Kevin Tracey, M.D.
Background
Kevin J. Tracey, M.D., is President, CEO, and the Karches Family Distinguished Chair in Medical Research at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. He is a Professor of Molecular Medicine and Neurosurgery at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and Executive Vice President, Research, at Northwell Health.
An internationally recognized authority on inflammation and bioelectronic medicine, Dr. Tracey elucidated the molecular wiring of neural–immune circuits and uncovered the anti‑inflammatory mechanisms of monoclonal anti‑TNF therapy and vagus nerve stimulation.
Dr. Tracey is co-founder of several biotechnology companies, including SetPoint Medical, the industry leader in bioelectronic medicine for developing vagus nerve stimulation technology to treat rheumatoid arthritis. He also co-founded the Global Sepsis Alliance, a non-profit organization supporting the efforts of over one million sepsis caregivers in more than 70 countries.
He is an inventor on more than 120 United States patents and author of more than 400 scientific publications. Dr. Tracey’s honors and awards include the Hans Wigzell Research Foundation Science Prize, and Doctorates honoris causa from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; from Hofstra University, New York, and from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Boston University; and delivered the Harvey Society lecture in New York, as well as lectureships from Harvard, Yale, The Rockefeller University, the National Institutes of Health, and elsewhere.
Dr. Tracey was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation (2001), the Association of American Physicians (2009), the Long Island Technology Hall of Fame (2012), Alpha Omega Alpha (2014), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2014), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2020), and the National Academy of Inventors (2025). Dr. Tracey is a TEDMED speaker and author of Fatal Sequence (Dana Press) and The Great Nerve (Avery). He has mentored hundreds of postdoctoral fellows and medical, graduate, college, and high school students. A published (PMID: 31404057) independent assessment of citations and h-indexes of approximately 7 million active scientists ranked his impact in the top 0.01% worldwide. He lectures nationally and internationally on inflammation, the neuroscience of immunity, and bioelectronic medicine.
Dr. Tracey received his B.S. in Chemistry, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Boston College in 1979, and his M.D. from Boston University in 1983. He trained in neurosurgery from 1983 to 1992 at the New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center and was a guest investigator at Rockefeller University before moving to the Feinstein Institutes in 1992.
Director Qualifications
Dr. Tracey brings to our Board an important combination of scientific leadership, operational healthcare experience, entrepreneurial experience, and groundbreaking research expertise. He has demonstrated executive leadership at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and Northwell Health, major research institutions. A pioneer in inflammation and bioelectronic medicine, Dr. Tracey’s discoveries are directly relevant to therapeutic research and development. His entrepreneurial track record includes co-founding several biotechnology companies. With numerous patents and influential publications, Dr. Tracey has established himself as both a visionary researcher and successful translator of science into commercial applications. His extensive honors combined with his election to numerous scientific societies further underscore his standing as a leader whose strategic vision and deep scientific expertise can provide invaluable guidance to United Therapeutics' mission and growth.