Oral History with Dr. Naji Abumrad, interviewed by Dr. John Tarpley, 2025-08-22

Oral history interview conducted in the History of Medicine Collections at Vanderbilt University, between surgeons Dr. John Tarpley (interviewer) and Dr. Naji Abumrad (interviewee).

Naji N. Abumrad, MD is the John L. Sawyers Chair in Surgical Sciences and Chairman Emeritus, Department of Surgery and Professor of Surgery at Vanderbilt University. His extensive research activities include studies of the mechanism of insulin resistance in the morbidly obese, and in particular, he is conducting studies related to the understanding of the mechanisms involved in the reversal of type 2 diabetes in morbidly obese patients who undergo bariatric surgical procedures.

Dr. John Tarpley is Professor of Surgery and Anesthesiology, Emeritus at Vanderbilt University. After completing his general surgery residency at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Tarpley committed himself to surgical education for underserved populations and spent much of his career training surgeons in Subsaharan Africa. In 1993 Dr. Tarpley began practicing surgery at the VA hospital in Nashville and joined the Vanderbilt faculty.

Interviewee: Naji N. Abumrad, M.D. Former John L. Sawyers Chair in Surgical Sciences Chairman Emeritus, Department of Surgery Professor of Surgery, Emeritus Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Interviewer: John L. Tarpley, M.D., FWACS, FACS Professor of Surgery, Emeritus Department of Surgery, Section of Surgical Sciences, VUMC; and Former Academic Dean, Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS)