Eric Martinez, MD, a fellowship-trained, multi-organ abdominal transplant surgeon, has been named surgical director of kidney and pancreas transplant at Baylor University Medical Center (Baylor Dallas), part of Baylor Scott & White Health. He is fluent in both English and Spanish.
Sumeet Asrani, MD, MSc, has been promoted to chief of hepatology and liver transplantation, Baylor Scott & White Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute. Dr. Asrani has served as the medical director of the Center for Advanced Liver Disease since 2016. In addition, he has provided clinical care at both Baylor University Medical Center (Baylor Dallas), part of Baylor Scott & White Health, and Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Waxahachie.
In the past five years, Dr. Asrani, who is nationally and internationally recognized in hepatology and transplant hepatology, restructured the research enterprise of BSWH Transplant Institute. He has been instrumental in making the name of the institute and Baylor Scott & White Health a widely recognized presence in the national and international academic world. Dr. Asrani has published 140 peer-reviewed publications and more than 300 abstracts, has given more than 125 national and international presentations, and mentored more than 30 trainees to help advance their medical careers.
In commenting on his new role, Dr. Asrani says, “The depth and breadth of our division, as well as the close relationships with our surgical colleagues, is refreshing and invigorating. We have the opportunity to build on this foundation and strengthen our leadership position in the field. At the end of the day, as long as we don’t lose sight of the fact that the needs of the patient come first, we will succeed in our mission of providing outstanding service throughout the continuum of care.”
Patients who live in the Austin area can now undergo liver transplant evaluations (LTE) at the Baylor Scott & White Transplant Hepatology Clinic in Round Rock, Texas. The first LTEs outside of Baylor University Medical Center (Baylor Dallas), part of Baylor Scott & White Health, and Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth, began the last week of January.
In Texas, a disproportionate number of people have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and NASH cirrhosis. Combine these conditions with alcohol misuse, and you have a state with the highest rate of liver cancer in the nation.
Three new organ preservation systems allow transplant surgeons to travel farther distances to procure donor livers and provide the ability to better assess potential donor livers that may have borderline function. Through the use of these new preservation systems, Baylor Scott & White Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute has greatly expanded its options for accepting donor livers, especially extended criteria livers that may not have been accepted in the past.
