Daniel E. Hall

Dr. Hall is a tenured Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, Staff Surgeon at the VA Pittsburgh and Core Investigator at the VA Center for Healthcare Evaluation, Research, and Promotion. He is an active general surgeon with training in health services research, quality improvement, moral philosophy and theology. His diverse portfolio of work aims at developing reliable systems of healthcare delivery that are both technically excellent and directed toward the normative good of human flourishing, conceptualized as the well-functioning of the whole person as appropriate to each patient’s vocation. Clinical interests focus on both minimally invasive and robotic surgery, frailty, shared decision-making, and surgical palliative care.

Current research focuses on improving the decision-making and preoperative care of frail patients scheduled for elective surgery, including national leadership as Medical Director of the Surgical Pause Program within the National Surgery Office of the Veterans Health Administration Other research focuses on defining and predicting trajectories of postoperative recovery and long-term loss of independence after surgery—all in order to better inform shared decision making between patient and surgeon. He is also the Pittsburgh faculty champion for the Good Surgeon, a year-long curriculum aimed fostering dialogue among surgical trainees focused on the resources and practices available to shape the character of surgeons-in-training and how best to form the virtues necessary for good surgical practice. He is precepting the PhD of an MD-PhD candidate interested in adapting Islamic resources for character development and flourishing in medical practice.

Dr. Hall earned degrees in medicine and theology from Yale University before completing his surgical training at the University of Pittsburgh and joining the faculty in 2007. He is also an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church with interests in the theology of medicine. He has a proven track record of mentoring students, residents and junior faculty, many of whom have won research awards at prestigious surgical conferences. Further details about the projects, data sources and opportunities available through Dr. Hall’s lab can be found here.