The long road to pancreatic islet transplantation.

Abstract

Some of us (MAH) have known Dr. Eric Rose when he was a resident, a fellow in cardiothoracic surgery, the director of heart transplantation program, the director of Cardiothoracic Division, and finally as Valentine and Johnson and Johnson Professor and Chairman of Department of Surgery at Columbia University for the last 15 years. Having this long relationship with Dr. Rose, I was not sure where or how to begin this tribute to my former resident, colleague, collaborator, and eventually director. It was as an innovative and courageous Chairman that Dr. Rose had a major impact on me when he appointed me as a Residency Program Director and through his remarkable interest and support of educational changes led to a rebirth and growth of the surgical residency at Columbia NY Presbyterian Hospital to one of the leading programs in the country. But the greatest inspiration that Dr. Rose brought to the Department of Surgery was his fearless and relentless support of ventures into the unknown. When faced with heart transplantation as a junior faculty member, he went on to lay the foundation for the largest heart transplant program in the world; when challenged by development and lack of acceptance of Left Ventricular Assist Devices, he guided their approval following appropriate multiinstitutional studies which led to their adoption as standard of care. His influence extended to the support of a Pancreatic Islet Transplantation Program, originally inspired by his predecessor and mentor, Dr. Keith Reemtsma. Doctor Rose invested and encouraged both the clinical and experimental development of this program under my guidance as part of his dedication to innovation.