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Support the Transplant Surgery Program in the quest to discover new treatments for diseases of the kidney, liver and pancreas and to improve transplantation outcomes.
Andrew M. Posselt, M.D., Ph.D., FACS
Associate Professor of Surgery
Division of Transplant Surgery
Co-Director, Pancreatic Islet Cell Transplant Program
Contact Information
(415) 353-1551 Clinical, Kidney and Pancreas
(415) 353-1473 Academic
andrew.posselt@ucsfmedctr.org
BiographyEducation
- Stanford University, B.S., Biology, 1981-85
- University of Pennsylvania, M.D., Medicine, 1985-93
- University of Pennsylvania, Ph.D., Immunology, 1989-93
Residencies
- University of California, San Francisco, Resident, Medicine, 1993-96
- University of California, San Francisco, Resident, Surgery, 1996-00
Fellowships
- University of California, San Francisco, Fellow, Transplant Surgery, 2000-02
Board Certification
- American Board of Internal Medicine, 1996
- American Board of Surgery, 2002
Program Affiliations
- ABO-Incompatible Kidney Transplant Program
- Bariatric Surgery Center
- Pancreatic Islet Transplantation Program
Clinical Expertise
- Bariatric Surgery (Laparoscopic and Open)
- Bile Duct Injuries
- Bile Duct Strictures
- Choledochal Cyst Disease
- End-Stage Kidney Disease
- Fulminant Hepatic Failure
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis C
- Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Primary Liver Cancer)
- Kidney Transplantation
- Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy
- Liver Cysts
- Liver Transplantation
- Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- Pancreas Transplantation
- Pediatric Kidney Transplantation
- Pediatric Liver Transplantation
- Portal Hypertension
Research Interests
- Assessment of long-term clinical outcomes in kidney donors
- Clinical outcomes of bariatric surgery in patients with end-stage kidney or liver disease
- Metabolic and biochemical consequences of bariatric surgery
- Transplantation of pancreatic islets as treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus
Biography
Dr. Andrew Posselt is an attending multi-organ transplant surgeon at UCSF and Director of the ABO-Incompatible Kidney Transplant Program as well as Co-director of the Pancreatic Islet Transplant Program and the Bariatric Surgery Program. Dr. Posselt specializes in adult and pediatric kidney, liver and pancreas transplantation; laparoscopic donor nephrectomy; and laparoscopic as well as open bariatric surgery. Dr. Posselt's current research interests include: 1) transplantation of pancreatic islets for the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus; 2) assessment of long-term renal function in kidney donors after donor nephrectomy; 3) immunologic and tolerogenic properties of embryonic stem cells; and 4) bariatric surgery in patients awaiting transplant. Highly respected by his peers, Dr. Posselt was named to the list of U.S. News "America's Top Doctors," a distinction reserved for the top 1% of physicians in the nation for a given specialty.
Clinical Trials
Selected Publications
- Posselt AM, Barker CF, Tomaszewski JE, Markmann JF, Choti MA, Naji A. Induction of donor-specific unresponsiveness by intrathymic islet transplantation. Science. 249:1293-5, Sep/14/1990.
- Posselt AM, Barker CF, Friedman AL, Naji A. Prevention of autoimmune diabetes in the BB rat by intrathymic islet transplantation at birth. Science. 256:1321-4, May/29/1992.
- Carter JT, Freise CE, McTaggart RA, Mahanty HD, Kang SM, Chan SH, Feng S, Roberts JP, Posselt AM. Laparoscopic procurement of kidneys with multiple renal arteries is associated with increased ureteral complications in the recipient. Am J Transplant. 5:1312-8, Jun/2005.
- Carter J, Tafreshian S, Campos G, Tiwari U, Herbella F, Cello J, Patti M, Rogers S, Posselt AM. A routine upper GI series after gastric bypass does not reliably identify anastomotic leaks or predict stricture formation. Surg Endosc., May/5/2007.
- Takata MC, Campos GM, Ciovica R, Rabl C, Rogers SJ, Cello JP, Ascher NL, Posselt AM. Laparoscopic bariatric surgery improves candidacy in morbidly obese patients awaiting transplantation. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2008.
In the News
A Life-Changing Offer From a Family Friend
UCSF Medical Center - Jun 14, 2012
Liver cancer patients
in need of an organ transplant often face a cruel reality -- while
waiting for a deceased-donor liver, their cancer may worsen,
spreading to other organs and making them ineligible for a
transplant. With two children to raise and time ticking down, Amy
Baghdadi was fast running out of options. But at her daughter's
soccer practice, a fellow parent, who happened to be UCSF
transplant surgeon, Andrew
Posselt, M.D., Ph.D., heard Amy's story, and convinced there
were other options to explore, referred her to the UCSF Liver
Transplant Center. Then, a life-changing gift from a family friend,
Olivia Lemen, enabled Amy to undergo a life saving living-donor
liver transplant performed by UCSF transplant surgeons Nancy Ascher,
M.D., Ph.D., and John Roberts,
M.D. The video
tells the moving story of the "The Gift".
UCSF Patients Part of Nation's Longest Living Kidney Transplant Chain
UCSF News - Mar 15, 2012"Neither man had a donor who was a match. But each had a family member willing to donate a kidney to a stranger, allowing them all to be part of chain which would, in turn, give Baty and Cienfuegos kidneys from other strangers. With 17 participating hospitals in 11 states, the chain consisted of 30 people willing to give up their kidney, matched with 30 more who needed one to survive. UCSF surgeons Andrew Posselt, M.D., Ph.D. and Ryutaro Hirose, M.D., performed the transplants on Baty and Cienfuegos - just two of the 300 or so kidney transplants performed at UCSF every year."
Twenty-Five Department of Surgery Faculty Named to U.S. News Top Doctors List
U.S. News - Mar 01, 2012In its most recent survey, U.S. News in collaboration with Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. listed twenty-five (25) surgeons in the UCSF Department of Surgery, nearly one-third (1/3) of the clinical faculty, on the list of U.S. News "Top Doctors". The list, compiled from the opinion of colleagues, denotes the top 10% of physicians within a region practicing a given specialty. Fifteen of the 25 department surgeons were also named by their peers to the list of America's Top Doctors (ATD), a distinction reserved for the top 1% of physicians in the nation for that specialty. The listings are published online at U.S. News. The group rankings are intended to guide patients in selecting a doctor and physicians in making specialty referrals.
After Islet Cell Transplant, Glucose Control is "Amazing"
UCSF School of Medicine - Oct 31, 2011At age 11, Alison Wesley was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes she developed the classic symptoms of the disease - severe weight loss, excessive thirst, sugar cravings, frequent urination, and feeling lethargic and placed on insulin pumps. Two decades later, when the pumps no longer controlled her glucose levels, she opted for an islet cell transplant with Andrew M. Posselt, M.D., Ph.D. Wesley, now 39 read about a clinical trial in islet transplantation. "I went to my endocrinologist," she said, "and immediately asked, 'could I be a candidate for this'?" Her doctor, Martha Kennedy, MD, told her she could, in part because her glucose was so poorly controlled. After having two islet cell transplants in 2010, Wesley now describes her glucose control as "amazing"...
UCSF Accredited by the American College of Surgeons as Level 1 Accredited Bariatric Center (ACS BSCN)
UCSF Department of Surgery - Sep 27, 2011
UCSF has been accredited by the American
College of Surgeons (ACS) as a Level 1
Accredited Bariatric Center (ACS BSCN). The American College of
Surgeons Bariatric Surgery Center Network Accreditation Program
(ACS BSCN) accredits facilities in the United States that have
undergone an independent, voluntary and rigorous peer evaluation in
accordance with nationally recognized bariatric surgical
standards. This adds to the prestige of the program which
previously also earned the Blue Distinction for
Bariatric Surgery from Blue Shield of California
and was designated a Blue Cross "Center of Expertise
Hospital for bariatric
surgery. Bariatric Surgery Center Named Blue Cross "Center of Expertise"
UCSF Medical Center News - Jul 20, 2005The UCSF Bariatric Surgery Center was named a "Center of Expertise" by Blue Cross of California recognizing it as a program offering the highest quality of care in weight-loss surgery. Dr. Andrew Posselt, a bariatric and transplant surgeon at UCSF note that, "Bariatric surgery is the most effective means to treat morbid obesity but there are risks. We are committed to working with our patients and providing them with comprehensive medical treatment to ensure they receive quality care before and after their surgery."
