It began in 1979 in Washington, DC. Its educational business was spun off and the remaining company was acquired by Optum in 2017. ...
. Makary completed sub-specialty surgery training at Johns Hopkins in
surgical oncology
Surgical oncology is the branch of surgery applied to oncology; it focuses on the surgical management of tumors, especially cancerous tumors.
As one of several modalities in the management of cancer, the specialty of surgical oncology has evolved ...
and
gastrointestinal
The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and ...
surgery under surgeon John Cameron, before joining Cameron's faculty practice as a partner.
In his first few years on the faculty at Johns Hopkins, Makary researched and wrote articles on the prevention of surgical complications.
He published on frailty as a medical condition, and on safety and teamwork culture in medicine. Makary is the first author of the original scientific publications describing "The Surgery Checklist".
Makary worked with the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
to develop the official World Health Organization Surgical Checklist.
For his contributions to the field of medicine, Makary was named Mark Ravitch Chair in Gastrointestinal Surgery, an endowed chair at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, becoming the youngest endowed chair recipient at the time at the university. Three years later, he was named the Credentials Chair and Director of Quality and Safety for Surgery at Johns Hopkins.
In 2020, Makary was named Editor-in-Chief of
MedPage Today
MedPage Today is a medical news-focused site owned by Ziff-Davis, LLC. It is based in New York City, and is geared primarily toward medical and health professionals.
History
The news service MedPage Today was founded by Robert S. Stern in Marc ...
. He was also appointed chief of the Johns Hopkins Islet Transplant Center, clinical lead for the Johns Hopkins Sibley Innovation Hub, Executive Director of Improving Wisely, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation project to lower health care costs, is founder of the Johns Hopkins Center For Surgical Outcomes Research and Clinical Trials, and Professor of Surgery and Public Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Makary is a pancreatic surgeon and has pioneered novel surgical procedures. He was awarded the Nobility in Science Award by the National Pancreas Foundation for performing the world's first series of laparoscopic pancreas islet transplant operations. He has traveled with his international team overseas.
Makary specializes in advanced
laparoscopic surgery
Laparoscopy () is an operation performed in the abdomen or pelvis using small incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm) with the aid of a camera. The laparoscope aids diagnosis or therapeutic interventions with a few small cuts in the abdomen.Medl ...
and performed the first laparoscopic
Whipple surgery
A pancreaticoduodenectomy, also known as a Whipple procedure, is a major surgical operation most often performed to remove cancerous tumours from the head of the pancreas. It is also used for the treatment of pancreatic or duodenal trauma, or chro ...
at Johns Hopkins and the first laparoscopic
Frey's procedure
Frey's procedure is a surgical technique used in the treatment of chronic pancreatitis in which the diseased portions of the pancreas head are cored out. A lateral pancreaticojejunostomy (LRLPJ) is then performed in which a loop of the jejunum is ...
for pancreatitis.
Makary's research led to several partnerships, including a grant from the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research, to study obesity treatment,
and a grant from the same agency to implement safety programs at 100 U.S. hospitals, a project he collaborated on with
Peter Pronovost
Peter J. Pronovost (born February 22, 1965) is Chief Quality and Transformation Officer at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, the main affiliate of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. At UH, Pronovost is responsible ...
and the
American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons is an educational association of surgeons created in 1913.American College of Surgeons Online "What is the American College of Surgeons?"/ref>
See also
*American College of Physicians
The American College o ...
. Makary was also the lead author in the original paper introducing a Hospital Survey of Patient Safety Culture.
He has written for ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'', ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
,'' ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'', and
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
, and appears on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
and
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
.
Makary has also called for the public reporting physician-endorsed quality measures by hospitals.
He and Bryan Sexton have encouraged hundreds of hospitals to take the "Culture of Safety Survey" and make their results available to their communities. Makary also advocates for price transparency and has led efforts to ask hospitals to stop suing their low-income patients.
In 2016, Makary and his colleagues exposed loopholes in the
Orphan Drug Act
The Orphan Drug Act of 1983 is a law passed in the United States to facilitate development of orphan drugs—drugs for rare diseases such as Huntington's disease, myoclonus, ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neu ...
accounting for higher drug pricing. His article "The Orphan Drug Act: Restoring the Mission to Rare Diseases", covered by Kaiser Heath News, led
Senator Chuck Grassley
Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate, and the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States sen ...
's office to announce an investigation.
COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Makary has been a proponent of taking the COVID-19 pandemic as a true public health threat, masking, vaccines and early vaccination strategies that prioritized maximum coverage against severe disease similar to the UK vaccination strategy, and protection provided by natural immunity. Dr. Makary has also been an outspoken opponent of vaccine mandates, various FDA & CDC policies, and restrictions at colleges and universities.
In February 2020, Makary was vocal that the United States needed to take the threat of COVID-19 seriously and that people should stop all non-essential travel. He warned of disruptions to both the United States healthcare system and to people's daily lives. In addition Makary called for a national lockdown to help slow the spread of the virus and enable the healthcare system to respond and reduce morbidity and mortality. In May 2020, Makary advocated for universal masking in an effort to enable businesses and schools to re-open to minimize economic and educational damage across the United States. In May 2020, it was still debated by many in the scientific community as to whether masks provided much protection against infection, however high-quality masking has proven an effective measure at limiting the spread of COVID-19.
In November 2020, Makary was critical of the pace at which the FDA were approving the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer. Makary had taken issue with the speed at which various US government health organizations had taken to evaluate medications or perform COVID-19 based research. In early February 2021, Makary advocated for prioritizing getting as many vaccinated with single doses vs holding vaccines back for second doses. Single dose vaccination strategies, like done in the United Kingdom, have shown to be effective and conditions upon when to implement single dose vaccination strategies have continued to be researched to assess optimal conditions for single or multiple doses.
Makary stated in a February 2021
op-ed
An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...
in ''The Wall Street Journal'' that "At the current trajectory" in the United States COVID-19 would "be mostly gone by April" 2021, primarily as a result of naturally acquired immunity.
The article's estimates of population immunity were criticized for being higher than the best available data supported. On 1 May 2021, the national average 7 day case rate was 105 per 100,000, a rate of community transmission the CDC described as "High Transmission" (the highest of four categories).
Makary considers himself pro-vaccine but has also criticized vaccination mandates for populations other than healthcare workers.
Makary recommended a single-dose mRNA vaccine regimen for children 12-17 to minimize the occurrence of myocarditis as a reaction, contrary to the CDC's finding that the risks of infection "far outweigh" those of the two-dose vaccine schedule.
In December 2021 he appeared on a podcast to argue against vaccine boosters, referring to himself as an "unboosted male" and saying that the
SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant
Omicron (B.1.1.529) is a variant of SARS-CoV-2 first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa on 24 November 2021. It was first detected in Botswana and has spread to become the ...
was "nature's vaccine".
Books
Makary is the author of the ''New York Times'' Best Selling book ''Unaccountable'', in which he proposes that common sense, physician-led solutions can fix the healthcare system.
The book was turned into the popular TV series, ''
The Resident'', which aired on Fox in 2018. Makary is also the author of ''Mama Maggie'' a personal story about his distant relative
Magda Gobran, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee working in the garbage slums of Cairo. His latest book, ''The Price We Pay'', was released in 2018 and describes how business leaders can lower their health care costs and explores the grass-roots movement to restore medicine to its noble mission. Makary is also the editor of the surgery textbook "General Surgery Review".
Awards and recognition
Makary is the recipient of numerous research and teaching awards, including the ''Best Teacher Award'' for Georgetown Medical School
and research awards from the Washington Academy of Surgery and the New England Surgical Society. He has been a visiting professor at over 30 U.S. medical schools and lectures frequently on innovation in health care.
In 2018, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Makary, Marty
American surgeons
American male non-fiction writers
American medical writers
Bucknell University alumni
English emigrants to the United States
Harvard School of Public Health alumni
Johns Hopkins Hospital physicians
Johns Hopkins University faculty
Living people
People from Danville, Pennsylvania
Thomas Jefferson University alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Members of the National Academy of Medicine