Sukru H. Emre, MD, FACS
Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics
Director, Yale-New Haven Transplantation Center
Chief, Section of Transplantation and Immunology
Department of Surgery
Yale University School of Medicine

Dr. Sukru Emre oversees the activities of Yale-New Haven Transplantation Center and its multidisciplinary group of physicians and caregivers, and continues to offer his specialty, adult and pediatric liver transplantation. Dr. Emre is section chief of transplant surgery and immunology in the department of surgery at Yale School of Medicine.

Dr. Emre received his medical degree from the University of Istanbul where he also completed a residency in general surgery. His clinical post-doctoral training includes completion of a hepatobiliary surgery fellowship at the University of Istanbul and a transplant fellowship at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. He also completed two transplantation research fellowships, one at SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn and another at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. He holds a foreign board certification in general surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Emre is an expert in adult and pediatric liver transplantations. He has performed more than 1,500 liver transplants, of which the youngest patient was 16 days old and the oldest was 75 years old. His special interests are performing split-liver transplants (dividing a liver between two recipients thus saving two lives) and living donor transplants which involves transplanting a portion of a donor’s healthy liver. He is also expert in hepato-biliary surgery including resection for liver cancer, portal hypertension surgery, repair of complex bile duct injuries and Kasai procedure for biliary atresia. Dr. Emre’s research interests include acute liver failure, biliary atresia and rare cholestatic diseases in children, and transplanting adult patients with hepatitis B, C and liver cancer.

Antonios Arvelakis, MD, received his medical degree from the University of Athens Medical School in Athens, Greece. After serving his general surgery residency at First Surgical Clinic of the University of Athens, Dr. Arvelakis joined the faculty of the Recanati-Miller Transplantation Center at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York as a multi-organ transplant sureon.

Dr. Arvelakis specializes in liver, kidney and pancreas transplantation, as well as hepatobiliary surgery. He has high interest in living donor liver transplantation, split liver transplantation and pediatric liver transplantation.

Cary A. Caldwell, MD, received his medical degree from University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed his internship and residency at Yale School of Medicine. After serving a fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at University of Michigan Medical Center, Dr. Caldwell joined the faculty at Washington University School of Medicine as an assistant professor in transplant hepatology and medical co-director of liver transplantation at Barnes Hospital-Washington University School of Medicine.

Dr. Caldwell is an assistant clinical professor of internal medicine at Yale School of Medicine and has served as a member of the Yale-New Haven Liver Transplant Program. He maintains a private practice in the New Haven area with a specific focus on patients with cirrhosis in need of transplantation.

A recipient of the Dr. Vincent Deluca Award for Outstanding Teacher of Gastroenterology Fellows at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Caldwell treats patients with a variety of liver disorders including hepatitis C, hepatocellular carcinoma, alcohol cirrhosis, steatohepatitis, hepatitis B, hemochromatosis, autoimmunity, primary biliary cirrhosis and cryptogenic cirrhosis.

Dr. Caldwell’s research and publications focus on hepatic reperfusion injury, cytokines in liver disease, alcohol liver disease, fulminant hepatic failure, recurrent hepatitis C post-liver transplantation, hepatitis B association with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and the screening of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Sanjay Kulkarni, MD, is a multi-organ transplant surgeon specializing in kidney, pancreas and liver transplants. He is the current director of kidney transplant, pancreas transplant and dialysis access services at Yale-New Haven Transplantation Center (YNHTC).

Dr. Kulkarni has developed a multidisciplinary approach to the complete management of the end-stage renal disease (ESRD) population, starting with close communication with referring physicians regarding dialysis access needs, through patients transplant evaluation and ultimately their transplant.

Dr. Kulkarni is responsible for the total laparoscopic kidney donation program at Yale-New Haven Hospital –the only center in Connecticut to provide this service, regardless of kidney anatomy.

Dr. Kulkarni received his M.D. from Medical College of Wisconsin and completed his general surgery training at the University of Chicago, followed by two additional years of transplant research involving single-chain antibody formation and programmed cell death. Dr. Kulkarni served a two-year fellowship in multi-organ transplant surgery at the University of Chicago, with additional living donor liver transplantation experience at the renowned University of Essen Transplant Program. During his transplant surgery fellowship he was accepted into an NIH-funded clinical research training program.

Dr. Kulkarni is a member of the Vascular Biology & Transplant consortium at Yale University and is a participant in investigations looking at animal models of vascular remodeling following ischemic injury. These studies have important implication to kidney transplant patients and how their transplants change over time.

Joseph K. Lim, MD, is a gastroenterologist and hepatologist specializing in general transplant hepatology, and serves as director of the Yale Viral Hepatitis Program. Dr. Lim has developed a multidisciplinary approach to addressing the unique needs of patients with chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C infection, and the consequences of liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension. This program represents the only dedicated center in Connecticut providing comprehensive care for patients with viral hepatitis, and offers patient education, standardized treatment protocols, and numerous clinical trials investigating novel approaches to drug therapy. 

Dr. Lim received his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School and completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He completed a clinical and research fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at Stanford University Medical Center. Dr. Lim has served in various leadership roles, including national chair of the resident/fellow section of the American College of Physicians and section editor of Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). He is a peer reviewer for several journals, including Annals of Internal Medicine, Journal of General Internal Medicine, American Journal of Gastroenterology, Journal of Hepatology, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, and Hepatology. 

Dr. Lim’s primary research interests are focused on the epidemiology, natural history, and health outcomes in viral hepatitis and alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver disorders.

Stephen Luczycki, MD

Wajahat Z. Mehal, MD, is a board certified transplant hepatologist with an active research group focusing on the role of the immune system in many liver diseases. Dr. Mehal received his medical degree from the University of Oxford, with residency and fellowship training at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He completed his advanced liver transplantation training at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. In addition, Dr. Mehal received a Transplant Hepatology Certificate of Added Qualification in 2006.

Dr. Mehal manages patients with a wide range of liver diseases, and has a special interest in the management of hepatitis C infection in the setting of end-stage renal diseases. In addition to his clinical work Dr. Mehal has a basic science laboratory funded by the NIH to identify signals from dying hepatocytes which stimulate immune injury and liver fibrosis.

Michael Nathanson, MD, Ph.D., is chief and professor of digestive diseases and hepatology at Yale-New Haven Hospital and Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Nathanson received his medical degree from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. He served his residency in internal medicine at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and fellowship in digestive diseases at Yale. Dr. Nathanson’s clinical interests include inpatient care related to hepatology, gastroenterology and hemochromatosis.

Michael Schilsky , MD
Medical Director, Transplant Hepatology

Dr. Schilsky became medical director of liver transplantation at Yale-New Haven Hospital in 2007, with appointments in medicine and surgery at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Schilsky received his medical degree from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed his residency and fellowship in gastroenterology and research training in liver diseases at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center. Dr. Schilsky also received a Transplant Hepatology Certificate of Added Qualification in 2006. His clinical and research interests include transplant hepatology, inherited metabolic disorders of the liver, Wilson disease, hepatocellular carcinoma and hemochromatosis.

Dr. Schilsky previously served as director of the liver medicine clinic at the Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute at Mount Sinai Medical Center and medical director for liver transplantation at the New York Weill Cornell Medical Center , where he developed a comprehensive program for the care and evaluation of liver transplant patients. Dr. Schilsky coauthored the AASLD practice guidelines for Wilson disease and is author of numerous original manuscripts and reviews.

Mario Strazzabosco, MD, PhD, is the director of the hepatobiliary cancer program at YNHTC and a professor of internal medicine and digestive diseases at Yale School of Medicine. His clinical and research interests are focused on the treatment of patients with end-stage liver disease and the medical aspects of liver transplantation.

Dr. Strazzabosco received his medical degree from the University of Padova, Italy, where he completed his residency and fellowship in gastroenterology. He received advance liver research training at Padova, and the University of Milan , where he received a Ph.D. degree, and the Yale Liver Center, where he worked as a post-doctoral fellow. He also received advanced training in quality management in health care and health care management at the LUISS University and at IREF/University of Bergamo, Italy. He previously has served as director of the internal medicine department transplant hepatology services at University Hospital of Padova and chief of the gastroenterology division and medical director for adult liver transplantation at the Ospedali Riuniti di Bergamo.

Tamar Taddei, MD, is an assistant professor of internal medicine and digestive disease at Yale School of Medicine. She received her medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine where she also served her residency in internal medicine. Dr. Taddei completed her fellowship in gastroenterology/hepatology at Yale-New Haven Hospital and Yale School of Medicine.

Dr. Taddei’s clinical interests include cirrhosis and its complications and transplant hepatology. Her research interests include inherited metabolic liver diseases and benign and malignant neoplasms of the liver.

Hossam Tantawy, MD