Mar 16, 2020
David Mulligan, MD from Yale University joins the show to
discuss organ transplantations.
Tune in to learn the following:
Aside from trying to develop technologies and techniques for
successful transplantations, Dr. Mulligan has helped implement
robotic transplantation programs for kidney transplants, which have
shown great success in reducing the risk of post-surgical
infections that impede the healing process and overall success of
the transplant.
He is also working on research involving normothermic and
hyperthermic perfusion of solid human organs on ex vivo machines to
assess their function and determine whether they can be
sufficiently repaired or rejuvenated for use as transplants for
human patients in need.
“Transplantation…is truly a field that embodies almost every
aspect of healthcare,” says Dr. Mulligan. He discusses details
about kidney and liver transplants, how immunosuppression works and
what’s being done in an attempt to mitigate its negative
consequences, as well as what type of research is being done to
determine what type of patients may actually do well without the
use of side effect-inducing immunosuppressive medications.
He talks about the differences between acute and chronic rejection
of transplants, the extent to which the liver and gut microbiome
may be related to immune system performance, how the choice of
which antibiotic to use could be affecting the microbiome and
immune system’s ability to recover post-transplantation, and what
he believes will happen in the near and long-term future of organ
transplantation.
Learn more about the work being done at Yale University by visiting https://medicine.yale.edu/surgery/transplantation/about/ and visit https://unos.org/ for more general information about transplants.