Herbert Phelan, MD, FACS

After graduating from medical school with honors from the University of Texas-Houston Health Sciences Center, Dr. Phelan undertook his general surgery residency at LSU-New Orleans based out of Charity Hospital. During his residency, he spent a year as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Patricia Molina’s lab supported by an NIAAA training grant investigating the immunomodulatory effects of acute and chronic alcohol intoxication on hemorrhagic shock in a rodent model. He served as Administrative Chief Resident in his final year of training, and subsequently completed a fellowship in Surgical Critical Care at UT Southwestern Medical Center based out of Parkland Hospital where he later became faculty.

During his time as faculty at UT Southwestern, Dr. Phelan graduated from the NIH Clinical Scholars Masters Program which was part of UT Southwestern’s Clinical Translational Science Award. Both his clinical and scientific interests have centered around the care of the injured patient, whether from burns or trauma, for his entire career. In 2019, he was recruited back to join the burn program at LSU-New Orleans. His primary research interests are in scar modulation through laser therapy, outcomes after geriatric injury, and palliative care after injury.