Tampa, FL (July 5, 2017) – Tampa General Hospital and the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine are creating a new model for advanced organ transplantation. Noted transplant physician Dr. David Weill has been named director of the new Institute for Advanced Organ Disease and Transplantation, which will bring together the four organ transplant programs under singular leadership.
Dr. David Weill leads the new Institute for Advanced Organ Disease and Transplantation, which will bring together the four organ transplant programs: heart and lung, kidney, liver and pancreas.
The institute will serve patients in need of organ transplants or who suffer complex medical conditions as a result of advanced organ disease of the heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, and kidneys at Tampa General, already one of the nation’s busiest transplant centers, and at USF Health’s South Tampa Center for Advanced Healthcare.
“Dr. Weill’s clinical expertise and his vision for how to improve outcomes and enhance quality of care are aligned with what we’re already doing here at TGH,” said Dr. Sally Houston, chief medical officer at Tampa General. “Dr. Weill is working with our seasoned team of physicians to create a new model that will better coordinate clinical care and enhance the patient experience at all stages of organ failure.”
Dr. Charles J. Lockwood, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, says the institute will offer high-quality, integrated care with cutting-edge research designed to benefit a wide range of patients.
“In each of our transplant areas, this academic-affiliated institute will enable us to create pathways of subspecialty care to help patients with complex disorders delay or even avoid a transplant; to seamlessly transition to a transplant when needed, while minimizing postsurgical complications; and to maximize quality of life,” Dr. Lockwood said.
Tampa General is one of nation’s busiest transplant centers.
Dr. Weill has ambitious plans for the institute. “No matter how good our current outcomes are, we can always do better. We’re going after the most experienced physicians and we will dig deep with our research. This is critical, because it gives you better ways to improve patient outcomes, and reduce health care costs.”
Dr. Weill says the new Institute in Tampa will also work to increase clinical trials, publish more research results, and compete for more research grants. Patients will have the opportunity to participate in these trials and know that they have access to the latest advances in medical treatment. The Institute will also offer specialized fellowships, offering some of the nation’s top young doctors the opportunity to get top-level training in the complex care that patients with advanced organ disease need.
“With the vision and leadership of Dr. Weill, our partnership will dramatically advance the national visibility of the already outstanding transplant service at Tampa General Hospital by increasing academic research productivity,” Lockwood said.
“Dr. Weill will support efforts to enhance the national reputation of Tampa General Hospital’s transplant program by increasing our research efforts and continuing to recruit top notch talent,” Houston said.
Dr. Weill, a professor of medicine and cardiothoracic surgery at USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, says the new Institute will work to increase clinical trials, publish more research results, and compete for more research grants.
Dr. Weill is the former director of the Center for Advanced Lung Disease and the Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program at Stanford University Medical Center. He is also past chair of the Pulmonary Transplantation Council of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation. He served 10 years on the editorial board of the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation and in several capacities for the United Network for Organ Sharing, including as a member of the Thoracic Committee, a member of the National Lung Review Board, and a member of the Membership and Professional Standards Committee.
Dr. Weill received his BA from Tulane University and his MD from Tulane University Medical School. He completed his residency at Parkland Hospital, University of Texas – Southwestern and a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Lung Transplantation at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center.
-USF Health-
USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, the Biomedical Sciences Graduate and Postdoctoral Programs, and the USF Physicians Group. The University of South Florida, established in 1956 and located in Tampa, is a high-impact, global research university dedicated to student success. USF is ranked in the Top 30 nationally for research expenditures among public universities, according to the National Science Foundation. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu
-Tampa General Hospital-
Tampa General is a 1011-bed Level 1 trauma center on the west coast of Florida that serves as the region’s only center for comprehensive burn care. It the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, one of the nation’s busiest adult solid organ transplant centers, and a nationally designated magnet hospital for quality nursing care. TGH is the only nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center in Hillsborough County and is also a state-certified spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation center. For more information, go to www.tgh.org.
-Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communcations and Marketing
