Rate My Professor David Al-Adra

David P. Al-Adra, MD, PhD, FACS, FRCSC, is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Transplantation in the Department of Surgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, specializing in Medicine with a focus on hepatobiliary surgery, kidney transplantation, liver transplantation, pancreas transplantation, pediatric liver transplantation, living donor liver transplantation, and related procedures such as laparoscopic donor nephrectomy and liver resections. He earned his MD and PhD through the Clinical Investigator Program in the Department of Surgery at the University of Alberta in Alberta, Canada. He completed his residency in General Surgery at the University of Alberta and an Abdominal Organ Transplant Fellowship at the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada. Dr. Al-Adra holds certifications from the American Board of Surgery, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada, and the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association.

His research laboratory investigates key areas in transplantation immunology and oncology. In transplant immunology, he explores the therapeutic potential of normothermic ex-vivo perfusion systems to promote organ transplant acceptance by modifying immunological effects on grafts, including altering graft-resident immune cells and cellular surface molecules to foster a regulatory environment and reduce the need for induction and maintenance immunosuppression. In transplant oncology, his work identifies novel biomarkers for prognosis and treatment targets in patients undergoing liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma, emphasizing early detection via circulating tumor cells and tumor nucleic acids, mechanisms of cancer progression, and targeted therapies. Dr. Al-Adra has secured major funding, including a two-year $100,000 Collaborative Scientist Grant from the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, a one-year $50,000 Pilot Research Award from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Foundation, a one-year $65,000 grant from the University of Wisconsin's 2023 Fall Research Competition, and recognition as an Avant-Garde Health General Surgery Research All-Stars in 2024. Notable publications include 'Dual Kidney Transplantation Offers Prolonged Graft Survival' (Clinical Transplantation, 2026), 'Rethinking the use of immunotherapy post-liver transplantation: Standardized protocols with low risk of rejection' (Liver Transplantation, 2025), 'Outcomes of Patients With Localized Renal Cell Carcinoma on Immunosuppression Following Solid Organ Transplantation' (Urology, 2026), 'Importing pancreata for transplantation: a single-center experience across evolving allocation eras' (Frontiers in Transplantation, 2025), and 'De Novo Letermovir After Cytomegalovirus Seropositive Kidney Transplant Improves Toxicity and Mycophenolate Tolerance Over the Current Standard of Care' (Clinical Transplantation, 2025).