 Rainer W. Gruessner, MD |
Rainer W. Gruessner, MD, a nationally noted transplant surgeon, has been named professor and chairman of the Department of Surgery at The University of Arizona College of Medicine. He will begin his new position July 1.
Dr. Gruessner is coming to the UA from the University of Minnesota, where he is professor of General and Transplant Surgery, vice-chief of the Division of Transplantation, and vice-chairman of the Department of Surgery. Previously, he served as professor and head of the Department of General and Transplant Surgery at the University Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland. Among his accomplishments, Dr. Gruessner developed the first standardized technique for living donor intestinal transplantation, now performed at leading transplant institutions. He also performed the first laparoscopic simultaneous kidney and partial pancreas transplant from a living donor, and was one of the first surgeons to perform a simultaneous liver and intestinal transplant from a living donor. Aside from transplantation, his major clinical interests include minimal invasive procedures in general surgery. "We are absolutely delighted that Dr. Gruessner accepted the position. He is a world-class academic surgeon, who understands and embraces the concept of building excellence at the intersection of clinical care, research and education," said Keith Joiner, MD, MPH, dean of the UA College of Medicine. "He is charged with substantially expanding the size of the Department of Surgery, through recruitment of faculty across a range of specialties. His own expertise and reputation as a transplant surgeon will be a particularly valuable addition to our leading-edge clinical capabilities in the Department of Surgery. As is apparent from the number of ‘firsts’ he has accomplished, Rainer Gruessner will take us to new heights." |
“I am extremely honored to accept this position and I look forward to working closely with the University faculty, the hospital staff, and the community. The generous support of the University and University Medical Center will allow me to build new programs and to improve and expand existing ones through inter-departmental and inter-collegial collaboration,” said Dr. Gruessner.
“I have accepted this position because of the potential to build a great department with the goal that it will excel in all aspects of patient care, teaching and education, as well as basic and clinical research. I am committed to training the future generation of academic surgeons that will become leaders in their fields. In addition, I will help to ensure that the Department of Surgery will provide the most innovative and comprehensive surgical care to all citizens of Arizona,” he said.
Born in Germany, Dr. Gruessner completed his medical degree as well as his residency at the Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität in Mainz in 1987. He received the German equivalent of a PhD (“Habilitatio”) at the Philipps Universität in Marburg in 1991. He completed a fellowship in transplantation at the University of Minnesota in 1989, received additional training in vascular surgery at the Philipps- Universität, Marburg, Germany, in 1990, and in Living Donor Liver Transplantation at the Kyoto University Hospital, Kyoto, Japan, in 1996.
His research interests include minimally invasive surgery including robotics, surgical options for patients with end-stage liver, pancreas, kidney and intestinal failure, donor-specific cell augmentation, and impact of refined surgical techniques on length and cost of hospitalization.
He has written two textbooks, more than 50 book chapters and almost 300 published manuscripts. He serves on the editorial boards of Clinical Transplantation, International Transplantation, Graft, and Journal of Investigative Surgery. He is a member of 15 national and international societies and serves in multiple functions for the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
“Dr. Gruessner is a gifted surgeon, researcher and a wonderful teacher. We are honored and happy to have him,” said Hugo Villar, MD, professor of surgery and interim department head.
