Emma J Birks, Ph.D. Emma Birks, Ph.D., FRCP, BSc, MBBS, medical director of the Jewish Hospital Heart Failure, Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support program  and professor of Cardiovascular Medicine with the University of Louisville, has been passionate about transplantation since attending the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine at the University of London in London, England. There she completed an Immunology BSc and gained experience in renal transplantation as an SHO before finishing her Ph.D. in heart transplantation.

Dr. Birks began her work in Ventricular Assist Devices (VAD) in 1996 when she accepted a research position with the VAD program at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital in London. In her current role with UofL and Jewish Hospital, Dr. Birks continues to focus her research on transplantation, ventricular assist devices, mechanical circulatory support, heart failure, myocardial deterioration and the molecular and cellular mechanisms of myocardial recovery.

Michael Bousamra, II, M.D., is UNOS Surgical Director of the Lung Transplant Program and Chair Elect in the Department of Surgery at Jewish Hospital, Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Louisville and is President of Drive Out Cancer, Inc.

Dr. Bousamra received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan in Dearborn and his medical degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He interned in general surgery, served his general surgery residencies and completed his Cardiovascular Surgical Research Fellowship at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. He also served his Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency at Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Bousamra is Board Certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.

Dr. Bousamra is a member of several professional societies, including the American College of Surgeons (fellow), International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, American College of Chest Physicians and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. At Jewish Hospital, he serves on the Lung Cancer Steering Committee, Lung Cancer Committee, Lung Cancer Research Subcommittee (chairman) and Surgical Services Advisor Committee. Bousamra II is the Medical Student Faculty Advisor to multiple students and Faculty Advisor of the Surgery Club at the University of Louisville.

Mary Eng, M.D., is a kidney/liver/pancreas transplant surgeon with The Transplant Center at Jewish Hospital. She is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Louisville.

Dr. Eng received her Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemistry and Biological Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago and her medical degree from Rush Medical College, also in Chicago, Illinois. She interned at Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois and Detroit Medical Center Sinai Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. She served her general surgery residencies at Detroit Medical Center Sinai Hospital and Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, California. Dr. Eng completed her Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts and her Transplant Surgery Fellowship at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. Dr. Eng is Board Certified in General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care by the American Board of Surgery.

Dr .Eng is a member of several professional societies, including the American College of Surgeons (associate fellow), Society of Critical Care Medicine (candidate), Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (candidate) and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

Dr. Hughes received his Bachelors of Arts degree and medical doctorate from Wake Forest University, going on to finish his residency at the University of Virginia. He completed fellowships with the Department of Microbiology & Immunology and the Department of Surgery also at Wake Forest University, as well as fellowships in Transplant Surgery and Multi-Organ Abdominal Surgery at the University of Virginia and the University of Minnesota.

While serving as an assistant professor and attending surgeon at the Medical University of South Carolina, Dr. Hughes was honored with the distinguished American Society of Transplant Surgeons-Team Donate Life Junior Faculty Award from the University of Virginia.

Dr. Hughes currently serves on the CME Committee for the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and is a member of the Association for Academic Surgery and the International Liver Transplantation Society. He also holds the title of Associate Fellow with the American College of Surgeons.

Luis Santiago Marsano-Obando, M.D.,is a hepatologist on the Liver Transplant Team at Jewish Hospital, a Professor of Medicine at the University of Louisville, and Director of Clinical Hepatology at the Carlo H. Tamburro Liver Research Center at U of L. He is certified by the American Board of Gastroenterology and the American Board of Internal Medicine.

He completed his Gastroenterology Fellowship at Washington University (St. Louis), his Hepatology Fellowship at the University of Miami and his Internal Medicine training at the University of Miami. He grew up in Lima, Peru, and attended the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia where he received his M.D. degree in 1980.

Dr. Marsano-Obando came to Louisville and joined The Transplant Center in 2000. His research interests include nutrition and alcoholic hepatitis as well as Hepatitis B and C.

Dr. Anthony E. Martin is a hepatologist on the Liver Transplant Team and an Assistant Professor of Gastroenterology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He is certified by the American Board of Gastroenterology and the American Board of Internal Medicine. He completed his Gastroenterology Fellowship at Vanderbilt University.

He grew up in Louisville and received his M.D. degree from the University of Louisville in 1983. In addition to his academic training, he served as a surgeon in the Persian Gulf War and currently serves as a Major in the U.S. Army Reserves.

Dr. Martin's research interests include treatment of viral Hepatitis B and C.

Kelly C. McCants, M.D. Dr. Kelly C. McCants serves as Assistant Director of Advanced Heart Failure/ Cardiac Transplantation and Primary Transplant Physician, Jewish Hospital, and Assistant Professor of Medicine and Director of Cardiac Transplantation and Assistant Director of Advanced Heart Failure at the University of Louisville. Dr. McCants is a graduate of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency in 2005 at the University of Louisville. After a faculty appointment as Clinical Instructor of Medicine based primarily at The Veterans Hospital in 2005, he joined the Division of Cardiology as a clinical fellow and later chief clinical fellow for the academic year of 2007.  Dr. McCants came to Louisville after completing a fellowship at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia.

He continues to be actively involved in the mentorship and training of clinical fellows. He is experienced in right heart catheterizations, myocardial biopsies, management of Left Ventricular Assist Devices, and other therapies for advanced heart failure.

Craig J. McClain, M.D.,is a hepatologist on the Liver Transplant Team at Jewish Hospital as well as a Professor of Medicine and Vice Chairman for Research, Dept. of Internal Medicine, at the University of Louisville. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at University of Pittsburgh Hospital and Hepatology Fellowship at University of Minnesota Hospital.

Dr. McClain comes to Louisville from Lexington, with experience in gastroenterology, nutrition, toxicology, and aging with the University of Kentucky through various positions, including the Director of Gastroenterology at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and as Professor of Clinical Nutrition in the UK School of Allied Health.

He is board certified in Internal Medicine with a subspecialty in Gastroenterology. As an expert on liver disease, Dr. McClain has been invited to speak at over 130 national and international conferences. He has authored or co-authored more than 230 articles in professional journals and books, and has participated or led many federally funded research projects to study aspects of liver dysfunction.

Currently, Dr. McClain's research focus includes alcoholic hepatitis, nutrition and liver disease, and drug trials in peptic ulcer disease and IBD.

Allan M. Ramirez, M.D., serves as Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Disorders, University of Louisville and works with the Lung Transplant Program at Jewish Hospital. Dr. Ramirez graduated from Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. He completed his internship and residency at the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University followed by a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Ramirez pursued further subspecialty training and research in lung transplantation also at the University of Illinois. He then joined the McKelvey Lung Transplantation Center at Emory University as McKelvey Scholar and Instructor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care.

Dr. Ramirez is a member of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation and a member of the American Thoracic Society, where he serves on the Members in Transition and Training national committee. He conducts research that focuses on the molecular biology of fibrosis, particularly in the context of chronic rejection after lung transplantation, and his research has been awarded funding from federal organizations (National Institutes of Health), private foundations (American Heart Association, American Thoracic Society), and intramural (institutional) grants. Dr. Ramirez’s area of clinical expertise is in transplant pulmonology and has additional interest in the diagnosis and management of pulmonary hypertension.

Mark Slaughter, M.D., is Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at the University of Louisville. In addition he serves as the Director of the Heart Transplant and Mechanical Assist Device program at Jewish Hospital and the University of Louisville and is the Associate Medical Director of the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute.

Dr. Slaughter has published over 50 articles, has written a book as well as multiple book chapters. He serves on the Board of Directors for the American Society of Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO), Board of Trustees for the International Society of Rotary Blood Pumps, the Editorial Board of ASAIO and a journal reviewer for the Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Circulation and the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. Dr. Slaughter currently serves as a consultant to the FDA Medical Device Review Panel, National Science Foundation SBIR/STTR grant reviewer and previously served two terms for the Health and Human Services Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee.

Dr. Slaughter received his under graduate degree from Purdue University, his medical degree at Indiana University, general surgery training at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and cardiothoracic training at the University of Minnesota.

Victor Henry van Berkle, M.D., PhD, serves as Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Louisville and works on the Lung Transplant Team at Jewish Hospital.  Dr. van Berkel received his medical and PhD degree from Washington University as a student in their Medical Scientist Training Program. He served as a resident in General Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and completed his fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, MO.  He has been honored by Tufts University School of Medicine with a Citation for Excellence in Teaching and with the Excellence in Teaching Award from Harvard Medical School.