Navy Trauma Surgeon Named Uniformed Services University Surgery Department Chair

Captain Matthew Bradley, Accomplished Physician, Educator and Researcher Takes on Key Leadership Role at USU

Then-Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Matthew Bradley (back, left) performs an umbilical hernia operation aboard the

hospital ship USNS Comfort, Oct. 22, 2018, during U.S. Southern Command’s Enduring Promise initiative.

(Photo credit: Navy Seaman J. Keith Wilson)

August 22, 2024 by Claire Pak

Navy Capt. (Dr.) Matthew Bradley has been selected to chair the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) Department of Surgery, effective Sept. 23, 2024.  He succeeds retired Army Col. (Dr.) Benjamin “Kyle” Potter, who recently left for a position as Orthopedics department chair at the University of Pennsylvania.  

Bradley earned his undergraduate degree from the Pennsylvania State University, and received his Master’s degree in Physiology and his Doctor of Medicine degree (with Alpha Omega Alpha honors) at Temple University in Philadelphia. He completed his residency in general surgery at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), and his fellowship training in trauma and critical care at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Maryland. After completing his fellowship, Bradley was transferred to the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Md., where he served as the department head for the Regenerative Medicine department, focusing his research efforts on the systemic inflammatory response following traumatic injury. In 2020, Bradley was appointed the program director of the general surgery residency at WRNMMC.  

Bradley served in a number of operational and combat deployments, beginning immediately following his residency when he was assigned as Ship’s Surgeon aboard the USS  George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) during its maiden deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He was also deployed as the chief of Trauma at the NATO Role III Multinational Medical Unit in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2014; and aboard the USNS Comfort in support of Hurricane Maria relief efforts and to support Operation Continuing Promise. 

Then-Navy Lt. Cmdr. (Dr.) Matthew Bradley, the chief of trauma at the Kandahar Airfield Role III medical

facility, left, points out the original Role III hospital sign to Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work during his

tour of the medical facility at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Nov. 28, 2014. (Courtesy photo: Headquarters,

U.S. Army 1st Cavalry Division)

Bradley is dual board certified in general surgery and trauma critical care, with wide-ranging research interests including surgical education, quality improvement, post-injury systemic inflammatory response, and predictive modeling in critical care. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a member of several surgical and trauma associations, and has served as principal investigator for the Military Health Systems Strategic Partnership and Navy State Chair for the ACS Committee on Trauma. An accomplished educator, he serves as an instructor for Advanced Trauma Life Support, Fundamentals of Critical Care Support, Advanced Trauma Operative Management, and Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma (ASSET) and ASSET +. 

As director of the combined USU/WRNMMC surgical residency program (the largest surgical residency in the Department of Defense), Bradley led the program to a 100% first-time board pass rate for both the Qualifying (written) and Certifying (oral) exam, for three consecutive years. 

“Dr. Bradley is a force in combat casualty care who “grew up” as a surgeon caring for wounded warriors throughout his time as a resident and attending physician at Walter Reed. With his outstanding record of achievement as a surgeon, researcher, educator, and leader, Dr. Bradley is the ideal candidate to lead the Department of Surgery during a critical time for military medicine,” said Dr. Eric Elster, Dean of USU’s F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine.