Episode: Dr. Jesse A. Taylor, Surgeon-in-Chief, Chair of the Department of Surgery, and Chief of Plastic Surgery at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Hosts: Dr. Hank Davis, Dr. Saïd Azoury EPISODE SUMMARY Recorded just weeks into his new role, this episode of “The DIEP End” sits down with Dr. Jesse Taylor, who was named Surgeon-in-Chief and Chair of the Department of Surgery at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) effective July 1, 2026, succeeding Dr. N. Scott Adzick after his 31-year tenure. Dr. Taylor also continues to serve as Chief of the Division of Plastic, Reconstructive and Oral Surgery — a post he held for eight years before taking on the top job — and holds both the Peter Randall Endowed Chair in Plastic Surgery and the C. Everett Koop Endowed Chair. Hosts Hank Davis and Dr. Saïd Azoury trace Dr. Taylor’s path from a childhood in Springfield, Illinois, watching his cardiologist father build a practice from scratch, through a personality test at Vanderbilt that steered him toward plastic surgery, a residency at Johns Hopkins, and a formative craniofacial fellowship in Mexico City under Dr. Fernando Molina and Dr. Fernando Ortiz Monasterio. After several years on faculty at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, he was recruited to CHOP and Penn in 2010 — a leap of faith he credits largely to his wife, Maggie. The conversation moves through the mentors who shaped him — including the late Dr. Linton Whitaker, Dr. Paul Manson, Dr. Scott Bartlett, and Dr. Joseph Serletti — and lands on Dr. Taylor’s philosophy of leadership: humility, preparation, and the belief that “none of us gets anywhere in life without a ton of help.” He also shares his vision for the future of pediatric surgery at CHOP, from precision medicine and gene therapy to what he calls the “sacred” relationship between a pediatric surgeon and the families he treats for decades. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE • How a psychometric personality test at Vanderbilt Medical School pointed Dr. Taylor toward plastic surgery over his father’s field of cardiology • The story behind a fellowship-changing phone call to Mexico City — and what a year training under Dr. Fernando Molina and Dr. Fernando Ortiz Monasterio taught him about creativity under limited resources • Why Dr. Taylor believes “none of us gets anywhere in life without a ton of help,” and how that shapes his approach to leading a surgical team • The leap of faith behind leaving a thriving practice at Cincinnati Children’s to become “a small fish in a big pond” at CHOP • Lessons from mentors including the late Dr. Linton Whitaker, Dr. Paul Manson, Dr. Scott Bartlett, and Dr. Joseph Serletti • How Dr. Taylor is thinking about the future of pediatric surgery at CHOP — including precision medicine, gene therapy, and the goal of curing conditions like cleft lip and palate and craniosynostosis • His approach to preventing burnout, building a team, and starting every day before 5:30 a.m. • Advice for young surgeons: believe in yourself before you have the evidence to prove it MEMORABLE MOMENTS • “None of us gets anywhere in life without a ton of help.” • On his craniofacial fellowship abroad: “I was able to see there are lots of ways to skin a cat.” • “I don’t just make guesses, I make hypotheses — it’s an educated guess, not just a guess.” • On the parent-surgeon relationship in pediatric plastic surgery: “Dare I use the word sacred — it’s a sacred relationship.” • “Whenever I feel myself getting burned out at work, I say to myself: you just need to read more.” • “I want people to say he left the place better than he found it.” ABOUT THE GUEST Dr. Jesse A. Taylor is Surgeon-in-Chief and Chair of the Department of Surgery at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), a role he assumed July 1, 2026, succeeding Dr. N. Scott Adzick after his 31-year tenure. He also serves as Chief of CHOP’s Division of Plastic, Reconstructive and Oral Surgery and Co-Director of the Craniofacial Program, and holds the Peter Randall Endowed Chair in Plastic Surgery and the C. Everett Koop Endowed Chair. A graduate of Washington and Lee University and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Dr. Taylor completed his residency in general and plastic surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a craniofacial surgery fellowship in Mexico City. He was recruited to CHOP and the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine in 2010 after several years on faculty at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Dr. Taylor has authored more than 370 peer-reviewed articles and serves as a director of the American Board of Plastic Surgery and in leadership with the International Society of Craniofacial Surgery. KEYWORDS (SEO) Jesse Taylor CHOP plastic surgery podcast pediatric plastic surgeon CHOP Surgeon-in-Chief craniofacial surgery Peter Randall Endowed Chair C. Everett Koop Chair cleft lip and palate surgery Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia surgery mentorship in surgery N. Scott Adzick Linton Whitaker craniofacial Perelman School of Medicine plastic surgery academic surgery leadership The DIEP End podcast Send us Fan Mail Support the show Instagram: @thediependpodcast
