Dr. Carla Pugh

Medical scientist and surgeon Dr. Carla Pugh was born on February 3, 1966 to Edye Abram and Tillman Pugh in Berkeley, California. She earned her B.S. degree in neurobiology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988. She went on to earn her M.D. degree from Howard University College of Medicine in Washington D.C. in 1992. Pugh completed an internship in general surgery at Howard University Hospital in 1993, followed by a residency in 1997. In 2001, she went on to receive her Ph.D. degree in curriculum studies and education from Stanford Graduate School of Education, making her the first surgeon to receive a Ph.D. degree in education.

In 1998, Pugh received her board certification in general surgery and worked at Kaiser Permanente Medical Group as a staff surgeon until 2003. From 2001 to 2003, she worked as a research assistant professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She worked as an associate professor of surgery and education at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois between 2003 and 2012. In 2004, she joined Chicago Lakeside VA’s Department of Surgery as a staff surgeon, where she worked until 2010. Between 2012 and 2018, Pugh worked as a professor of surgery and a professor of industrial systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin. She was also the Susan Behrens Professor of Surgical Education. In 2018, Pugh returned to Stanford University as a professor of general surgery and director of the Technology Enabled Clinical Improvement Center. In 2019, she spearheaded the Surgical Metrics Project, and she became the Thomas Krummel Professor of Surgery in 2021.

Pugh is a pioneer in the field of medical education. In 1998, she developed the E-Pelvis, an electronic pelvic mannequin attached to a computer monitor that collects data on student performance. She received a patent for her medical examination teaching system in 2002, and the E-Pelvis gained a licensing agreement the following year. In 2014, Pugh received a patent for her clinical assessment and training system. In 2019, she was issued a patent for her training system for tourniquet application. She was also issued a patent for her method of documenting haptic manipulation data using wearable sensors in 2023, and her method of analyzing a medical procedure using wearable sensors in 2024.

Throughout her career, Pugh has received numerous awards and honors. In 2011, she was the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Barack Obama. She also received the Vilas Faculty Mid-Career Investigator Award in 2017. In 2019, she received the Olga Jonasson Distinguished Member Award. Pugh became a Castle Connolly Top Doctor and received the Society of University Surgeons Trailblazer Award in 2023. Then, in 2024, Pugh received the inaugural President’s Fellowship for Healthcare Quality and Safety from the Joint Commission.

Pugh has been a member of numerous organizations. She joined the Society of Black Academic Surgeons and the Association of Women Surgeons in 1999. In 2014, she joined the American Board of Medical Specialties and gave a TEDMED talk about technology’s role in medical education. She became a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2018. Pugh is also a member of the American Board of Surgery, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, and the American Surgical Association.

Pugh is married to Dr. Joseph Towles. They have one son named Caleb Towles.

Dr. Carla Pugh was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on June 12, 2025.