Biography

Dr. Kirk has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Eledon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since October 2023. He is currently Chairman of the Department of Surgery and Surgeon-in-Chief at Duke University School of Medicine. He is also the David C. Sabiston, Jr. Professor of Surgery, a Professor of Integrative Immunobiology, and a Professor of Pediatrics at Duke. Previously, Dr. Kirk served as the inaugural Chief of the Transplantation Branch for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and has been a principal investigator for multiple clinical trials, including the first-in-human experience with novel immunosuppressive agents. Dr. Kirk has helped pioneer the use of co-stimulation pathway blockade to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients with his research focused on understanding transplant rejection and advancing improved therapies for transplant recipients. He has co-authored hundreds of peer-reviewed journal publications. Dr. Kirk is a member of the Duke Transplant Center and is a core faculty member of the Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship program. He also previously served as Editor-in-Chief for the American Journal of Transplantation. Dr. Kirk earned an M.D. from Duke University School of Medicine, a Ph.D. from Duke University and a Bachelor of Science from Old Dominion University.