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| CLDT's Staff of Outstanding Clinical and Support Professionals
Jean C. Emond, M.D., Surgical Director, is highly regarded in the field of liver transplantation for his innovative expertise in living related donor transplantation. Dr. Emond was recruited to establish and direct the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation in the Department of Surgery. Dr. Emond was a key member of Dr. Christoph Broelsch’s liver transplant team at the University of Chicago, which performed the first partial liver transplants in North America in 1985, the first split liver transplants in 1988, and the first living donor transplants in 1989. Dr. Emond then went on to direct the pediatric liver transplantation program at the University of California, San Francisco, from 1992 to 1997. The five-year survival rate of 175 adults and children transplanted personally by Dr. Emond is 89.9 percent. For nearly 100 children the six-month survival rate is 97 percent, and the one-year rate is 93 percent. This published experience is among the highest in the world. Robert S. Brown, Jr., M.D., M.P.H., is Medical Director of the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation. Trained in gastroenterology and hepatology, Dr. Brown was a transplant fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, where he trained in pediatric and adult liver transplantation under Drs. Jack Lake, Nancy Ascher and Jean C. Emond. As an attending hepatologist at UCSF, Dr. Brown cared for more than 200 patients before and after liver transplantation. In 1996, Dr. Brown earned his Masters of Public Health degree in outcomes research from UC Berkeley, and became medical director of the liver transplant program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he was instrumental in building that program and conducting important research on the clinical and cost outcomes of liver disease. Under Dr. Brown’s stewardship, the UNC liver transplant program grew to become the largest in North Carolina and among the largest in the Southeast. More than half of all liver transplants in North Carolina were performed at UNC-Chapel Hill, and referrals to Dr. Brown for transplant evaluation grew steadily from eight per month at the start of his tenure to 40 per month. Steven J. Lobritto, M.D., serves as Medical Coordinator for pediatric liver transplantation. Dr. Lobritto obtained his medical degree from New York Medical College, entered a combined medical/pediatric residency program at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, and completed dual fellowships in adult and pediatric gastroenterology at Columbia-Presbyterian. He has extensive training in nutritional support and therapeutic endoscopic procedures. He holds a joint appointment in the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics at Columbia-Presbyterian. His clinical interests include viral prophylaxis and surveillance in the liver transplant patient, use of bioartificial support devices, and alternative immunosuppressive strategies. Dr. Lobritto also has extensive experience in the management of portal hypertension and endoscopic techniques to control gastrointestinal bleeding. Milan Kinkhabwala, M.D., is Associate Surgeon for the liver transplant program and directs the Hospital’s program in pancreatic transplantation. Dr. Kinkhabwala completed medical school and residency training at Cornell University, followed by fellowship training in liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles, a leading transplant center. He brings expertise in pediatric and adult liver transplantation, as well as in nontransplant hepatobiliary surgery. Dr. Kinkhabwala conducts both basic science and clinical research in immunobiology, immunosuppressive therapy, and organ preservation. The list of professional societies in which he is a member includes the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease, the New York Surgical Society, and the Organ Donor Network of New York. Patricia Harren, N.P., joins the program as Transplant Coordinator, bringing seven years of experience as senior coordinator in the NYU University Hospital liver program. As a certified nurse practitioner, Ms. Harren is able to provide the full range of clinical care for liver patients. She is responsible for supervising outpatient care, overseeing clinical diagnostics and immunosuppressive therapy, and coordinating both pre- and post-transplant care of adults and children. Dianne LaPointe Rudow, N.P., also a veteran of the NYU University Hospital liver program, is the Hepatology Coordinator for the Center. Her responsibilities include coordination of overall medical and surgical management of patients, conducting on- and off-site patient examinations, in concert with physicians, of pre- and post-operative patients, and the management of immunosuppression. Carol Holzer, M.S.W., C.S.W., is the program’s full-time board-certified Clinical Social Worker, bringing extensive background in family assessment and intervention in times of chronic illness. Ms. Holzer relates the patient’s personal story to the clinical team. For patients, she maps the myriad support services offered by the Hospital and the community, and monitors issues of lifestyle management in rehabilitation. Providing ongoing counseling, she is the patient’s advocate throughout the long and often difficult process of preparation, transplantation and recovery. Susanne Sullivan, the program’s Financial Counselor, brings to the CLDT a decade of experience navigating the intricacies of medical insurance billing, coding and reimbursement. Working as liaison between the Center and insurance carriers, Ms. Sullivan initiates case contracts and certification to ensure that patients have the greatest possible access to the program. The program draws on the talents of outstanding clinicians and researchers from New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Among the colleagues whose services support the CLDT are: R. Peter Altman, M.D., Surgeon-in-Chief at Babies & Children’s Hospital, is a key collaborator in the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation, and an acknowledged leader in the research and treatment of biliary atresia. Richard Finn, M.D., was recently recruited to the team as Director of Adult Anesthesia. Dr. Finn trained at the University of Chicago, where he gained experience on the transplant team of Drs. Emond and Broelsch. Most recently, he was chief of transplantation anesthesia at Northwestern University Medical Center. Peter Rothstein, M.D., Director of Pediatric Anesthesia, leads the team for liver transplantation at Babies & Children’s Hospital. He assures that the anesthesia team is fully supported in all cases with an assistant and a perfusion technician to manage the cell saver and rapid infusion systems. Jay Lefkowitch, M.D., Pathologist for the transplant program, is recognized as a world authority on liver pathology. Responsible for reviewing all biopsies performed on liver transplant patients, Dr. Lefkowitz is committed to rapid processing for same-day reports, which are used to guide rejection therapy. Mark A. Hardy, M.D., and David Cohen, M.D., jointly direct the Renal Transplant Program at Columbia-Presbyterian. Both physicians are active participants in ground breaking clinical research, most recently assisting in clinical trials of the new immunosuppressants CELLCEPT® and NEORAL®. |
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Experienced professionals in a wide variety of disciplines provide
their expertise to the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation.
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