Biography
Kang maintains a research laboratory focused on understanding how the immune system responds to transplanted organs. He investigates new methods to induce transplant-specific tolerance, with the goal of replacing immunosuppressive medications. He has been awarded research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and American Society of Transplant Surgeons.
Kang earned his medical degree at Harvard Medical School and completed a surgical residency and transplant fellowship at UCSF Medical Center. He received two research fellowships from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which he used to study transplant immunology at the NIH and the UCSF Transplantation Research Laboratory.
Kang teaches fellows, residents and medical students at UCSF.
Education
Institution | Degree | Dept or School | End Date |
---|---|---|---|
University of California | Diversty, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training | 05/2021 | |
Harvard University | M.D. | School of Medicine | 1992 |
Board Certifications
- American Board of Surgery, 2000
Clinical Expertise
Bile Duct Injuries
Bile Duct Strictures
Choledochal Cyst Disease
End-Stage Kidney Disease
Fulminant Hepatic Failure
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis C
Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Liver Cancer)
Intestinal Failure
Intestinal Transplantation
Kidney Transplantation
Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy
Liver Cysts
Liver Transplantation
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Pancreas Transplantation
Pediatric Liver Transplantation
Pediatric Kidney Transplantation
Portal Hypertension
Short Bowel Syndrome
Clinical Trials
- Related Conditions: Liver Transplant| Start Date: | End Date:
- Donor-Alloantigen-Reactive Regulatory T Cell (darTreg) Therapy in Renal Transplantation (The ONE Study ) (NCT02244801)Related Conditions: Kidney Disease, Kidney Transplant| Start Date: | End Date:
Program Affiliations
UCSF Intestinal Rehabilitation and Transplantation
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
The Liver Center at UCSF
Diabetes Center at UCSF
Grants and Funding
- Donor-Alloantigen-Reactive Regulatory T Cell Therapy in Liver Transplantation | NIH | 2014-06-01 - 2021-05-31 | Role: Co-Principal Investigator
- Donor-Specific Regulatory T Cell Therapy in Liver Transplantation | NIH | 2012-04-01 - 2014-03-31 | Role: Co-Principal Investigator
- Tolerance Induction Using Modified Dendritic Cells | NIH | 2007-04-01 - 2010-03-31 | Role: Principal Investigator
- Tolerance Induction Using Modified Dendritic Cells | NIH | 2003-04-01 - 2008-03-31 | Role: Principal Investigator
Research Narrative
The Kang Lab is developing novel strategies for the induction of transplant-specific tolerance. The research focuses on achieving what is known as "allo-specific transplant tolerance", a specialized method of preventing the rejection of a transplanted organ without suppressing the entire immune system.
Currently, transplant recipients must receive immunosuppressive drugs to suppress their own white blood cells (T cells) that attack foreign cells and cause organ rejections. Unfortunately, these non-specific drugs affect the entire immune system and thus carry significant risks for infection and certain malignancies. The goal is to eliminate the need for global immunosuppression in transplant recipients. Ideal immunotherapy would be one that targets only the donor-specific immune cells that cause rejection, without affecting any of the other immune cells, thus leaving the immune system intact and able to function at full capacity.
To this end, the lab is conducting several experiments to gain insight into the mechanisms of rejection. These projects include the use of specialized immune cells in targeting specific lymphoid organs, as well as investigations into the contributions of CD+4 T cells and CD8 T cells to the process of transplant rejection. The laboratory's work is helping to define important parameters for potential treatments in humans.
Research Interests
- Transplant Immunology
- Dendritic Cell Immune Therapy
- Novel Strategies for the Induction of Transplant-specific Tolerance
- T-cell Mediated Transplant Rejection as well as Tolerance
Publications
- Targeted lymphoid homing of dendritic cells is required for prolongation of allograft survival.| | PubMed
- More than 500 consecutive laparoscopic donor nephrectomies without conversion or repeated surgery.| | PubMed
- Laparoscopic procurement of kidneys with multiple renal arteries is associated with increased ureteral complications in the recipient.| | PubMed
- Laparoscopic right donor nephrectomy: a large single-center experience.| | PubMed
- Congenital choledochal cysts in adults.| | PubMed
- Technique, indications and outcomes of pure laparoscopic right donor nephrectomy.| | PubMed
- Excellent short-term results with steroid-free maintenance immunosuppression in low-risk simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation.| | PubMed
- Techniques to optimize vascular control during laparoscopic donor nephrectomy.| | PubMed