Photo By Steven Galvan | Dr. Leopoldo “Lee” Cancio, director of the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical...... read more read more
FORT DETRICK, Md. – The American Burn Association recently announced that Dr. Leopoldo “Lee” Cancio, director of the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research Burn Center, has been named President-elect of the ABA for the 2026-2027 term, making him the 19th USAISR teammate to hold this prestigious position.
Cancio, who retired from the Army as a Colonel after a 27-year career during which he deployed to conflict zones and fire disasters around the world providing surgical care to burn patients, has been the Burn Center’s director since 2017.
“It's personally very meaningful to be elected to this position,” says Cancio. “My job as director of the Burn Center comes with an obligation to commit to excellence and to contribute to the advancement of the care of combat casualties and burn patients above and beyond the normal role of a surgeon.”
Cancio says he inherited this sense of mission from his predecessors, particularly from the legendary Dr. Basil A. Pruitt, Jr., USAISR’s commander and director for 27 years and widely considered to be one of the founders of modern burn medicine. Cancio proudly notes that he was the last surgeon trained in burns by Pruitt, whom he considers his number-one career mentor.
“I did have to think quite a bit about whether I had the ability, the time, and the willingness to put in the effort to do this additional job, but at the end of the day, what made the difference to me was realizing that Dr. Pruitt would have expected me to do it,” says Cancio. “I feel a personal obligation to Dr. Pruitt and to his legacy.”
During his tenure as ABA President-elect this year and President next year, Cancio hopes to focus on three goals: increasing opportunities for non-physicians to ascend to leadership positions within the organization; strengthening the ABA’s cooperation with the Department of Defense to ensure the nation’s readiness for providing care to large numbers of burn casualties in the event of large-scale natural disasters and large-scale combat operations; and continuing to ensure the ABA plays a key role in coordinating and funding scientific research in burn care.
Another area of focus will be strengthening the ABA’s education and outreach mission, as demand for ABA courses such as Advanced Burn Life Support has grown, especially in the DOD. Meanwhile, the number of new burn surgeons in the U.S. is gradually declining. Cancio suspects this may be due in part to the lack of exposure to burn care for surgical trainees, as a burn rotation is not a certification requirement of the American Board of Surgery.
“It points to the importance of why this burn center takes care of civilian burn patients as well as military patients, and how important it is for us to perform that role during peacetime so that we'll be ready to provide care during wartime with combat casualties,” explains Cancio. “Keeping that education and training fresh as well as advancing burn research are key reasons why we have a U.S. Army Burn Center within the Department of Defense.”
The ISR Burn Center, part of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, is the only ABA-verified burn center in the DOD. It provides specialized inpatient and outpatient care to both military and civilian patients, and it offers a 24/7 consultation service staffed by specially trained burn surgeons. The Burn Center is also home to the Burn Flight Team, an elite rapid-response team of nurses, respiratory therapists and physicians who have completed the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine’s Critical Care Air Transport Team course.
Given Cancio’s passion and dedication as well as his expertise, it might come as a surprise to learn that military medicine was not his first career choice. He earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Amherst College and a master’s in world politics from The Catholic University of America. But as he was finishing his master’s degree, he realized that he was not satisfied with the direction his life was taking.
“I went back to my high school headmaster, Dr. Robert H. Jackson, and said, ‘I'm not really happy with my current situation, but I don't know what to do next.’ And Dr. Jackson told me, in his Yorkshire accent, ‘I just don't understand why you don't go into medicine,’” recalls Cancio. “And in that instant, I made a decision and said, ‘Okay! I'll do that.’”
“I owe my medical career to my high school headmaster,” adds Cancio. “I'm very fortunate that I had someone in my life who had given my potential some thought. I hope that more people could have those types of mentors in their lives.”
As he was finishing medical school, Cancio was given a pamphlet of internship opportunities that included Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He ranked BAMC as his first choice because the pamphlet described its burn unit as “world famous,” which suited his career ambitions. After his internship at BAMC, Cancio served in the 82nd Airborne Division for three years as the surgeon for the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade. During that period, he deployed to Panama in 1989-90 as part of Operation Just Cause, and to Saudi Arabia and Iraq in 1990-91 during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
“I really treasure the time I spent in the 82nd Airborne Division,” says Cancio. “It was a special experience with a special group of Soldiers, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.”
In 2005, Cancio served as the Deputy Commander for Clinical Services at the 86th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom, returning there in 2008; he later deployed to Afghanistan as part of a Forward Surgical Team during Operation Enduring Freedom. After retiring from the Army in 2014, Cancio returned to USAISR and the Burn Center full-time.
Cancio attributes the fact that fully one-third of ABA’s presidents have been USAISR alumni to its strong emphasis on research in addition to surgical excellence. USAISR surgeons are expected be active participants in professional organizations such as the ABA, the International Society for Burn Injuries, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and others – many of which have also drawn their presidents from USAISR’s ranks. As the only ABA-verified burn center in the DOD, the USAISR Burn Center’s nearly 300 burn-care professionals provide state-of-the-art critical care, surgery, and rehabilitation to civilian and military burn patients.
“The Institute has provided me with the ability to grow in my career – for example, to take care of patients, to run an organization, to do research, to do writing, and to participate in organizations,” says Cancio. “I'm very grateful for what the organization has made available to me. I’m especially grateful to the teammates here at USAISR who have supported me. Burn care on and off the battlefield is a multidisciplinary team mission. I don't think there are many organizations like the USAISR in the world of surgery or in military medicine. We really have a gem here.”
| Date Taken: | 01.10.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 01.10.2025 11:02 |
| Story ID: | 488894 |
| Location: | FORT DETRICK, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 30 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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