ASTS-Approved Multiorgan Transplantation Fellowship

Hepatobiliary Surgery Program

The hepatobiliary (HPB) unit at Mount Sinai, situated within the Transplantation Institute, is a major referral center in New York for liver tumors and complex HPB surgery. Approximately 200 major surgical cases, including 120 liver resections, are performed annually. In addition, the hepatobiliary unit coordinates the interdisciplinary management of the approximately 250 patients referred annually to Mount Sinai with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Tumor screening activities for the transplant program, as well as non-surgical therapies such as radiofrequency ablation and ethanol injection, are carried out on the hepatobiliary service. The HPB staff works closely with radiology and oncology colleagues in performing chemoembolization, and following patients with HCC as they await transplantation. The HPB staff also plays a major role in the performance of donor hepatectomies for the living donor transplant program.

The Chief of the HPB Unit is Myron Schwartz, M.D., Professor of Surgery. Dr. Schwartz is a graduate of Jefferson Medical College and completed surgical and vascular surgical training at Mount Sinai. Together with Dr. Charles Miller, he initiated the liver transplant program at Mount Sinai in 1988; HPB surgery grew within the transplant service until 1999, when a separate HPB unit was created under Dr. Schwartz’s leadership. Dr. Schwartz’s major academic interest is HCC; he was recently awarded a five-year NIH K24 grant for clinical research and mentoring entitled “Systematic Integration of Patient-Oriented Research into the Clinical Pathway for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.” Dr. Schwartz has published 13 book chapters and over 170 peer-reviewed papers and is a member of numerous societies and editorial boards.

Sasan Roayaie, M.D., Assistant Professor of Surgery, joined the faculty of the HPB unit in July 2002 after completing his ASTS-accredited multiorgan transplant fellowship at Mount Sinai. Dr. Roayaie is a graduate of New Jersey Medical School and the Mount Sinai surgical residency; he developed an interest in HPB surgery while spending a research year during residency with the Mount Sinai HPB unit. Dr. Roayaie is currently partially supported through Mount Sinai’s institutional NIH K30 clinical research training grant based on projects related to HCC. He has published 14 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

The ASTS transplant fellows rotate on the HPB unit as a core part of the training program. While on the HPB service the fellow is primarily responsible for assisting in surgery and for the care of in-house postsurgical patients, as well as for seeing new and follow-up patients in the outpatient clinic. Fourth year Mount Sinai surgical residents also rotate on the HPB service, sharing the work with the fellows and maintaining primary responsibility for in-house consultations to the HPB service.