Science Day 2025
Science Day is an annual event hosted by the Saint Louis University School of Medicine Office of Research. This event features discussions with colleagues in science, topical presentations, and a plenary speaker.
The fourth annual School of Medicine Science Day was held on Feb. 13, 2025 in the Education Union Auditorium. The plenary speaker was Mustafa Darwish Nazzal, MD.
Nazzal is a professor of surgery and vice chair for research at SSM/Saint Louis University Hospital, specializing in multi-organ abdominal transplantation for both adult and pediatric patients. With extensive expertise in adult and pediatric liver transplantation and complex hepatobiliary surgery, Nazzal is at the forefront of advancements in the field.
He is actively engaged in numerous projects aimed at promoting clinical innovation and enhancing patient care in transplantation. Notably, Nazzal has been instrumental in increasing the utilization of hepatitis C-positive donors, addressing the critical shortage of organs and reducing waitlist mortality. His recent publications contribute to the understanding of hepatitis C-positive donor transplants in liver, kidney and simultaneous liver-kidney transplant settings.
Nazzal has a keen interest in normothermic perfusion of deceased donor livers.The abdominal transplant team at the Saint Louis University transplant program became the first in Missouri to utilize the TransMedics Pump, an innovative technology that safely expands the use of marginal donor livers, significantly improving recipient outcomes.
His research interests are focused on tackling the critical shortage of organs for transplant, for which he has secured multiple intramural and extramural grants. Nazzal is a key member of a pioneering team that developed a novel human liver perfusion core platform. This groundbreaking model has the potential to facilitate the development of therapeutic agents aimed at reducing ischemia/reperfusion injury post-liver transplant, thereby increasing the viability of otherwise unusable deceased donor livers.
Additionally, Nazzal has contributed to the development of patient-derived xenograft model for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), allowing for the testing of human HCC cells in a mouse model and aiding in the creation of novel therapeutics for cancer treatment. He is also involved in research assessing the factors influencing public willingness to donate, contributing to public policy changes and creating systems that honor donors while promoting transplantation.
With his extensive experience and innovative approach, Nazzal has established himself as a leading figure in the field of transplantation, dedicated to advancing patient care and research in this critical area.