Bucuvalas Lab Research
The overall goal
of Dr. Bucuvalas’s research efforts is to ensure the best possible
outcome for the population of pediatric liver transplant recipients by
acquisition and application of new discovery and by improvement of the
delivery system. Studies conducted in the lab are directly related to gaps in
knowledge for best outcomes for liver transplant recipients. These
patient-centered studies are multicenter efforts, derivative of the relatively
rarity of LTX and the need to work among clinical centers to achieve adequate
sample size to power the study. One of the efforts is focused on
detection of non-adherence, results of which are expected to have broad implications, beyond the specific field
of pediatric liver transplant recipients. A second effort is a Clinical Trial
of Immunosuppression Withdrawal for Stable Pediatric Liver Transplant
Recipients. The motivation to withdraw
pediatric liver tx recipients from immunosuppression a logical outgrowth of the recent studies
reporting the long-term mortality and morbidity in children who face heavy
cumulative burden of life-long immunosuppression. We
seek to identify that subset of pediatric liver transplant recipients who can
safely and durably withdraw from immunosuppression.
Dr. Bucuvalas is
recognized both locally with a Chair in Transplant Hepatology and
internationally as an expert in pediatric transplant hepatology and has served
as Chair of SPLIT, a multi-center consortium of pediatric liver transplant
programs in North America, and on the inaugural transplant hepatology committee
of the American Boards of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. Dr. Bucuvalas has
published widely in transplant hepatology, is co-investigator on the senior
steering committee for 3 patient-based research studies funded by NIDDK and
NIAID, and currently serves on the Editorial Board for Hepatology and as an
Associate Editor for Clinical Liver Disease.
