Press Release

June 23, 2006
Contact: Tom Capezzuto
(973) 972-3000
capezzta@umdnj.edu

UMDNJ Graduate Students to Observe Live Kidney Transplant Surgery
By Surgeon and UMDNJ Alumnus at St. Barnabas Medical Center

NEWARK — Research students from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences will observe a surgeon perform intricate kidney transplant surgery live from an operating room at the St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston as part of an educational partnership with the Liberty Science Center.

Dr. Stuart Geffner, a transplant surgeon and 1988 graduate of the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School in Newark, will perform kidney transplant surgery with narration and interaction with the students by the surgical team regarding the procedures on both the living donor and recipient, said Dr. Nicholas A. Ingoglia, associate dean of the UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Newark. The surgeries will be performed live on June 27 beginning at 9:30 a.m.

The videoconference room where the graduate students will watch the procedures will be equipped with microphone to give them the opportunity to ask questions regarding technical elements of the surgical procedures, and video cameras so that the surgical team can see the students.

Joining the UMDNJ students, who are MS, MD and PhD candidates, will be a group of six high school students from the Paterson school district who also are conducting research at UMDNJ, some with aspirations of becoming physicians.

“This is a valuable partnership with Liberty Science Center that allows students to observe first hand the surgical intricacies and scientific principles associated with these delicate operations from a highly regarded surgeon and a graduate of our own institution,” Dr. Ingoglia said.

To arrange to witness the surgery at St. Barnabas Medical Center, call Robin Lally at (973) 322-9903, or Tom Capezzuto at (973) 972-7273.

UMDNJ is the nations largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the states three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health, on five campuses. Last year, there were more than two millions patient visits to UMDNJ facilities and faculty at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operate University Hospital, a Level 1 Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a mental health and addiction services network.