Dixon Kaufman Named Fowler McCormick Professor In Surgery

CHICAGO --- Dixon B. Kaufman, M.D., professor and vice chair of the department of surgery at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, has been named the Fowler McCormick Professor in Surgery.

Kaufman, who also has a PhD degree, came to Northwestern University in 1992. He began and currently serves as director of the pancreas and islet transplantation programs of Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

His clinical focus has been on kidney, pancreas and islet transplantation. Begun in 1993, the Northwestern pancreas transplant program currently ranks seventh worldwide in cumulative volume of activity. It was the first program in North America to conduct and publish studies regarding steroid-free immunosuppression in pancreas transplantation, as well as the first to describe the use of the antibody alemtuzumab in pancreas transplants.

Kaufman's research efforts have investigated the immunobiology of islet transplantation and, most recently, the development of non-invasive imaging modalities of the transplanted islet and bioactive tissue engineering for islet implantation. Human islet transplantation for treatment of diabetes has been a focus.

Kaufman currently serves on the steering committees of the Islet Cell Resources and Clinical Islet Transplant consortia as site principal investigator. Both committees are funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Kaufman has authored more than 160 manuscripts and book chapters. He holds several leadership positions in the transplant field and currently serves on the council of the American Society of Transplantation. He is an associate editor of Transplantation Journal and Cell Transplantation Journal and is vice chair of the Pancreas/Islet Transplant Committee of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and a member of the UNOS Policy Oversight Committee. A founding member of the Cell Transplantation Society, Kaufman is a member of numerous other professional societies, including the American Surgical Association, the Society of University Surgeons and the American College of Surgeons.