Ben L. Zarzaur Jr., MD, MPH, FACS
Professor
- Endowed Chair, Sylvia and Royal Lichtfeldt Burn Center Professorship
- Division Chair of Acute Care and Regional General Surgery
Dr. Zarzaur was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. He attended college at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. He went on to medical school at The University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham, Alabama. Following medical school, Dr. Zarzaur completed residency training in General Surgery at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. During his residency, Dr. Zarzaur spent two years of exploring how the mucosal immune system is influenced by different types of nutrition support under the guidance of his mentor, Dr. Kenneth Kudsk. After residency, Dr. Zarzaur completed a Surgical Critical Care fellowship at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He stayed in Chapel Hill where he accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. While there, Dr. Zarzaur earned a Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology from the School of Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill. In 2006 he moved back to Memphis and became an Associate Professor of Surgery at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Dr. Zarzaur received a K23 Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health to study the role of socio-economic disparities in quality of life and functional ability after injury. Dr. Zarzaur has also been the Principle Investigator of an 11 site multi-institutional study funded by the National Trauma Institute to determine long-term outcomes after blunt spleen injury in adults. In 2014, he was recruited to Indiana University School of Medicine as the Founder and Director of the Center for Outcomes Research in the Department of Surgery. While at Indiana University School of Medicine, he served as the Vice-Chair of Clinical Research as well as the Chief of Surgery and Trauma Medical Director at Eskenazi Health. Dr. Zarzaur joined the faculty in the Department of Surgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in 2019. Currently, Dr. Zarzaur is funded by the National Institutes of Health to study the effectiveness of collaborative care interventions at improving long-term outcomes in older injured patients. In addition to his research interests, Dr. Zarzaur has also served as a member and leader in many local, regional and national trauma organizations. He has served as the Chair of the Tennessee Committee on Trauma as well as the Chair of the Trauma Care Advisory Council. He was a member of the Indiana Department of Health Trauma Advisory Council. Currently, he is a member of the National Committee on Trauma. While in Memphis, Dr. Zarzaur was a medical team manager for an Urban Search and Rescue Team and has been deployed as part of disaster response.
zarzaur@surgery.wisc.edu
(608) 265-9574
600 Highland Ave.
G5/335
Madison, WI 53792-0001
Education
- MD, University of Alabama School of Medicine, 1996
- Residency, General Surgery, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 2003
- Fellowship, Surgical Critical Care, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 2004
- MPH, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Public Health, 2006
Clinical Specialties
Dr. Zarzaur is certified by the American Board of Surgery in General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care. He has special expertise in the operative management of injured patients and those with general surgical emergencies.
Research Interests
Dr. Zarzaur is interested in long-term, patient centered outcomes who have suffered injury or an acute surgical illness. He and his multi-disciplinary team have developed an innovative and scalable collaborative care model that is focused on improving the long-term functional ability and quality of life of these patients.
Recent Publications
Admission Thromboelastography at the Intersection of Traumatic Coagulopathy and Inflammation: A Pragmatic, Randomized Optimal Platelet and Plasma Ratios (PROPPR) Study Sub-Analysis.
Savage SA, Zarzaur BL, Fox EE, Wade CE, Carney PR, Do TV, Holcomb JB
J Am Coll Surg 2023 Mar 15;
[PubMed ID: 36919936]Empiric tranexamic acid use provides no benefit in urgent orthopedic surgery following injury.
Carr B, Li SW, Hill JG, Feizpour C, Zarzaur BL, Savage S
Trauma Surg Acute Care Open 2023; 8(1): e001054
[PubMed ID: 36919025]Measuring long-term outcomes after injury: current issues and future directions.
Salim A, Stein DM, Zarzaur BL, Livingston DH
Trauma Surg Acute Care Open 2023; 8(1): e001068
[PubMed ID: 36919026]Establishing a Core Outcomes Set for Massive Transfusion: an EAST Modified Delphi Method Consensus Study.
Gelbard RB, Nahmias J, Byerly S, Ziesmann M, Stein D, Haut ER, Smith JW, Boltz M, Zarzaur B, Callum J, Cotton BA, Cripps M, Gunter OL, Holcomb JB, Kerby J, Kornblith LZ, Moore EE, Riojas CM, Schreiber M, Sperry JL, Yeh DD
J Trauma Acute Care Surg 2023 Jan 23;
[PubMed ID: 36727810]Pre-Existing Anxiety and Depression in Injured Older Adults: An Under-Recognized Comorbidity With Major Health Implications.
Ortiz D, Perkins AJ, Fuchita M, Gao S, Holler E, Meagher AD, Mohanty S, French DD, Lasiter S, Khan B, Boustani M, Zarzaur B
Ann Surg Open 2022 Dec; 3(4): e217
[PubMed ID: 36590891]