About Michael E. de Vera, MD

Dr. Michael E. de Vera is Professor of Surgery and Director of the Transplantation Institute at Loma Linda University.  He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Riverside and earned his M.D. degree at UCLA. He did his surgical residency training at the University of California, Davis-East Bay and also completed a research fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh during his residency.  He subsequently completed his fellowship in transplantation surgery at the University of Pittsburgh where he was Associate Professor of Surgery, Co-Director of the Liver Transplant program, and Director of the Transplant Fellowship program prior to his arrival at Loma Linda University (LLU).  He is an expert in liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery, both open and laparoscopic approaches, in addition to kidney and pancreas transplantation.
 
Dr. de Vera is an active member of numerous transplant and surgical societies and he serves in several local and national committees.  His clinical research interests include the study of the progression and impact of viral infections after liver transplantation, specifically hepatitis C recurrence and HIV infection, and the use of extended criteria organs such as donation after circulatory death donor livers after transplantation.  His previous laboratory studies focused on the immunobiology of human liver dendritic cells and the role of Damage Associated Molecular Pattern molecules in the growth and treatment of colorectal liver metastases. He has presented at numerous national and international meetings and has authored or co-authored over 60 publications.  He has received intramural and extramural support for his work and has been the Co-PI in NIH clinical grants studying adherence & health outcomes in liver transplant recipients as well as surgical outcomes after adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation.  Dr. de Vera will be leading the Transplantation Immunology Laboratory at LLU wherein one of the translational research focuses will be the immune monitoring of kidney and liver transplant patients to wean and guide the use of immunosuppressive agents and facilitate tailoring of immunosuppression in this population.