Cedars-Sinai director honored for lifetime of achievement in field of liver transplantation

Andrew S. Klein MD, MBA, director of the Cedars-Sinai Comprehensive Transplant Center is being honored for a lifetime of achievement in the field of liver transplantation by the Los Angeles chapter of the American Liver Foundation.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to bring attention to someone who has had such a profound impact on patients and their families in our community," said Taly Fantini, executive director of the Greater Los Angeles Division of the American Liver Foundation. "We want to honor Dr. Klein with our 'Healthcare Visionary' award for his pioneering work in the field of liver transplantation and hepotobiliary surgery and for tirelessly promoting awareness and education about liver disease."

As a surgeon and medical researcher, Klein, the Esther and Mark Schulman Chair in Surgery and Transplantation Medicine, has written extensively about liver disease, transplantation and immunobiology and has helped establish rules and guidelines for the nation's transplant system.

"The remarkable thing about Andrew Klein is that his wonderful achievements are not confined to the clinic or the operating room or the laboratory," said Shlomo Melmed, MD, senior vice president and dean at Cedars-Sinai and the Helene A. and Philip E. Hixon Chair in Investigative Medicine. "He has also played a key leadership role in the national transplant arena by spearheading development of national policies for equitable allocation of the precious supply of available donor organs."

Klein is a former chair of the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) Liver and Intestinal Transplantation Committee, as well as a member of the governing board of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

The American Liver Foundation is dedicated to the prevention and treatment of liver disease and to education and advocacy for patients. Klein will be honored Sunday, May 4, at the foundation's 8th annual gala in Santa Monica, California.