ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)- Albany Medical Center said they have named the nation’s first black female chair of surgery at an academic health sciences center. The appointment was announced by Albany Medical Center on Tuesday.

Dr. KMarie King will take on the role of chair of the Department of Surgery and Chief of Surgery beginning September 1. She will be coming from Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta where she is currently a professor of surgery at Morehouse School of Medicine and chief of surgery and medical director for surgical quality.

“Throughout her distinguished career, Dr. King has positioned herself as a proven leader in all areas of academic medicine, including patient care, medical education, and clinical research,” said Vincent P. Verdile, Dean of Albany Medical College and Senior Executive Vice President for System Care Delivery at Albany Med. “Her breadth of experience, strong clinical skills, and business acumen, along with her commitment to quality, will serve her well as she leads and advances Albany Med’s surgical services.”

Dr. King has a master’s degree in biomedical surgery and earned her medical degree at Washington University in St. Louis. She also holds a Master of Business Management from Brandeis University and is a United States Army veteran, who served in Operation Desert Storm.

She is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the Board of Trustees of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, serves as program chair of both the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons as well as the Society of Black Academic Surgeons. Dr. King is also an oral examiner for the American Board of Surgery.

Dr. King has received awards for her research in the area of liver and pancreatic cancers and has written more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. She will be replacing Dr. Steven Stain, who has served as chair of the department for 15 years. Dr. Lewis Britton has been serving as the department’s interim chair since late 2020.