OHSU CREATES DIVISION OF ABDOMINAL ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION

Head of New Division Is a Nationally Recognized Expert in Transplantation.

Portland, Ore. - Oregon Health Sciences University is taking a new approach in providing abdominal organ transplant services. Today, the director of OHSU's Kidney Transplant Program, John Barry, M.D., becomes the first head of the university's Division of Abdominal Organ Transplantation. In this role, he will oversee the kidney, liver and pancreas transplant services. OHSU has offered these services for many years, one as early as 1959, but this new division will bring them together into one comprehensive program. Barry also is the head of the Division of Urology and a professor of surgery in OHSU's School of Medicine.

"The decision to create a single division of abdominal organ transplantation was made to better coordinate clinical services. This is a step that has been taken by many major transplantation centers in the country to improve efficiency and quality in patient care," says Michael Geheb, M.D., vice president of clinical programs at OHSU.

The new Division of Abdominal Organ Transplantation will be part of the Department of Surgery in OHSU's School of Medicine. "We are greatly honored that Dr. Barry has undertaken the leadership of an expanded abdominal transplant program, and we look to him to advance the teaching, research and clinical missions of this important interdisciplinary program," says Joseph Bloom, dean of OHSU's School of Medicine.

Barry has been with OHSU for 31 years, first as a resident and then a faculty member in the Department of Surgery. Barry has been the director of OHSU's Kidney Transplant Program since 1976. He is nationally recognized as a leader in renal transplantation and is president-elect for the American Board of Urology. In addition, he is an active member of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and The Transplant Society, an international organization. Barry has written more than 228 publications and appeared at 114 guest lectureships and visiting professorships, most of these were transplantation related. In 1994, he received the Medical Research Foundation of Oregon Discovery Award for his accomplishments.