Kelly Fairbairn
Biography
Kelly Fairbairn, D.O., is Assistant Clinical Professor of Thoracic Surgery at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Fairbairn completed fellowship training in Advanced Thoracic Surgical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and fellowship training in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Arizona. She is board certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.
Dr. Fairbairn's clinical and research interests focus on thoracic surgical oncology, including lung cancer, mediastinal tumors, chest wall tumors, and pulmonary metastasectomy. Her work has examined surgical outcomes and treatment trends in thoracic malignancies, including research on declining rates of surgical resection for early stage lung cancer despite improved surgical outcomes. She has also contributed to the literature on minimally invasive thoracic surgery techniques, including robotic lobectomy and management of esophageal perforation.
Dr. Fairbairn has presented her research at national and international meetings, including the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association and the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons. She serves on the Department of Surgery Research Symposium Selection Committee and the General Surgery Residency Clinical Competency Committee at UC Irvine. Dr. Fairbairn received her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Touro University California.
Return to topEducation
- B.A. in Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2008
- D.O., Touro University California, 2015
Areas of Expertise
- Thoracic Surgical Oncology
- Minimally Invasive Lung Resection
- Non-Small Cell Carcinoma Treatment
- Mediastinal Tumors
- Chest Wall Tumors
- Pulmonary Metastasectomy
- Post-Intubation Tracheal Stenosis
- Esophageal Perforation Management
Recent Publications
- Lee C., Sakowitz S., Zucker A., Fairbairn K., Mahtabifard A., Benharash P., Keshava H.B., “Relationship Between Case Volume and Outcomes for Pulmonary Resection for Lung Cancer at Safety-Net Hospitals” (opens in new tab), Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports, 2026.
- Lee C., Nahmias J., Lekawa M., Fairbairn K., Grigorian A., “Video-Assisted Thoracoscopy in Pediatric Thoracic Trauma” (opens in new tab), American Surgeon, vol. 91, pp. 1368-1377, 2025.
- Fairbairn K., Keshava H.B., “Workup, Indications, and Guiding Principles of Selection for Pulmonary Metastasectomy” (opens in new tab), Thoracic Surgery Clinics, vol. 35, pp. 249-256, 2025.
- Markow, M., Jebbia, M., Hasjim, BJ., Nahmias, J., Grigorian, A., Burruss, S., Schubl, S., Vilchez, V., Fairbairn, K., Chau, A., Keshava, H., Yamamoto, M., Smith, B., Swentek, L., “Artificial Intelligence: Reducing Inconsistency in the Surgical Residency Application Review Process” (opens in new tab), American Journal of Surgery, vol. 238, 2024.
- Fairbairn, K., Rice, J., Worrell, SG., “Chapter 5: Robotic Lobectomy” (opens in new tab), Thoracic Surgery Clinics, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 33-41, 2023.
- Fairbairn, K., Worrell, SG., “Chapter 6: Esophageal Perforation: Is surgery still necessary” (opens in new tab), Thoracic Surgery Clinics, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 117-123, 2023.
- Fairbairn, K., Molena, D., “Commentary: Closing the Curtain on Upfront Surgery for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma” (opens in new tab), Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, vol. 165, pp. 899-900, 2022.
- Fairbairn, K., Cervantes, A., Rayhrer, C., Steen, S., “Trends in contralateral prophylactic mastectomy” (opens in new tab), Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 323-329, 2020.
- Fairbairn, K., Shah, M., Romero, J., Steen, S., “Leiomyosarcoma arising from the great saphenous vein”, ACS CRS, vol. 2, no. 5, pp. 18-21, 2020.
- Asija, R., Fairbairn, K., Sachdeva, S., Kreider, M., Diaz, G., Rayhrer, C., “How much do nurses know about residents?” (opens in new tab), American Surgeon, vol. 86, no. 1, pp. 1307-1311, 2020.
- Guner, YS., Harting, MT., Fairbairn, K., Delaplain, DT., Zhang, L., Chen, Y., Kabeer, MH., Yu, P., Cleary, JP., Stein, JE., Stolar, C., Nguyen, DV., “Outcomes of infants with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Treated with Venovenous versus Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Propensity Score Approach” (opens in new tab), Journal of Pediatric Surgery, vol. 53, no. 11, pp. 2092-2099, 2018.
- Wilson, J., Higgins, D., Hutting, H., Serkova, N., Baird, C., Khailova, L., Queensland, K., Vu Tran, Z., Weitzel, L., Wischmeyer, PE., “Early propranolol treatment induces lung heme-oxygenase-1, attenuates metabolic dysfunction, and improves survival following experimental sepsis”, Critical Care, vol. 17, no. 5, pp. R195, 2013.
- Cheng, SS., Nordenholz, K., Matero, D., Pearlman, N., McCarter, M., Gajdos, C., Hamiel, C., Baer, A., Luzier, E., Tran, ZV., Olson, T., Queensland, K., Lutz, R., Wischmeyer, PE., “Standard subcutaneous dosing of unfractionated heparin for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in surgical ICU patients leads to subtherapeutic factor Xa inhibition”, Intensive Care Medicine, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 642-8, 2012.
- Sufit, K., Weitzel, LB., Hamiel, C., Queensland, K., Dauber, I., Rooyackers, O., Wischmeyer, PE., “Pharmacologically dosed oral glutamine reduces myocardial injury in patients undergoing cardiac surgery: a randomized pilot feasibility trial”, JPEN Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 556-61, 2012.
- Higgins, DM., Wischmeyer, PE., Queensland, K., Sillau, SH., Sufit, AJ., Heyland, DK., “Relationship of Vitamin d deficiency to clinical outcomes in critically ill patients”, JPEN Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, vol. 36, no. 6, pp. 713-20, 2012.
- Weitzel, LB., Byers, T., Allen, J., Finlayson, C., Helmke, S., Hokanson, JE., Hunsucker, SW., Murphy, JR., Newell, K., Queensland, K., Singh, M., Wischmeyer, PE., Duncan, M., Elias, A., “Discovery and Verification of Protein Differences Between ER Positive/HER2/Neu Negative Breast Tumor Tissue and Matched Adjacent Normal Breast Tissue”, Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, vol. 124, no. 2, pp. 297-305, 2010.
Contact Information
Email: kfairbai@uci.edu
Address: 3800 W Chapman Ave Ste 6200 Orange, CA 92868, Irvine, CA 92697
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Last updated on 10/28/2026.