Melissa Kirkwood, M.D.

Melissa Kirkwood, M.D., is an Associate Professor and Chief of the Department of Surgery’s Division of Vascular Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2011.

Dr. Kirkwood’s clinical interests include all areas of vascular surgery, as well as endovascular therapies and lower-extremity bypass aimed at treating peripheral vascular disease (PVD) and salvaging limbs.

An international expert in radiation safety, her research interests include radiation dose control, iliac artery aneurysms, simultaneous thoracic and abdominal endovascular aortic repair, and functional outcomes of limb revascularization for PVD.

After earning her medical degree at Yale University School of Medicine, Dr. Kirkwood completed her general surgery residency at the University of Chicago Medical Center and a fellowship in vascular surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center.

As an undergraduate, she graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. degree from the University of Florida, where she completed a research fellowship in microbiology.

Dr. Kirkwood is certified by the American Board of Surgery in vascular and general surgery. She is also certified as a Registered Physician in Vascular Interpretation by the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography.

Active in medical education, Dr. Kirkwood won the Surgery Core Clerkship Teaching Award and serves as the Associate Student Clerkship Director for Vascular Surgery. She also serves on the medical school admissions, surgical education, mortality, and surgical quality committees. She previously served as the assistant program director of the vascular surgery fellowship.

A Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Kirkwood is a member of professional organizations that include the Alpha Omega Honor Medical Society, the Southern Association for Vascular Surgery, and the Association of Women Surgeons.

Dr. Kirkwood has given over 20 international and national plenary talks and 52 regional presentations. She has written 20 first-author, peer-reviewed publications, as well as ten book chapters and nine invited commentaries in Vascular Specialist. She also serves as a reviewer for the Annals of Vascular Surgery.

She served as the section editor of the radiation safety module for the Vascular Education and Self-Assessment Program 4, as well as coauthored the Society of Vascular Surgery’s (SVS) radiation safety guidelines. She has also been selected by the Joint Commission to develop national radiation safety guidelines.

Dr. Kirkwood was included in D Magazine's Best Doctors list for 2016 - 2022, and was included in D Magazine's Best Doctors in Collin County list for 2021. In 2015, she received the S. Timothy String Award from the Southern Association of Vascular Surgery (SAVS) for best manuscript. In 2016 she received the SVS Women’s Leadership Award. Dr. Kirkwood has served on the SVS post-graduate and leadership committees, and was finance chair for the SAVS.