J. Peter Rubin, MD, is Chair of the Department of Plastic Surgery and the UPMC Endowed Professor of Plastic Surgery, as well as Professor of Bioengineering. Dr. Rubin is the Director of UPMC Wound Healing Services. He earned his undergraduate degree in biology from Grinnell College and his M.D. degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed a categorical residency training program in general surgery at Boston University/Boston City Hospital. He took time away from the clinic to pursue a two year fellowship in surgical basic science at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. After graduating from general surgery residency, he completed a 3 year residency in plastic surgery at Harvard Medical School. He has been a faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh since 2002.
Dr. Rubin is a noted expert on adult stem cells derived from fat tissue and advanced reconstructive surgery. Dr. Rubin leads a program that is devising innovative strategies for the use of adipose (fat)-derived stem cells to not only address problems of tissue regeneration but also other diseases that benefit from stem cell-based therapies. He is co-director of the Adipose Stem Cell Center and co-director of the UPMC Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Center. His laboratory research focuses on applications of adult adipose-derived stem cells for restoring damaged tissues after trauma and cancer therapy. He currently is the lead investigator for clinical trials using technologies designed to improve the lives of wounded military personnel. He founded and directs the Center for Innovation in Restorative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, an advanced clinical accelerator unit with expertise in regulatory affair, preclinical testing, and clinical trials design and management.
Dr. Rubin has been a consistent leader in the international plastic surgery community. As a past president of the International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science, Dr. Rubin led a group of scientists worldwide who are on the cutting edge in the study of the use of fat stem cells for treating numerous disorders. Dr. Rubin also has been Chair of the Plastic Surgery Research Council. He currently serves as chair of a joint society task force of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons on the use of stem cells. Additionally, he serves as the liaison between the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons, working to promote safety and quality standards in plastic surgery after weight loss. He is well known for his innovative techniques in breast and body contouring surgery. He has published a textbook on plastic surgery after weight loss and currently is lead editor of a multi-author textbook project on body contouring surgery that is expected to be the standard reference.
Dr. Rubin has published extensively in the medical literature and has received numerous awards for his research work, most notably for the Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering and for his National Institutes of Health-funded work with fat-derived stem cells.
Dr. Rubin is Co-Director of the Adipose Stem Cell Center.