Abdominal Transplant Surgery Fellowship

The Abdominal Transplant Surgery Fellowship at the University of Cincinnati is an American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS)–accredited two-year training program designed to prepare fellows for independent practice in liver and kidney transplantation. The program is approved to train three fellows, with one position available in the 2027 fellowship match.

The University of Cincinnati has a long history in transplant surgery, welcoming its first transplant fellow in 1969. Since that time, the program has graduated over 45 transplant surgeons, many of whom now hold faculty positions at academic transplant centers across the United States and internationally.

The University of Cincinnati transplant program is a high-volume academic transplant center with a long history of innovation in the field. Fellows benefit from extensive operative exposure in liver and kidney transplantation, living donor surgery, and complex hepatobiliary procedures while developing progressive operative independence throughout training. The program has also been a national leader in organ preservation and machine perfusion technologies, including hypothermic machine perfusion and emerging strategies aimed at expanding the donor pool and improving transplant outcomes. This combination of high operative volume, exposure to innovative transplant technologies, and strong mentorship provides fellows with a comprehensive training experience designed to prepare them for independent academic or clinical transplant practice.

Fellows receive comprehensive clinical and operative training in liver, kidney, and pancreas transplantation, with additional experience in living donor transplantation, hepatobiliary surgery, and complex vascular access surgery. The goal of the fellowship is to provide fellows with the operative experience, clinical judgment, and leadership skills necessary for a successful career in transplant surgery.

Clinical Training

The fellowship consists of two clinical years of training focused on the multidisciplinary care of transplant patients. Fellows participate in all aspects of transplant care including donor procurement, recipient evaluation, operative management, and postoperative care.

Clinical exposure includes:

• Liver transplantation
• Kidney transplantation
• Pancreas transplantation
• Living donor nephrectomy (laparoscopic)
• Living donor hepatectomy
• Multi-organ deceased donor procurement
• Normothermic regional perfusion (NRP)
• Hepatobiliary surgery (open and robotic)
• Complex dialysis access surgery

Beginning in the 2021–2022 academic year, the program established a partnership with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to provide fellows with additional exposure to pediatric transplantation.

Operative Experience

A central goal of the fellowship is the development of operative independence. Fellows are treated as junior partners within the transplant program and receive progressive operative responsibility throughout their training.

Most fellows become independent in multi-organ donor procurement within the first year of fellowship. In addition, virtually all fellows perform the entirety of the liver and kidney transplant operations within their first six months of training.

Fellows work closely with transplant faculty during the early portion of training and rapidly assume increasing responsibility in the operating room. As technical proficiency develops, fellows routinely perform key components of transplant procedures—including recipient hepatectomy, vascular anastomoses, and biliary reconstruction—while faculty provide guidance and oversight. This graduated approach to operative training allows fellows to develop the confidence and technical skills necessary for independent transplant practice upon graduation.

The University of Cincinnati maintains a consistently high transplant volume, providing fellows with a robust operative experience. This graph illustrates annual transplant activity at our center over the past eleven years.

Graduating fellows complete fellowship with substantial operative experience in liver and kidney transplantation, living donor surgery, hepatobiliary procedures, and multi-organ donor procurement, as seen in this graph:

Clinical Leadership and Patient Care

The transplant surgery fellow plays a central leadership role in the inpatient management of transplant patients at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

All transplant recipients within their first year after transplant are managed by the Transplant Surgery service, which includes attending transplant surgeons, transplant fellows, advanced practice providers, surgical residents, and medical students.

Daily multidisciplinary rounds are led by the transplant surgery fellows with guidance from transplant faculty. These experiences allow fellows to rapidly develop leadership, decision-making, and team coordination skills while managing complex transplant patients.

Fellows also participate in outpatient transplant clinics, including the evaluation of liver, kidney, and pancreas transplant candidates and the longitudinal care of transplant recipients. Additional clinic experience is available in hepatobiliary and vascular access surgery, allowing fellows to participate in preoperative planning and ongoing patient management.

Research and Innovation

Fellows have opportunities to participate in clinical, translational, and health services research within transplantation.

Faculty in the Division of Transplant Surgery maintain active research programs in several areas including:

• Hypothermic machine perfusion and organ preservation
• Transplant oncology
• Health services and outcomes research in transplantation
• Clinical trials in immunosuppression
• Clinical trials in organ preservation technologies

The University of Cincinnati has been a national leader in the adoption and study of hypothermic machine perfusion for liver transplantation, contributing to efforts aimed at improving organ utilization and transplant outcomes.

In addition, fellows may participate in investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored clinical trials, providing exposure to emerging innovations in transplantation. Fellows are encouraged to present their research at national meetings including the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) and the American Transplant Congress (ATC).

Educational Curriculum

The fellowship is supported by a structured educational curriculum designed to complement operative training.

Fellows participate in weekly multidisciplinary conferences including:

• Liver transplant selection conference
• Kidney transplant selection conference
• Hepatobiliary tumor board
• Vascular access conference

In addition, a weekly fellow-led preoperative conference is conducted with attendance from transplant faculty, during which upcoming elective cases are reviewed and operative strategies are discussed

Fellowship Philosophy

The philosophy of the University of Cincinnati transplant faculty is to treat fellows as junior partners within the transplant program. Fellows are given progressive responsibility in both operative and clinical decision-making while maintaining appropriate mentorship and supervision.

The program strictly adheres to the ASTS Managed Time Policy, ensuring fellows maintain appropriate time away from clinical duties while benefiting from a rigorous and comprehensive training experience.

Our faculty are deeply committed to training the next generation of transplant surgeons through high-volume operative experience, progressive autonomy, strong mentorship, and exposure to emerging innovations in transplantation.

How to Apply

You can apply for our ASTS (American Society of Transplant Surgeons) accredited fellowship in abdominal transplant surgery at the SF Match residency and fellowship matching service website, https://www.sfmatch.org, program ID 5478. One position is currently available for the 2027 match cycle.

The completed application must be received no later than February 13, 2026. All applications are reviewed by the UC Abdominal Transplant Faculty, and select applicants are invited for interviews.

IMPORTANT MATCH DATES:

• January 14, 2026 – Applicant registration begins.
• February 13, 2026 – Deadline for applications to be submitted.

Interview dates:

• Day 1: March 13, 2026 – Virtual
• Day 2: April 24, 2026 – In person
• Rank list due date: June 10, 2026
• Match day: June 17, 2026

For more information about the University of Cincinnati Abdominal Transplant fellowship, contact Genia Goodin  at goodingl@ucmail.uc.edu, Phone 513-558-3892.

LIFE IN CINCINNATI

Program Administration:
Madison C. Cuffy, MD, MBA, MD, Program Director