Richard Powell, MD, a professor of surgery and of radiology at Geisel School of Medicine, and director of the Dartmouth Health Heart and Vascular Center, has been named the Anna Gundlach Huber Professor in Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth for a five-year term that began in January 2024.
“The Anna Gundlach Huber Professorship in Medicine is an incredible honor that will allow the Dartmouth Health Heart and Vascular Center to continue our cutting-edge research to cure cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death and disability in the United States,” Powell says.
His research focuses on the economics of vascular care delivery and the minimally invasive treatment of vascular disease.
Before becoming director of the Heart and Vascular Center in March 2023, Powell was Section Chief of Vascular Surgery at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. There, he led process improvement techniques in the development of care pathways for complex vascular surgery procedures that resulted in streamlined approaches to patient care and the incorporation of evidence-based algorithms that also factor cost into implant selection. This work resulted in improved patient satisfaction, maintenance of high-quality outcomes, and substantial reductions in cost. Now a central theme of the section, these efforts are part of its academic portfolio as well as resident and fellow educational programs.
In addition, Powell has been a National and is currently the International Principal Investigator on multiple Gene Therapy and Stem Cell Therapy clinical trials, including the first in human use of HGF gene therapy to treat patients with critical limb ischemia. He has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 1997 and has served as a member on multiple NIH study sections. He has chaired the Research Council and Clinical Research Committee for the Society of Vascular Surgery. Powell currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Dartmouth Health.
“I am pleased to recognize Dr. Powell for his leadership in the field of vascular surgery,” says Duane Compton, PhD, dean of the Geisel School of Medicine. “I am delighted that this will help advance his scholarly work and the work of others in the Heart and Vascular Center.”
The Anna Gundlach Huber Professorship was established in 1984 with gifts from Gertrude H. Mertens, Robert Mertens, and Marion Huber to honor Mrs. Mertens’ and Miss Huber’s mother—the fund now supports two named professorships.
