
Dr. Judith Gurley brings surgical precision, artistic vision, and unparalleled compassion to her work as a board certified plastic surgeon. After attending medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dr. Gurley completed her general and plastic surgery residency at the University of Chicago. During her fellowship at Washington University St. Louis, she focused intensely on procedures involving the face, cleft lip and palate surgery, and surgeries of the jaw, orbit, and skull. Her experience with the most delicate patients influences the approach she takes to the adults and adolescents she now sees in her private practice. While practicing as an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Washington University, she began working in the field of adolescent plastic surgery and advocated for surgical procedures for teenagers. There she saw firsthand the huge psychological impact plastic surgery can have on a patient’s well-being and sense of self. The joy, renewal, and hope she witnessed in her adolescent patients motivated her continued advancement in the field. After years of service as the director of Plastic Surgery at Shriners Hospital and Adolescence Breast Program at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Dr. Gurley decided to enter private practice in 2003. Her deep knowledge of craniofacial structures and reconstructive surgery of the breasts and body affords her the ability to aesthetically shape her patients. She sees elective cosmetic surgery as a collaboration between the surgeon and her patient.
Selected publications from PubMed
Non-caveolar caveolin - 1 in retinal Müller glia promotes innate immune responses.
Enyong EN, Bankole OO, Gurley JM, McClellan ME, Liu L, Ding SY, Agbaga MP, Chucair-Elliott AJ, Ash JD, Elliott MH
J Biol Chem. 2026 Aug;302(8):113290 doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2026.113290.
Reliable Flow, Cost-Effective, Comfortable: Tunneled Veno-Pulmonary Artery Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Cannulation Technique.
Malik MJ, Gurley JC, Chung JW, Kothari D, Loebe M, Dhaliwal JS, Kawabori M
ASAIO J. 2026 Oct 1;72(10):e315-e317 doi: 10.1097/MAT.0000000000002747.
Fluoroscopy-Free Axillary Impella 5.5 Implantation, Earlier Support With Just Transesophageal Echocardiography Images.
Chung JW, Gurley J, Malik MJ, Kothari D, Loebe M, Kawabori M
ASAIO J. 2026 Jun 1;72(6):e85-e88 doi: 10.1097/MAT.0000000000002649.
Outcomes of Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis Managed by a Multidisciplinary Endocarditis Team: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
Collis B, Kobayashi T, Hall E, Alnabelsi T, Cao C, Johnson M, Gurley J, Reda H, London T, Ogburn E, Sekela M, Stoner BJ, El-Dalati S
CJC Open. 2026 Feb;8(2):150-159 doi: 10.1016/j.cjco.2025.10.017.
Durable Left-Ventricular Assist Device Inflow Thrombosis Following External Outflow Graft Obstruction.
Malik MJ, Chung JW, Loebe M, Gurley JC, Birks EJ, Kothari D, Kawabori M
JACC Case Rep. 2026 Jan 28;31(4):106402 doi: 10.1016/j.jaccas.2025.106402.
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