Charles Cairns

Charles Cairns, MD, is the Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Dean of the College of Medicine and senior vice president of medical affairs at Drexel University. Dr. Cairns is a leader in emergency medicine and critical care education, training, and research. He led Drexel through a partnership with St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and the establishment of new regional medical campuses in Pennsylvania, California, and Delaware, as well as the opening of a new four-year regional medical campus with Tower Health in West Reading. These efforts have resulted in record medical student applications, student enrollment, and extramural research funding.

Previously, he served as dean of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at the United Arab Emirates University and as dean of the College of Medicine and assistant vice president for clinical research at the University of Arizona. Dr. Cairns led the University of Arizona College of Medicine through the $1.2 billion merger with Banner Health, creating one of the largest nonprofit health systems in the United States.

He has also served as chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of North Carolina, associate chief of emergency medicine at Duke University, and director of emergency medicine research at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, the world’s largest academic clinical research organization.