Juan Pablo Gurria, MD, MSc

As a physician, I specialize in surgical critical care including trauma and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). My subspecialty surgical expertise includes the comprehensive surgical and multidisciplinary care of patients with neuroblastoma tumors, pancreatic surgery including tumors and patients with acute and chronic pancreatitis requiring total pancreatectomy with islet auto transplantation (TPIAT), congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) and minimally invasive robotic surgery.

I was inspired by a family member who is a doctor and who I’ve always admired for his well-rounded approach to healthcare. I was immediately connected with the surgical care of diseases since medical school. When I started working with children, I realized they have nothing to do with their conditions, and I could offer them many years of improved quality of life through surgical care.

I was born and raised in Mexico. I trained in amazing hospitals with limited resources, which led me to excel at bedside care. I learned how to listen, examine and understand patients and families, which made me able to guide them throughout their disease and treatment journey. My goal is always to see the patients walk out of the hospital with a smile.

Having trained in Mexico, Spain and the US, I'm fluent in English and Spanish. I understand different international healthcare systems and have worked at various children's hospitals within the US. I hold triple-board certification in General Surgery, Surgical Critical Care and Pediatric Surgery, with additional training in Pediatric Trauma Surgery and ECMO. I also provide care through a multidisciplinary approach with the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the Emergency Department for the sickest patients in the hospital who have undergone, or will require, surgical interventions to improve outcomes.

I have been appointed director of surgical critical care as a foundation for creating an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited fellowship. I’ve always been interested in the care of oncology patients and through a Neuroblastoma Center for Excellence, I provide care to these patients along with a world-renown surgical and oncology team.

Patients with acute and chronic pancreatitis and congenital hyperinsulinism suffer early in their lives with a disease that lasts a long time. As a surgical leader of the Comprehensive Pancreas Center of Excellence team, I coordinate care of these patients along with my medical colleagues, so our patients have the best outcomes. TPIAT has revolutionized the care of pancreatitis in young and adolescent patients.

My clinical research focuses on improving trauma outcomes and helping children victims of physical abuse, neuroblastoma and pancreas care research. Through a partnership with the Cincinnati Reds, I formed an action team to provide injury prevention education and give away helmets for children with limited resources.

I obtained a Master of Science degree in clinical and translational research through the University of Cincinnati, which has helped me develop research projects to provide patients with the best available and up-to-date care.

I balance my life through sports and have been a baseball and soccer player all my life. While still a medical student, I was the sole medical practitioner in a Mexican community of 2,500 people treating everything – even what's not described in medical books.