Division of Transplant Surgery

The first kidney transplant was performed at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital by Joseph Murray, MD, on December 23, 1954.  Since then, the Division of Transplant Surgery strives to carry forward the same innovation and excellence in both clinical care and research.

Under the direction of Stefan G. Tullius, MD, PhD, our division performs both basic and clinical research with the goal of improving patient outcomes in transplantation.

Our research spans the entire spectrum of transplantation, from bench to bedside to population health.  Our surgeon-scientists collaborate across the Brigham research community and beyond to shape the future of transplantation. Some of our investigations include:

• Understanding the effect of immunosenescence (age-dependent immune response) and how to use this phenomenon to improve treatment and to increase the utilization of older organs
• Exploring the relationship between obesity, chronic inflammatory disease, and the immune response in transplantation
• Defining adaptive features of the innate immune system
• Developing a clinical uterus transplant program and defining immune responses at the fetal-maternal interface
• Developing a collaborative autologous stem cell-islet program in Boston
• Working with hospitals to improve deceased organ donation rates
• Improving patient access to organ transplantation by mitigating geographic disparities

Stefan G. Tullius, MD, PhD

• NIH 2R56AGO39449-06A1R56 (Principal Investigator): Consequences of Aging on Transplant Outcomes
• NIH RO1AG064165-01A1 (Principal Investigator): Improving Outcomes of Kidneys from Older Donors
• NIH 1U01AI132898-01 (Principal Investigator): Obesity, Microbiota and Allograft Rejection
• Chan-Zuckerberg Institute (CZI) 2019002430 (Site Principal Investigator): Benchmarking Kidney Cells to Understand Organoid Differentiation
• S. Army Medical Research W81XWH-15-2-0031 (Co-Investigator): Novel Strategies to Improve Immunomodulation and Non-Invasive Clinical Monitoring in VCA
• NIH 5R01AI138347-02 (Co-Investigator): Age and Chronic Rejection after Heart Transplantation

Sayeed K. Malek, MD

• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (Site Primary Investigator): Develop and Optimize Delivery Strategy for Stem Cell Derived Insulin Producing Cell Clusters

Joel T. Adler, MD, MPH

• ASTS-CareDx Enhancing Organ Donation & Transplantation Grant (Primary Investigator): Development of the Hospital Organ donation Performance Score (HOPS)
• NIH U01DK116040 (Site Primary Investigator): APOL1 Long-term Kidney Transplantation Outcomes Network (APOLLO)