The Andreas Tzakis Chair in Transplant Surgery

As a world-renowned transplant surgeon, preeminent educator and research scientist, Andreas Tzakis, M.D., Ph.D., co-director of the Division of Transplantation, exemplifies the best of what the University of Miami School of Medicine has to offer. The University established the Andreas Tzakis Chair in Transplant Surgery to honor Dr. Tzakis and to ensure that his vision and excellence will continue to be a permanent hallmark of the institution.

As chief of the Division of Liver and Gastro-Intestinal (GI) surgery, Dr. Tzakis directs a program that performs more than 200 life-saving surgeries each year and has achieved an unusually high degree of organ survival. A pioneer in multi-organ transplant, Dr. Tzakis was one of the first surgeons to transplant the intestine and has been instrumental in making the School of Medicine home to one of the most active intestine and multi-visceral transplant programs in the United States.

In addition to being a talented and successful surgeon who has performed more than 2,000 liver transplants, Dr. Tzakis has been a leader in innovative techniques that have advanced transplant surgery. He won international acclaim in 1994 by performing two transplantations of baboon livers into humans. Since then, he has led the way in successfully transplanting insulin-producing cells from the pancreas and performing intestinal and multi-visceral organ transplantations.

Dr. Tzakis' surgical and research accomplishments have impacted thousands of people throughout the world. Currently, he is focusing on two major challenges faced by transplant patients: avoidance of organ rejection and drug toxicity. By conducting pivotal immunological research in the medical school's laboratories, Dr. Tzakis searches for ways to improve the quality of life and life expectancy for transplant patients.

New immunosuppressive drugs are continually tested to ascertain whether they can prevent rejection without causing long-term toxic damage to organs. Dr. Tzakis' goal is to perform landmark research in the area of tolerance and to eliminate the need for lifetime immunosuppression.

A fully endowed Andreas Tzakis Chair in Transplant Surgery will guarantee that the School of Medicine has the resources to continue Dr. Tzakis' commitment to improving transplant education and research. This, in turn, will improve the lives of transplant patients in South Florida and throughout the world.