In Memoriam: Carroll M. (Mac) Harmon, MD, PhD

Harmon served the Western New York community in numerous leadership roles, including as the John E. Fisher Chair in Pediatric Surgery in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, chief of surgery at Kaleida Health, and surgeon‑in‑chief at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Buffalo.

Through these roles, his leadership spanned both clinical care and academic medicine, helping to shape the future of pediatric and thoracic surgery throughout the region and beyond. He actively saw patients at Golisano Children’s Hospital through UBMD Surgery, part of the faculty practice plan of the Jacobs School.

“Beyond his professional achievements, Dr. Harmon was known for his humility, warmth and generosity. He was a steady, guiding presence whose quiet confidence and deep integrity inspired all who had the privilege of working alongside him,” says Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, UB’s vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School.

“His loss will be felt profoundly across our school, our partner hospitals, and the broader Western New York health care community.”

A physician-scientist, he brought to Buffalo extensive experience in minimally invasive pediatric surgery and pediatric bariatric surgery when he arrived in 2014. 

“Mac was an internationally recognized leader in the minimally invasive treatment of surgical problems in children,” says Steven D. Schwaitzberg, MD, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and chair of surgery at the Jacobs School.  

“He was a very early adopter of these techniques in a world where most tools were designed to treat adults and were often too large.”

In 2011, Harmon served as president of the International Pediatric Endosurgery Group (IPEG), an organization dedicated to advancing minimally invasive surgery for children. He was an active member and educator with the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES). 

Steven S. Rothenberg, MD, chief of pediatric surgery at HCA HealthONE Rocky Mountain Children’s Hospital in Denver, collaborated with Harmon over four decades and says, “he always had a smile on his face and a kind word for those he met.”

They were first introduced in 1991 when Harmon was applying for fellowships and Rothenberg was a pediatric surgery fellow at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Their paths crossed again a few years later at a SAGES meeting where they were both trying to convince their industry partners to make laparoscopic instruments for pediatric patients.

“Mac and I instantly became friends and co-conspirators in the push to advance MIS in infants and children, and minimize the morbidity of the incisions we make,” Rothenberg says. “Over the years, Mac fought tirelessly to get the resources to teach trainees, and young and old pediatric surgeons to learn MIS.”

“I must have taught over 100 courses with Mac, and I was always amazed by his commitment to teach and his ability to convey complex concepts and techniques,” he adds.

Rothenberg says Harmon’s skill and commitment instantly made him a leader in both SAGES and IPEG and many other academic societies.

“But more importantly, Mac was a true gentleman and a great friend. He would do anything for anybody in need of his help, without question,” he adds. “I could not have been blessed with a better partner/wingman and colleague for most of my career. Mac will be sorely missed by all who knew him and the thousands of children around the world that he helped.”

Harmon’s prior work as principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health-funded Teen Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery study helped launch the Healthy Weigh program at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, focused on addressing childhood obesity. The program became widely known for its effectiveness, popularity, and its success in helping families address all forms of obesity and weight management.

His leadership in this field continued as he co‑led the first national clinical study examining weight‑loss surgery in severely obese teenagers, culminating in a landmark New England Journal of Medicine publication showing substantial and sustained improvements in weight, metabolic health, and quality of life following surgery. His work not only transformed clinical understanding of adolescent obesity but also underscored the profound impact of this issue on Western New York’s youth, where he worked tirelessly to expand care and research.

From 2017 to 2025, he served as chief of service for surgery at Kaleida Health. 

Harmon also served as program director of the pediatric surgery fellowship at the Jacobs School. Established in 1957, the fellowship is one of the original nine training programs in pediatric surgery in the country and has graduated 50 accredited pediatric surgery fellows since its inception.

“He taught a generation of pediatric surgery fellows, many of whom are master surgeons today,” Schwaitzberg says. “He was a NIH- funded researcher, but moreover a consummate educator whose face would light up when talking about his trainees.”

Before moving to Buffalo, Harmon held multiple academic and clinical roles. His first position after fellowship was as assistant professor of surgery in the Section of Pediatric Surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School from 1994 to 2000. In 2000, he joined the University of Alabama School of Medicine as associate professor of surgery and was promoted to professor in 2006. 

While at the University of Alabama, he served as a physician-scientist at the Center for Surgical Research and the Nutrition Obesity Research Center and, from 2012 to 2013, was associate program director of the pediatric surgery fellowship program.

An authentic and visionary leader in his field, Harmon lectured regionally, nationally and internationally on pediatric endosurgery. He served on numerous national and international pediatric surgery subspecialty committees.   

Harmon grew up primarily in Birmingham, Alabama, though he spent one year of his childhood in Paris while his father studied at the Sorbonne. He earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Alabama in 1979 and both his medical degree (1983) and a doctorate in molecular physiology and biophysics (1992) from Vanderbilt University. He completed his surgical residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a pediatric surgery fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 

Survivors include two daughters and a son.