Surgeons

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 .

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.

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.

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.

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.

Hepatologists (Adults)

Robert J. Fontana, M.D.

Medical Director, Liver Transplant
Professor, Gastroenterology

Dr. Robert Fontana is a Professor of Medicine and the Medical Director of Liver Transplantation. Dr. Fontana received his medical degree from the University of Michigan in 1988 and completed an Internal Medicine residency at Northwestern University in Chicago in 1991. After serving as chief medical resident, he returned to the University of Michigan and completed a gastroenterology training fellowship in 1995. He is currently board certified in both Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology. He is also the Director of the Transplant Hepatology Fellowship Training program. Dr. Fontana has become a leading authority in acute liver failure, drug induced liver disease, and viral hepatitis. He is also an investigator on several NIH sponsored studies and a highly sought after educator and speaker.

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

Frederick K. Askari, M.D., Ph.D

Clinical Associate Professor, Gastroenterology

Dr. Frederick Askari received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College. He completed his gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Michigan. His clinical interests include Wilson's Disease, medical genetics, liver transplantation and viral hepatitis. In addition, Dr. Askari has clinical and research interest in exploring new treatment options for patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1991.

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

Hari Conjeevaram, M.D., M.S.

Associate Professor, Gastroenterology

Dr. Hari Conjeevaram received his medical degree from Madras Medical College in Madras, India. He completed his Gastroenterology training at Case Western Reserve University in 1992 and Advanced Hepatology Research Fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in 1995. He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 2001. Dr. Conjeevaram is the Director of the Gastroenterology Fellowship program and has a strong passion for teaching and clinical excellence. His research interests include Viral Hepatitis and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

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

Hellan K. Kwon, M.D.

Clinical Assistant Professor, Gastroenterology

Dr. Hellan Kwon received her medical degree in 1998 from the Kyungpook National University School of Medicine. She completed her residency at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in 2003. She completed a Gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Michigan and joined the faculty in July 2007.

Dr. Kwon's clinical interests are non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), elevated liver enzymes, chronic liver disease and liver transplantation. Her research interests include non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance in post-liver transplant patients.

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

Anna S. Lok, M.D.

Professor, Gastroenterology
Director of Clinical Hepatology

Dr. Anna Lok received her medical degree from the University of Hong Kong. She completed a fellowship in hepatology at the Royal Free Hospital in London, United Kingdom. Dr. Lok is currently the Director of Clinical Hepatology and a very active and productive researcher in viral hepatitis with over 300 total peer reviewed manuscripts. Her clinical interests include viral hepatitis- hepatitis B and hepatitis C, liver transplantation and cirrhosis of the liver. She joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1995 and was named the Alice Lohrman Andrews Research Professor in Hepatology in 2009.

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

Jorge A. Marrero, M.D., M.S.

Assistant Professor, Gastroenterology

Dr. Jorge Marrero received his medical degree from the University of Puerto Rico. He completed his gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research interest is in the diagnosis and treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma. His clinical interests include liver tumors, chronic liver diseases (e.g. viral hepatitis, hemochromatosis, fatty liver), unknown causes of elevated liver function tests and cholestatic liver diseases (e.g. primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis). He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 2000. Dr. Marrero was appointed as the Medical Director of the Multidisciplinary Liver Tumor Clinic in 2005. He also holds the Keith S. Henley Chair of Hepatology.

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

Pratima Sharma, M.D., M.S.

Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine

Dr. Pratima Sharma received her medical degree in 1992 from the University College of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. She completed her residency in 1999 at the Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center. Dr. Sharma completed an Advanced Hepatology and Liver Transplantation fellowship in 2003 at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona and a fellowship in gastroenterology in 2008 at the University of Michigan. She joined the faculty at the University of Michigan on July 1, 2008. Dr. Sharma is board certified in Internal Medicine and board eligible for Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology.

Dr. Sharma's clinical interests are liver transplantation, diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma, end-stage liver disease, and complications of portal hypertension. Her research interests include liver transplantation outcomes pertaining to liver allocation, wait list mortality, post-transplant survival, renal failure following liver transplant, epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of recurrent hepatitis C.

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

Grace L. Su, M.D.

Associate Professor, Gastroenterology

Dr. Grace Su received her medical degree from the University of Chicago. She completed her gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. Her clinical interests include autoimmune liver diseases and liver transplantation. She joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in 1995 and was appointed the Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology at the Ann Arbor Veterans Administration Medical Center in 2009.

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

Michael Volk, M.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine

Dr. Michael Volk received his medical degree in 2001 from the University of Rochester in New York and a Master of Science in 2007 from the University of Michigan. He completed his residency in 2004 at the University of Virginia. Dr. Volk completed a Gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship at the University of Michigan in 2007. He joined the faculty at the University of Michigan on July 1, 2007. Dr. Volk holds two board certifications; in Internal Medicine and in Gastroenterology.

Dr. Volk's clinical interests are general hepatology, liver transplantation, and hepatocellular carcinoma. His research interests include patient education, and decision-making in hepatology and liver transplantation.

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

Hepatologists (Pediatrics)

M. James Lopez, M.D.

Pediatric Director, Liver Transplant
Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatric Gastroenterology

Dr. James Lopez received his medical degree from the University of Texas Health System. In 2002, he was recertified in Pediatric Gastroenterology. His clinical interests include pediatric liver disease and transplantation. He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 2002.

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

Pamela I. Brown, M.D.

Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatric Gastroenterology

Dr. Pamela Brown received her medical degree from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. She completed her gastroenterology fellowship at Harvard University and Brown University. Her clinical interests include growth and development, short bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, liver disease, and pancreatic diseases. She joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1998.

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

Chris J. Dickinson , M.D.

Director, Pediatric Gastroenterology Division
Professor, Pediatric Gastroenterology

Dr. Chris Dickinson received his medical degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He completed his pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Michigan. His clinical interests include chronic hepatitis, CrohnOs disease, and ulcerative colitis. He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1986.

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