J. Michael Millis
· Professor of Surgery Vice Chair, Global SurgeryVerifiedUniversity of Chicago · Global Health
Active 1971–2025
About
J. Michael Millis is an internationally recognized surgeon specializing in pediatric and adult liver transplantation, as well as non-transplant liver and biliary tract surgery. He is a Professor of Surgery and Vice Chair of Global Surgery at the University of Chicago, where he also directs the Clinical Leadership Development Fellowship and Hepatobiliary Surgery at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Millis is known for developing new techniques of liver surgery that have improved outcomes following liver transplantation and non-transplant liver procedures. His research has encompassed immunology, cellular therapy, policy, and ethics, and he has authored over 300 articles published in prominent journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet. He is actively involved in clinical ethics and medical excellence through his roles in the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics and the Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence. Throughout his career, Millis has received numerous awards, including the Hippocrates Award, the Global Citizen Hero Award from the Red Cross, and the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.
Research topics
- Medicine
- Surgery
- Internal medicine
- Political Science
- Immunology
- Pathology
- Intensive care medicine
- Cancer research
- Endocrinology
- Biology
- Law
- Oncology
- Virology
Selected publications
Surgical Oncology Insight · 2025-04-06 · 1 citations
articleOpen access<h2>Abstract</h2><h3>Background</h3> Surgical debulking for metastatic gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) is associated with increased progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in retrospective studies. It remains unclear, however, which patients benefit most from surgery. DOTATATE PET/CT tumor volume (TV) in metastatic GEP-NETs has been shown to correlate with PFS and OS. Herein, we investigate how TV impacts outcomes in patients undergoing surgical debulking for GEP-NETs. <h3>Methods</h3> A retrospective chart review was conducted of patients with pancreatic and small bowel NET (PNET/SBNET) who underwent surgical debulking at our institution from 2019 to 2022. All patients had an estimated liver debulking threshold of > 90 % and only patients with preoperative <sup>68</sup>Ga or <sup>64</sup>Cu-DOTATATE PET/CT were included. TV was obtained using the MIM Encore workstation. <h3>Results</h3> 71 patients with metastatic GEP-NETs (35 % PNET and 65 % SBNET) underwent liver debulking with 19 synchronous primary tumor resections. 42 patients had symptomatic disease. Patients were divided into 4 TV quartiles, ranging from 8.46 to 2000 mL. On cox proportional hazards modeling, tumor volume stratified by quartiles was not significantly associated with longer PFS (p = 0.250) over a median follow-up of 13 months (7−23). However, there was an increased risk for Clavien-Dindo Grade III and IV complications with higher TV quartiles (p = 0.008). SBNETs with carcinoid syndrome (p = 0.047) and those with more lesions debulked (p = 0.025) were more likely to have improvement in postoperative symptoms. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Patients with larger tumor burden on preoperative DOTATATE PET/CT should not be excluded from surgical intervention but may need to be counseled on higher risks of operative complications.
Surgery · 2025-06-24
articleImplementing a Health Equity Grading System into Obstetrics and Gynecology
Journal of the National Medical Association · 2025-09-01
articleSurgery · 2025-10-10
articleLiver transplantation for nonresectable colorectal liver metastases: a new therapeutic horizon
Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery · 2024-10-08
letterSenior authorJournal of Gastrointestinal Surgery · 2024-08-24
letterOpen accessSenior authorCorrespondingSurgery · 2024 · 7 citations
- Medicine
- Oncology
- Internal medicine
Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumours of the liver – a systematic review
South African Journal of Surgery · 2024-05-21 · 2 citations
reviewOpen accessBACKGROUND: Hepatic inflammatory myofibroblastic tumours (HIMTs) are rare and poorly described in the literature. Most publications are single patient case reports and lack detailed reporting on characteristics, management, and outcomes. This systematic review aimed to assess the demography, clinical presentation, typical imaging features, histopathology, treatment, and outcomes of patients presenting with HIMTs. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed in MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE (Scopus), JSTOR, Cochrane CENTRAL (Cochrane Library), and the databases included in the Web of Science for studies published between 1940 and 2023 on HIMTs, including its reported synonyms. Case series or cohort studies that reported on the management and outcomes of at least four patients with histologically confirmed HIMTs were included in the analysis. RESULTS: After screening 4553 publications, 22 articles including a total of 440 patients with confirmed HIMTs were eligible for inclusion. The average age was 53.4 years (range 42.0-65.0) with a male to female ratio of 1.7:1. Abdominal pain, discomfort, fever, and loss of weight were the most common presenting symptoms. Surgical resection is the standard of care for HIMTs and is associated with low mortality of 3.4% and low disease recurrence. CONCLUSION: HIMT is a disease more often affecting middle-aged males. The lesions are typically solitary with low recurrence after treatment. The relative roles of surgical versus medical treatment remain unclear. Differences in clinical presentation, histopathology, and treatment of HIMTs compared to inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour (IMT) at extrahepatic sites could challenge the current view of IMT as a single pathological entity.
The American Journal of Surgery · 2024-07-06 · 2 citations
articleThe Concepts and Development of Organ Donation Policy in the United States
Philosophy and medicine · 2023-01-01 · 1 citations
book-chapterSenior authorCorresponding
Frequent coauthors
- 72 shared
David Cronin
- 49 shared
Corey B Bills
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
- 49 shared
Ji-Min Kim
Chungnam National University
- 49 shared
C.S. Olopade
University of Chicago
- 49 shared
Christian Theodosis
University of Maryland, Baltimore
- 49 shared
Madeleine Turner
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
- 49 shared
Christine Babcock
- 49 shared
Melodie Kinet
University of Chicago
Awards & honors
- Hippocrates Award (2012)
- Global Citizen Hero Award from Red Cross (2017)
- Senior Scholar Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence (…
- Outstanding Teaching Award University of Chicago Dept of Sur…
- America's Top Doctors Castle Connelly (2005 - 2019)
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