Dr. Locke is an abdominal transplant surgeon specializing in innovative strategies for the transplantation of incompatible organs, disparities in access to and outcomes after solid organ transplantation, and transplantation of HIV-infected end-stage patients. Dr. Locke completed an undergraduate degree in biology and chemistry at Duke University and her medical degree at East Carolina University prior to matriculating to Johns Hopkins Hospital where she received training in general surgery and multi- visceral abdominal transplantation. Dr. Locke completed her Master of Public Health degree with an emphasis in biostatistics and epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research interests include complex statistical analysis and modeling of transplant outcomes and behavioral research focused on health disparities. She has authored more than 200 articles in peer- reviewed journals and 24 book chapters, and is an NIH R01-funded investigator. In addition, Dr. Locke is a Deputy Editor for the American Journal of Transplantation, and is an editorial board member for Annals of Surgery. She is also a member of the American Society of Transplantation (AST), American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS; Councilor-at-Large), and American Society of Nephrology (ASN), as well as, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), Society of University Surgeons (SUS; Councilor-at-Large), the Southern Surgical Association (SSA), Society of Clinical Surgery (SCS), American Surgical Association (ASA), and was recently inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). Dr. Locke is the recipient of numerous honors including the UAB Dean’s Excellence Award in Research 2016, and was named the 2016 James IV Association of Surgeons Traveling Fellow, Top 40 Under 40 by the Birmingham Business Journal, AL.com’s 2015 Women Who Shape the State, B-Metro Top Women in Medicine 2017, American College of Surgeons Traveling Fellow 2018, Association for Clinical & Translational Science (ACTS) Distinguished Investigator Award: Translation into Public Benefit and Policy (2018), and the AST Clinical Science Faculty Award 2020.
Dr. Locke is currently Professor of Surgery and the Arnold G. Diethelm MD Endowed Chair in Transplantation Surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and serves as the Director of the Division of Abdominal Transplantation Surgery.