Adam Griesemer, MD

Between college and medical school, I became fascinated by the work I did in a transplant immunology lab, which was investigating how the body’s immune system responds to an organ transplant. During my medical training, I decided to pursue pediatric organ transplant surgery and specialize in living donor transplantation to help address the organ donor shortage.

Using living liver donor transplantation to manage life-threatening conditions in children is particularly rewarding. As a surgeon, I must carefully and safely divide and remove a portion of the liver from a healthy adult donor. Although the procedure does not offer a physical benefit to the donor, it often has a profound emotional benefit. The donor may be a parent, a caregiver, a family friend, or even a stranger helping to save the recipient’s life.

I use minimally invasive surgical techniques in liver donors to lessen discomfort, shorten recovery times, and avoid complications. This approach reduces some of the barriers to being a living donor.

The surgery for the child receiving a liver is also technically demanding. As surgical director of the Pediatric Liver Disease and Transplant Program at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone, most of the children I treat have a life-threatening, congenital condition such as a bile duct defect, an enzyme abnormality, or an autoimmune disorder. Being able to surgically intervene and change the trajectory of a child’s life is incredibly rewarding.

With living liver donation and transplantation, I need to treat the whole family, not just the child. I strive to recognize everyone’s emotional needs and approach families with empathy and support. I work with an amazing team of healthcare providers, including hepatologists, nurse practitioners, physician assistant transplant coordinators, and child life specialists, who provide the highest level of evidence-based care.

I perform liver transplantation in adults who have conditions such as cirrhosis or hepatitis. I also perform surgery to manage cancer of the liver in children and adults, as well as procedures to place vascular shunts in children who have portal hypertension.

In addition to my work in the clinic, I conduct research, which is supported by the National Institutes of Health, on the immune response after a liver transplant and on xenotransplantation, which uses genetically modified organs from nonhuman sources. I have received awards recognizing my research from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, the American Society of Transplantation, and the International Xenotransplantation Association. I have also received the Rising Star in Transplantation Surgery Award from the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.