Biography
Education
Institution | Degree | Dept or School | End Date |
---|---|---|---|
University of California | Diversty, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training | 05/2021 | |
Harvard University | M.D. | School of Medicine | 1992 |
Board Certifications
- American Board of Surgery, 2000
Clinical Expertise
Bile Duct Injuries
Bile Duct Strictures
Choledochal Cyst Disease
End-Stage Kidney Disease
Fulminant Hepatic Failure
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis C
Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Liver Cancer)
Intestinal Failure
Intestinal Transplantation
Kidney Transplantation
Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy
Liver Cysts
Liver Transplantation
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Pancreas Transplantation
Pediatric Liver Transplantation
Pediatric Kidney Transplantation
Portal Hypertension
Short Bowel Syndrome
Clinical Trials
- Donor-Alloantigen-Reactive Regulatory T Cell (darTreg) Therapy in Renal Transplantation (The ONE Study ) (NCT02244801)Related Conditions: Kidney Disease, Kidney Transplant| Start Date: | End Date:
Program Affiliations
UCSF Intestinal Rehabilitation and Transplantation
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
The Liver Center at UCSF
Diabetes Center at UCSF
In the News
Grants and Funding
- Donor-Alloantigen-Reactive Regulatory T Cell Therapy in Liver Transplantation | NIH | 2014-06-01 - 2021-05-31 | Role: Co-Principal Investigator
- Donor-Specific Regulatory T Cell Therapy in Liver Transplantation | NIH | 2012-04-01 - 2014-03-31 | Role: Co-Principal Investigator
- Tolerance Induction Using Modified Dendritic Cells | NIH | 2007-04-01 - 2010-03-31 | Role: Principal Investigator
- Tolerance Induction Using Modified Dendritic Cells | NIH | 2003-04-01 - 2008-03-31 | Role: Principal Investigator
Research Narrative
The Kang Lab is developing novel strategies for the induction of transplant-specific tolerance. The research focuses on achieving what is known as "allo-specific transplant tolerance", a specialized method of preventing the rejection of a transplanted organ without suppressing the entire immune system.
Currently, transplant recipients must receive immunosuppressive drugs to suppress their own white blood cells (T cells) that attack foreign cells and cause organ rejections. Unfortunately, these non-specific drugs affect the entire immune system and thus carry significant risks for infection and certain malignancies. The goal is to eliminate the need for global immunosuppression in transplant recipients. Ideal immunotherapy would be one that targets only the donor-specific immune cells that cause rejection, without affecting any of the other immune cells, thus leaving the immune system intact and able to function at full capacity.
To this end, the lab is conducting several experiments to gain insight into the mechanisms of rejection. These projects include the use of specialized immune cells in targeting specific lymphoid organs, as well as investigations into the contributions of CD+4 T cells and CD8 T cells to the process of transplant rejection. The laboratory's work is helping to define important parameters for potential treatments in humans.
Research Interests
- Transplant Immunology
- Dendritic Cell Immune Therapy
- Novel Strategies for the Induction of Transplant-specific Tolerance
- T-cell Mediated Transplant Rejection as well as Tolerance
Publications
- Advantages and Limitations of Clinical Scores for Donation After Circulatory Death Liver Transplantation.| | View in PubMed
- Non-operative management of biliary complications after Liver Transplantation in pediatric patients: A 30-year experience.| | View in PubMed
- Expanding living donor liver transplantation: Report of first US living donor liver transplant chain.| | View in PubMed
- COVID-19 and Abdominal Transplant: A Stepwise Approach to Practice During Pandemic Conditions.| | View in PubMed
- Inferior Long-Term Graft Survival of Suboptimal Kidneys After Living Donor Kidney Transplantation.| | View in PubMed
- Long-Term Safety, Immunologic Response, and Imaging Outcomes following Neural Stem Cell Transplantation for Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease.| | View in PubMed
- Inferior long-term graft survival after end-to-side reconstruction for two renal arteries in living donor renal transplantation.| | View in PubMed
- A Single Perioperative Injection of Dexamethasone Decreases Nausea, Vomiting, and Pain after Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy.| | View in PubMed
- Interpretation of transplant biopsies and immune responses following Treg cell therapy.| | View in PubMed
- Neural stem cell engraftment and myelination in the human brain.| | View in PubMed
- Altered balance between effector T cells and FOXP3+ HELIOS+ regulatory T cells after thymoglobulin induction in kidney transplant recipients.| | View in PubMed
- CD4(+)Foxp3(+) regulatory T cell therapy in transplantation.| | View in PubMed
- Expansion of a unique CD57⁺NKG2Chi natural killer cell subset during acute human cytomegalovirus infection.| | View in PubMed
- Experience with laparoscopic donor nephrectomy among more than 1000 cases: low complication rates, despite more challenging cases.| | View in PubMed
- Hepatic surgery at a VA tertiary medical center: lessons learned.| | View in PubMed
- A new T-cell receptor transgenic model of the CD4+ direct pathway: level of priming determines acute versus chronic rejection.| | View in PubMed
- The activating immunoreceptor NKG2D and its ligands are involved in allograft transplant rejection.| | View in PubMed
- Investigating the immunological mechanisms underlying organ transplant rejection.| | View in PubMed
- Small bowel transplantation in mice.| | View in PubMed
- Heterotopic heart transplantation in mice.| | View in PubMed
- Targeted lymphoid homing of dendritic cells is required for prolongation of allograft survival.| | View in PubMed
- More than 500 consecutive laparoscopic donor nephrectomies without conversion or repeated surgery.| | View in PubMed
- Laparoscopic procurement of kidneys with multiple renal arteries is associated with increased ureteral complications in the recipient.| | View in PubMed
- Laparoscopic right donor nephrectomy: a large single-center experience.| | View in PubMed
- Congenital choledochal cysts in adults.| | View in PubMed
- Technique, indications and outcomes of pure laparoscopic right donor nephrectomy.| | View in PubMed
- Excellent short-term results with steroid-free maintenance immunosuppression in low-risk simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation.| | View in PubMed
- Techniques to optimize vascular control during laparoscopic donor nephrectomy.| | View in PubMed