Michael M.I. Abecassis, MD, MBA

Dr. Abecassis began his clinical career in 1991 as assistant professor of surgery and director of liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery at the University of Iowa. He was recruited to Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 1993 as director of a new liver transplant program and performed the first successful liver transplant there that same year. In 2004, he was named chief of the Division of Transplantation. He was appointed dean for clinical affairs at Feinberg in 2008, serving until 2011. He was named founding director of the Comprehensive Transplant Center in 2009.

In addition to pioneering several innovative surgical procedures and approaches to the care of transplant patients, Dr. Abecassis has received continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health for more than two decades, serving as principal investigator of research grants that span from studies of the molecular mechanisms of cytomegalovirus latency and reactivation, to translational and clinical studies in pursuit of a molecular biomarker strategy for both kidney and liver transplant recipients.

Dr. Abecassis is a member of many national and international professional societies, including the Society of University Surgeons and the American Surgical Association. He has served and continues to serve on the editorial boards of several major journals, and has been a member of several NIH study sections and special emphasis panels relating to both transplantation and virology.