Dr. Waleed Hassanein
Dr. Waleed Hassanein founded TransMedics in 1998 to revolutionize the important field of organ transplantation for treatment of end-stage lung, heart, liver and kidney failure. Dr. Hassanein’s pioneering clinical research led to the development of an entirely new field of human organ preservation for transplantation called “living organ preservation” that keeps human organs alive and functioning (heart beating, lung breathing, liver producing bile, etc.) outside of the human body in the TransMedics state of the art portable Organ Care System (OCS™) technology.
Organ transplantation is a life-saving procedure for patients with end-stage disease. There has been significant advancements and innovation in all aspects of the therapy. However, donor organ preservation for transplantation has been limited to cold storage (placing organs in a cooler with ice), which has many limitations that negatively impact outcomes and significantly limits the utilization of available donor organs for transplantation.
Dr. Hassanein dedicated 23+ years of his life leading a world-class team to develop the OCS™ technology platform to improve quality, validate viability and increase the utilization of donor organs for transplantation. These unique OCS capabilities enabled more transplants and better post-transplant outcomes for patients in need for these life-saving organs. Today, TransMedics is the global leader in living organ preservation for lung, heart and liver transplantation.
Dr. Hassanein is considered as an international expert in the field of physiologic machine perfusion for organ transplants. Dr. Hassanein is a frequent guest speaker in national and international symposiums on the future of organ preservation for transplantation.
Dr. Hassanein earned his M.D. at Georgetown University, where he also completed two years of surgery training. He then completed a three-year cardiac surgery research fellowship at the West Roxbury VA Medical Center and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. His research on ex-vivo heart perfusion for transplantation was recognized by the American Association for Thoracic Surgery in 1998.