Physician Investigator (Cl) Surgery, Mass General Research Institute

Claude E. Welch Professor of Surgery Harvard Medical School

Visiting Surgeon Transplant Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital

MD University Of Pennsylvania 1989

liver perfusion; liver preservation; liver transplantation; organ transplantation; regulatory b cells; tissue preservation; transplantation for type i diabetes; transplantation tolerance; treg induced tolerance; xenotransplantation 1. The Markmann Laboratory in the Center for Transplantation Sciences (CTS) at Massachusetts General Hospital examines the hypothesis that a small subset of B cells plays a beneficial or regulatory role in transplant tolerance. We are workign to understand their mechanism of action and how they can be harnessed to promote transplant survivial in the clinical setting.

2. We have initiated a program wide effort in Xenotransplantation in collaboration with eGenesis, a local startup company that is producing CRISPR edited pigs. Oour work seeks to define the optimal set of gene modificaitons that will promote pig organ survival in humans. 

3. We are collaborating with Eva Guinan at DFCI to test the potential of donor antigen specific Tregs to induce tolerance to solid organ transplants in humans. After an encouraging pilot safety trial in recipients of live donor kidney transplants, we are now extending this work to recipients of live and deceased donor liver transplants. 

4. We are exploring the potential applications of ex vivo organ perfusion with the goal of making more organs avaialble for transplantation. These studies are being conducted in collaboration with the MGH Bioengineering team headed by Korkut Uygun. Some of the strategies being explored include attempts to improve the function of damaged organ while on a pump and assessment of whether liver regneration can be induced ex vivo, wiith the goal of rendering a liver segment initially too small to transplant to one of suitable size. 

5. We are conducting translational studies designed to gain survival of pancreatic islets accepted without the need for long term immunosuppression.