Dr. Kemp Kernstine is a highly skilled and accomplished surgeon with 13 years of training in the field. He specializes in general thoracic surgery and is currently the only general thoracic surgeon associated with an academic medical center in North Texas. He is a Professor and Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center and holds the Robert Tucker Hayes Foundation Distinguished Chair in Cardiothoracic Surgery.

Dr. Kernstine completed his undergraduate and medical studies at Duke University and then went on to complete his internship and general surgery residency at the University of Minnesota, where he also received his Ph.D. He then pursued further training in heart and lung surgery at The Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He is board certified in both surgery and thoracic surgery.

In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Kernstine has strong research interests in minimally invasive and robotic surgery procedures, the surgical evaluation, and treatment of lung and esophageal cancer, mesothelioma, and thymic cancers. He has also studied the treatment of benign esophageal disease such as esophageal masses, achalasia, hiatal hernia, and gastro-esophageal reflux disease, and is interested in the study of thymectomy in the treatment of myasthenia gravis.

Dr. Kernstine is affiliated with a number of professional organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American College of Surgeons, the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Thoracic Society, the American Association of Thoracic Surgeons, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Society of Surgical Oncologists, the Western Thoracic Society, and the International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgeons. He has also served in numerous leadership roles within these societies.

Dr. Kernstine has received funding from the National Cancer Institute and various regional and national grants, and has published many articles, abstracts, and books on lung and esophageal cancer and chest surgery. He is both nationally and internationally recognized for his work. He has received numerous honors and awards, including Castle Connolly's America's Top Doctors, Brigham and Women's Hospital Thoracic Alumnus of the Year, Willem J. Kolff Young Investigators Award, and Howard Hughes Medical Research Fellow.