Organ Repair and Regeneration: Preserving Organs in the Regenerative Medicine Era

Giuseppe Orlando, MD, PhD, Marie Curie Fellow, is an Associate Professor and a kidney and pancreas transplant surgeon scientist at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, in Winston Salem, USA. His research aims at developing platforms for the bioengineering and regeneration of transplantable organs, and at developing therapies to enhance the innate ability of the human body to repair itself after damage. His literature output aims at bridging organ transplantation to regenerative medicine.

Dr. Shaf Keshavjee completed his medical training at the University of Toronto in 1985, and subsequently trained in General Surgery, Cardiac Surgery and Thoracic Surgery at the University of Toronto followed by fellowship training at Harvard University and the University of London for airway surgery and heart-lung transplantation, respectively. He currently leads a team whose studies in transplantation will have a significant impact on treatment outcomes for patients with lung disease at UHN and around the world. Dr. Keshavjee was appointed UHN’s Surgeon-in-Chief in 2010. An integral part of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at UHN, Dr. Keshavjee has taken on leadership roles in all facets of this specialized area of care: as a skilled surgeon and Director of the Toronto Lung Transplant Program; and as a researcher and Director of the Latner Thoracic Surgery Research Laboratories. To improve lung function after transplantation, Dr. Keshavjee has developed a lung preservation solution to preserve donor lungs en route to transplant. This solution has become the standard technique used by transplantation programs around the world. Dr.Keshavjee has further attracted worldwide attention for his pioneering research to recondition and repair injured human donor lungs using a combination the Toronto XVIVO Lung Perfusion System, making them suitable for transplantation into patients and enhancing the number of donor lungs that are available. Dr. Keshavjee has served on the Board of Directors of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, The Canadian Society of Transplantation and on the Governing Council of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery. He has received numerous awards for his continuing contributions to his field, including the George Armstrong Peters Young Investigator Award, Canada’s Top 40 Under 40Award, the Colin Woolf Award for Excellence in Continuing Medical Education and the highest award for research achievement in the Department of Surgery: the Lister Prize in Surgery.Dr. Shaf Keshavjee completed his medical training at the University of Toronto in 1985, and subsequently trained in General Surgery, Cardiac Surgery and Thoracic Surgery at the University of Toronto followed by fellowship training at Harvard University and the University of London for airway surgery and heart-lung transplantation, respectively. He currently leads a team whose studies in transplantation will have a significant impact on treatment outcomes for patients with lung disease at UHN and around the world. Dr. Keshavjee was appointed UHN’s Surgeon-in-Chief in 2010. An integral part of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at UHN, Dr. Keshavjee has taken on leadership roles in all facets of this specialized area of care: as a skilled surgeon and Director of the Toronto Lung Transplant Program; and as a researcher and Director of the Latner Thoracic Surgery Research Laboratories. To improve lung function after transplantation, Dr. Keshavjee has developed a lung preservation solution to preserve donor lungs en route to transplant. This solution has become the standard technique used by transplantation programs around the world. Dr.Keshavjee has further attracted worldwide attention for his pioneering research to recondition and repair injured human donor lungs using a combination the Toronto XVIVO Lung Perfusion System, making them suitable for transplantation into patients and enhancing the number of donor lungs that are available. Dr. Keshavjee has served on the Board of Directors of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, The Canadian Society of Transplantation and on the Governing Council of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery. He has received numerous awards for his continuing contributions to his field, including the George Armstrong Peters Young Investigator Award, Canada’s Top 40 Under 40Award, the Colin Woolf Award for Excellence in Continuing Medical Education and the highest award for research achievement in the Department of Surgery: the Lister Prize in Surgery.