Richard E. Burney, MD, is Professor of Surgery, Chief of the Division of Colorectal Surgery, and a surgeon on the Endocrine Surgery Service (GSE) at University of Michigan Health System. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School. He received his post-graduate training in General Surgery at Yale-New Haven Medical Center, where his initial research was carried out as part of the Yale Trauma Program. He served as a Major in the US Army Medical Corps for two years before joining the faculty at University of Michigan in 1976. In addition to his clinical role as a general surgeon, Dr. Burney has held major administrative responsibilities in the areas of trauma, emergency services, and critical care transport. He has served as Chief of the Section of Emergency Services from 1985 through 1992 and as medical director of Survival Flight from 1985 through 1994.

Dr. Burney's deals with a broad spectrum of general surgical problems. His chief clinical interests are in fields of gastrointestinal and endocrine surgery, including gastrointestinal endoscopy and laparoscopic surgery. He has special interest and expertise in thyroid and parathyroid surgery, abdominal and inguinal hernia, and colorectal disease. His research interest is in surgical outcomes measurement using patient reported functional health status instruments, and learning how to apply this information to improve the quality of patient care. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Trauma, is an editorial consultant to the Annals of Emergency Medicine and a reviewer for several other surgical journals.

Dr. Burney has had a long-standing interest in medical care delivery and quality. At U of M Hospital he is a member of the Patient Safety Committee and Chair of the Medical Liability Review Committee. He has also served on the Executive Committee on Clinical Affairs. He was President of the Michigan Peer Review Organization, which oversees quality of care for Medicare and other insurers, from 1984 - 2002. He has also served as Chairman of the Michigan Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons and is currently a member of the ACS Committee on Trauma. He is past-President of the Washtenaw County Medical Society.