Lillias Maguire, MD

Scott R. Steele, MD, MBA, FACS, FASCRS, FPSCRS

Dr. Lillias Maguire is an attending surgeon and assistant professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and staff surgeon at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA. Originally from Tucson, Arizona, she was raised by her single mother, but spent summers with her father, stepmother, and siblings in Denmark and London. In high school, she was a competitive country western dancer and finished second in the junior teen world championships! She went to Pomona College for undergraduate school, majoring in biology. She was a walk-on to the track team as a freshman and ended up as captain her senior year. Dr. Maguire graduated from UPenn Medical School and completed her general surgery residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and her colorectal fellowship at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Maguire joined the faculty at the University of Michigan before moving back to Philadelphia to become director of colorectal research at UPenn.

Dr. Maguire is both a busy surgeon and a researcher. As a National Institutes of Health (NIH)–funded investigator in genomic epidemiology, her lab hopes to translate genetic discoveries into real benefits for colorectal surgery patients. Her work uncovering the genetic background of diverticulitis has been published in Nature Genetics and featured in The Wall Street Journal. Her current focus is on prospective applications of polygenic risk scoring to diverticulitis and translating her recent genetic work on pilonidal disease into a clinical trial of antiandrogen therapy. Clinically, she loves to take on the hard cases and enjoys complex pelvic surgery and teaching residents.

In addition, she loves to mentor and create community for surgical scientists. She is a founder of both the Center for Basic and Translational Science at the University of Michigan and the CREATE grant review group for the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. She is Associate Program Director for UPenn's general surgery residency, specifically helping residents find their research mentors and niches.

Interestingly, as a child she spent a lot of time with her grandmother, watching a lot of MASH and had a neighbor with a colostomy, shrapnel from the Vietnam War, and an Above Knee Amputation (AKA)—things she still relates as contributing to her desire for being a surgeon. Outside of work, Dr. Maguire loves to spend time reading, camping, and playing video games with her 10-year-old son. She also enjoys spending time with her incredible “Wellness Committee” of fellow women surgeons, and is an avid athlete, recently completing her first full IronMan Triathlon in Brazil.

On behalf of the readers and staff of Clinics of Colon and Rectal Surgery, I sincerely thank Dr. Maguire for serving as a Guest Editor and for providing us with a superb issue on diverticulitis.

Publication History

Article published online:
27 September 2024