Transplant Research & Education

Research and Education on Transplantation

Lahey offers a range of research and education programs on transplant and hepatobiliary diseases. Learn more about these opportunities below.

Research

Transplant Registry

We are creating a transplant registry using Artificial Intelligence (AI). The registry will include approximately 1800 patients who have undergone liver transplantation in the past decade. We are creating a registry of clinical, biological, pathological, and outcomes data to use for clinical and translational research on a variety of liver diseases and transplantations.

Clinical Trials Program

The Division of Transplantation is partnering with industry for a variety of sponsored phase 2 and 3 clinical trials investigating new treatments for liver disease and liver transplant, and organ transplantation as a whole.

Key Personnel

Dr. Raza Malik earned his medical degree from King's College London and his PhD in Hepatology and Liver Cell Biology at University College London. Dr. Malik’s extensive advanced training includes fellowships at the Roger Williams Liver Unit at King’s College Hospital and the Sheila Sherlock Liver Centre at the Royal Free Hospital, both in London, and at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School. During his training he completed research on liver regeneration and the impact on primary mitogens on liver regeneration including a body of work that led to thyroid hormone being incorporated into organ preservation solutions. Dr Malik also performs innovative clinical research in noninvasive markers of liver disease and liver fibrosis, autoimmune liver disease, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Education

Transplant & Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) Surgery Fellowship

This is a two year ASTS-accredited Transplant and HPB Surgery Fellowship Training Program. The surgical responsibilities of the Transplant-HPB Surgery Fellow are all encompassing in our efforts to train and mentor a safe, thoughtful, and technically proficient Transplant and HPB Surgeon. Surgical responsibilities are structured to provide graded responsibilities based upon the fellow’s clinical and operative progression. We accept 1 surgical fellow each year via the SF Match.

Transplant Hepatology Fellowship

This is a one year fellowship. Fellows also rotate to Boston Children’s Hospital.

Key Personnel

Dr. Carmi Santos Punzalan graduated from Boston University School of Medicine before completing her Internal Medicine residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA, Gastroenterology fellowship at UMass Medical Center in Worcester, MA, and then her Transplant Hepatology fellowship at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center. Dr. Punzalan also completed a Master’s Degree in Clinical Pharmacology under a K30 grant while in residency. Dr. Punzalan is the MASLD (formerly Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease) Clinic Director and the Transplant Hepatology fellowship Program Director at Lahey Clinic & Medical Center. Research interests include MASLD/MASH, quality improvement, and geriatric liver disease. She is passionate about encouraging and mentoring future hepatologists.

Transplant Anesthesia Fellowship

The program can be individualized and tailored to meet special goals and needs, such as certification in basic perioperative TEE, blood bank and coagulation management, ICU care and expected organ donor management through the New England Organ Bank. At the end of the program the trainee will be proficient in the field of transplant anesthesiology. There is opportunity for research through dedicated non-clinical time.

Visiting Professorship

A nationally recognized visiting professor from an academic medical center is invited to our division for a two-day visit to broaden the education and inspire our clinical trainees of all levels. They are invited to speak at Grand Rounds, engage in institutional education and research programs, and give a Keynote Lecture highlighting their expertise and contributions to Transplant. This annual program is sponsored by the Division of Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Disease at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in honor of Dr. Roger L Jenkins and his contributions to our program and the field as a whole.

2024

Elizabet Pomfret, MD, PhD
Chief of Transplantation
Executive Director, Colorado Center for Transplantation Care, Research and Education (CCTCARE)
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus