Transplant Research - Boston Children's Hospital

Research overview

Each specialist within the Pediatric Transplant Center has at least two fields of expertise. One is providing compassionate care to families. The other is learning more about the diseases and treatments that have brought them to Boston Children’s.

Use the tabs above to meet our team of physician-scientists and to see what's happening at the Transplant Research Center.

Physician-scientist Elizabeth Blume, MD, medical director of the Heart Transplant Program

Meet our team of physician-scientists

Click the name of a specialist below to read about their research:

Elizabeth Blume, MD – medical director of the Heart Transplant Program
Francis Fynn-Thompson, MD - surgical director of the Heart and Lung Transplant Program
William Harmon, MD – medical director of the Kidney Transplant Program
Maureen Jonas, MD – medical director of the Liver Transplant Program
Heung Bae Kim, MD – director of the Pediatric Transplant Center; surgical director of the Liver, Intestine & Multivisceral and Kidney Transplant Programs
John Mayer, Jr., MD – heart transplant surgeon
Khashayar Vakili, MD – liver transplant surgeon
Gary Visner, DO - medical director of the Lung Transplant Program

Transplantation Research Center

Our Transplantation Research Center (TRC) provides a rich environment for scientists and physicians to collaborate about matters related to transplantation and immunology. The TRC is intended to share new knowledge and speed results gained from research into innovative and improved approaches to the care of transplant patients.

Just a few of many recent highlights include:

Steroid-free and calcineurin-inhibitor withdrawal protocols for pediatric kidney transplantation
Steroid-free immunosuppression protocols for heart and liver transplant patients
Investigations into the prevention and treatment of hepatitis B and C viruses in children
Quality of life in pediatric lung transplantation
Differentiation of hematopoietic (blood-producing) stem cells from embryonic cells
New protocols to decrease sensitization prior to heart transplantation in children
new methods of detecting and treating antibodies produced after transplantation
Elucidation of how lymphocyte subgroups recover after transplant in children
Elucidation of how cancer stem cells develop after immunosuppression
Identification of cell signals that predict future rejection episodes before they occur