Surgeons

Randall S. Sung, M.D.

Surgical Director, Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation
Associate Professor of Surgery

Randall S. Sung, M.D., is an Associate Professor in the Section of Transplantation Surgery at the University of Michigan. He received his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Harvard in 1985 and his M.D. degree in 1991 from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He spent his general surgery residency training at Columbia. , and was a research fellow in the lab of Mark Hardy, where he became trained in islet isolation, pancreas procurement, and in rodent models of islet transplantation. Dr. Sung spent his clinical fellowship at the University of Michigan. His first faculty appointment was at the Recanati-Miller Transplantation Institute at Mount Sinai. In late 2002, Dr. Sung returned to the University of Michigan, where he is a multi-organ transplant surgeon and the Surgical Director of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation. In these roles, he has been instrumental in increasing the volume of kidney and pancreas transplants. He has overseen the development of Transplant Center protocols and policies for the Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program, and has led efforts to safely increase the use of high-risk donors. In his role as the medical student facilitator for the Section of Transplantation, he developed the third year medical student curriculum for the transplant rotation, and received the 2008 Silver Scalpel Teaching Award, which is awarded annually to the highest rated attending surgeon by students rotating on the Surgery clerkship.

For further information on Dr. Sung, please visit here.

John C. Magee, M.D.

Surgical Director, Pediatric Abdominal Transplant
Professor of Surgery

Dr. John Magee is a Professor in the Section of Transplantation, Department of Surgery. Dr. Magee received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College. He completed his General Surgery residency at the University of Michigan in 1996. During his residency, Dr. Magee spent three years as a research fellow in the Department of Surgery at Duke University Medical Center. He also completed the Post-Doctoral Research Training Program at the University of Michigan. Following general surgery training, he completed a two year multi-organ transplant surgery fellowship at the University of Michigan. He joined the faculty in 1998.

For further information on Dr. Magee, please visit this link .

Michael J. Englesbe, M.D.

Associate Professor of Surgery

Dr. Englesbe received his undergraduate degree at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut in 1993. He went on to obtain his medical degree in 1997 from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and completed his general surgery residency at the University of Michigan Health System in 2004. From 2000 to 2002, Dr. Englesbe did a surgical research post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. Dr. Englesbe completed a two year fellowship in multi-organ transplant surgery at the University of Michigan in June of 2006. In July 2006, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Transplant Surgery Division.

Dr Englesbe does both kidney and liver transplantation. His primary clinical focus is pediatric liver transplantation. He started the multi-disciplinary pediatric portal hypertension clinic and has significant expertise in the management of portal hypertension and portal vein thrombosis in children and adults. He also does surgery for living kidney donation and dialysis access.

For further information on Dr. Englesbe, please visit this link .

David D. Lee, M.D.

Clinical Lecturer
Transplant Fellow

David D. Lee, M.D. is a Clinical Lecturer/Fellow in the Section of Transplant Surgery. Dr. Lee received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Michigan in 1999 and 2003, respectively. He completed his residency at the Rush University Medical Center/John H. Stroger Cook County Hospital integrated surgical residency program in 2010. During his residency he received the ASTS-NKF Folkert Belzer, MD Research Fellowship Award, which allowed him to study islet biology and regeneration at the University of Chicago with Anita Chong, PhD.

Dr. Lee's clinical interest is focused on abdominal transplant surgery. His research interests include islet biology, regeneration, and transplantation.

For further information on Dr. Lee, please visit this link .

Robert M. Merion, M.D.

Professor of Surgery

Dr. Robert Merion is a Professor of Surgery in the Section of Transplantation. Dr. Merion served for ten years as the Chief of the Division and as Director of the University of Michigan Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program before assuming his current responsibilities as Clinical Transplant Director for the federally funded Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). Dr. Merion graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1979 and completed a residency training program in general surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of Michigan in 1986. During his residency, he spent two years with Sir Roy Y. Calne, FRS, in Cambridge, England, where he studied transplantation immunology and completed a clinical fellowship in abdominal organ transplantation. Dr. Merion has been a member of the faculty of the Department of Surgery since 1986. He also serves as the director of the University of Michigan's American Society of Transplant Surgeons-approved fellowship training program in kidney, pancreas, and liver transplantation.

For further information on Dr. Merion, please visit here.

Satish N. Nadig, M.D., Ph.D.

Clinical Lecturer
Transplant Fellow

Satish N. Nadig, M.D., Ph.D. is a Clinical Lecturer/Fellow in the Section of Transplant Surgery. Dr. Nadig received his undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis and medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1999 and 2003, respectively. He completed his residency in General Surgery at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School in 2011. During his residency he also completed a PhD in transplant immunology at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom under Professor Kathryn Wood as an American Society of Transplantation international fellow. Dr. Nadig's clinical interest are centered around adult and pediatric abdominal organ transplantation. His research interests include regulatory T cell biology and cellular therapy as applied to the inhibition of transplant arteriosclerosis in chronic rejection. He also has a particular interest in humanized animal models for use as pre-clinical in vivo assays.

For further information on Dr. Nadig, please visit here.

Shawn J. Pelletier, M.D.

Surgical Director, Liver Transplant
Associate Professor of Surgery

Shawn J. Pelletier, M.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery Division of Transplantation Surgery at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr. Pelletier received his medical degree from Hahnemann University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1996. He completed his General Surgery residency in 2003, at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. Dr. Pelletier went on to complete a two year fellowship in Transplantation Surgery at the University of Michigan Health System, and joined the faculty in July of 2005.

Dr. Pelletier's clinical interests focus on living and deceased donor liver transplantation, minimally invasive (laparoscopic) liver resection as well as other aspects of hepatobiliary surgery. He is currently the Surgical Director of Liver Transplantation at the University of Michigan. His research focuses on outcomes following liver transplantation and the development of donation following cardiac death.

For further information on Dr. Pelletier, please visit this link .

Jeffrey D. Punch, M.D.

Director, Transplant Center
Professor of Surgery

Dr. Jeffrey Punch is a Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Section of Transplantation Surgery. Dr. Punch received his medical degree from the University of Michigan. During his residency he did a Research Fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Rile Rees at the Ann Arbor Veteran's Hospital studying tissue injury associated with ischemia-reperfusion. Upon completion of his general surgery residency at the University of Michigan, he completed a two year multi-organ transplantation fellowship, also at U of M, in which he was trained to perform kidney, pancreas and liver transplant procedures. During this time he also completed the University of Michigan Molecular Biology Course. He is board certified in both General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care.

For further information on Dr. Punch, please visit here.

Chris Sonnenday, M.D., M.H.S.

Assistant Professor, Section of Transplantation

Christopher Sonnenday, M.D., M.H.S., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, Section of Transplantation, and Assistant Professor of Health Management and Policy at the School of Public Health. Dr. Sonnenday received his medical degree from Vanderbilt University in 1997, and went on to complete his General Surgery residency at the Johns Hopkins University in June of 2005. While a research fellow in transplantation from 2000 to 2003, he completed a Masters of Health Sciences in Clinical Investigation at the Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2003. After completion of his residency, Dr. Sonnenday continued on at Johns Hopkins as a Fellow in Surgical Oncology and Instructor of Surgery until 2006, and he completed a fellowship in abdominal transplant surgery at the University of Michigan in 2008.

Dr. Sonnenday's clinical interests focus on hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, and transplantation of the liver, kidney, and pancreas. In addition to his clinical practice at the University, he serves as the surgeon in the Liver Tumor Program at the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center. His research interests include investigation of frailty in recipient selection for liver transplantation, study of variation and disparities in the patterns of utilization and outcomes of hepatobiliary surgery and liver transplantation, refining donor selection in liver transplantation and the multidisciplinary treatment of hepatobiliary malignancies.

For further information on Dr. Sonnenday, please visit this link.

Theodore H. Welling III, M.D.

Assistant Professor of Surgery

Theodore H. Welling, III, M.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, Section of Transplant Surgery at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr. Welling received his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1999 and went on to complete his General Surgery residency at the University of Michigan Health System in June of 2005. He completed his fellowship in transplantation in 2007 at UMHS and joined the faculty that same year where he has practiced since that time.

His clinical interest is in novel therapies for hepatic and biliary malignancies that include use of liver transplantation, hepatobiliary surgery, or laparoscopic liver surgery. His research interests reside in clinical and translational investigations of new therapies for cholangiocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma and the role of the immune system and cancer stem cells on hepatic malignancy development or progression.

For further information on Dr. Welling, please visit here.

Nephrologists (Adults)

Milagros D. Samaniego, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.S.N.

Medical Director, Kidney and Kidney/Pancreas Transplant Programs
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology

Milagros (Millie) D. Samaniego, M.D., is an Associate Professor in the Division of Nephrology in the Department of Internal Medicine. Dr. Samaniego joined the faculty at the University of Michigan as the Medical Director of the Kidney and Simultaneous Kidney/Pancreas programs in February 2009. Dr. Samaniego received her medical degree from the University of Panama, School of Medicine in the Republic of Panama. She completed her post graduate training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas and at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. She is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Her clinical interests include antibody-mediated rejection, management of highly sensitized and high risk kidney transplant recipients, desensitization protocols and ABO incompatible transplantation.

For further information on Dr. Samaniego, please visit here.

Pavan Chopra, M.D.

Clinical Assistant Professor, Nephrology

Dr. Pavan Chopra received his medical degree in 1999 from Rush Medical College of Rush University in Chicago, Illinois. He completed his Internal Medicine residency and was a chief resident at Rush Presbyterian/St. Luke's in Chicago, Illinois. He completed his nephrology fellowship and transplantation fellowship at the University of Michigan Medical Center. He joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in 2006. His clinical interests include renal transplant biopsies and post-transplant malignancies.

For further information on Dr. Chopra, please visit here.

Diane M. Cibrik, M.D.

Medical Director
Pancreas Transplant Program
Associate Professor
Department of Internal Medicine
Division of Nephrology

Dr. Diane Cibrik received her medical degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She completed her internal medicine residency at the University Hospitals of Cleveland in Cleveland, Ohio. She completed her nephrology fellowship at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She joined the faculty at the University of Michigan and subsequently completed her M.S. at the University of Michigan. Her clinical interests are renal transplant outcomes.

For further information on Dr. Cibrik, please visit here.

Fu-Lung Luan, M.D.

Clinical Assistant Professor, Nephrology

Dr. Fu-Lung Luan received his medical degree from the University of Rome in Rome, Italy. He completed his rheumatology residency at the University of Rome in Rome, Italy and his internal medicine residency at Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. He completed his nephrology fellowship and transplantation fellowships at New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York, New York. He joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in 2002. His clinical interests include renal and pancreas transplantation and transplant immunology. Dr. Luan is currently serving as the Interim Medical Director of the Adult Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program.

For further information on Dr. Luan, please visit here.

Alan B. Leichtman, M.D.

Associate Professor, Nephrology

Dr. Alan Leichtman received his medical degree from Michigan State University. He completed his residency at Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan, where he also served as Chief Medicine Resident. He completed his nephrology fellowship at Beth Israel Hospital through Harvard Medical School and continued on there to explore his research interests of clinical pharmacology of immunosuppressant medications. His clinical interests include drug induced liver disease, viral hepatitis, and acute liver failure. Subsequently, he joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in 1995.

For further information on Dr. Leichtman, please visit here.

Silas Norman, M.D.

Clinical Assistant Professor, Nephrology

Dr. Silas Norman received his medical degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He completed his internal medicine residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He completed his fellowships in nephrology and transplant nephrology at the University of Michigan. His clinical interests include clinical epidemiology and transplant allocation. He joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in 2003.

For further information on Dr. Norman, please visit here.

Akinlolu Ojo, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Medicine
Florence E. Bingham Research Professor of Nephrology

Dr. Akinlolu Ojo received his medical degree from the University of Lagos, College of Medicine. He completed his residency at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky where he also served as Chief Resident. He completed his MPH at the Center for International Health at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, Alabama. He completed his nephrology fellowship and Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, where he joined the faculty in 1995. His clinical interests include multi-center clinical trials of hypertension, ESRD, and access to kidney transplantation and allograft survival with emphasis on minority patients with ESRD and CKD.

For further information on Dr. Ojo, please visit here.

Vahakn B. Shahinian, M.D., M.S.

Assistant Professor

Dr. Vahakn Shahinian received his medical degree from the University of Toronto, Canada and his masters of science at University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, Texas. He completed his internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. He completed his nephrology fellowship at University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, Texas and his renal transplant fellowship at London Health Sciences Centre, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. His clinical interests include patterns and health outcomes of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist use for the treatment of prostate cancer using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results (SEER)-Medicare linked registry. He joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in 2006.

For further information on Dr. Shahinian, please visit here.

Nephrologists (Pediatrics)

David B. Kershaw, M.D.

Medical Director, Pediatric Nephrology
Robert C Kelch Collegiate Professor, Pediatric Nephrology
Associate Professor, Pediatric Renal Transplant Program

Dr. David Kershaw received his medical degree from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. He completed his training in pediatrics in 1991 and his pediatric nephrology fellowship at the University of Michigan in 1994. He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1993 and became Division Chief in 2005. His clinical interests include glomerulonephritis and nephrotic syndrome along with Dialysis and Transplant.

For further information on Dr. Kershaw, please visit here.