Herbert Zeh, M.D.

Herbert J. Zeh III, M.D., is Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He holds the Hall and Mary Lucile Shannon Distinguished Chair in Surgery. An innovator and leader in the field of pancreatic diseases and pancreatic cancer, he has been a practicing surgeon for more than 20 years. 

Dr. Zeh earned his medical degree at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He completed his surgical residency and fellowship training in advanced gastrointestinal surgery and surgical oncology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Prior to joining UT Southwestern in 2018, Dr. Zeh served as the Watson Family Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Chief of the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgical Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Hillman Cancer Center, and Co-Director of the UPMC Pancreatic Cancer Center. During his tenure at UPMC, Dr. Zeh and his colleagues accumulated research and published extensively on one of the world’s largest experiences with robotic pancreatic surgery.

Dr. Zeh has conducted numerous investigator-initiated clinical trials examining novel treatments for patients with pancreatic cancer. He directs a translational research lab that examines damage-associated molecular pattern molecules in the disease. 

The author of more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, Dr. Zeh is a member of professional organizations such as the American Surgical Association, the American College of Surgeons, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Association for Academic Surgery, the Society of Clinical Surgery, the Society of Surgical Oncology, and the Society of University Surgeons.