Abdominal Transplant Surgeon Dr. Robert Harland Joins UA Department of Surgery
Robert C. Harland, MD, has joined the University of Arizona Department of Surgery Division of Abdominal Transplantation as professor, vice chair of academic affairs and surgical director of solid organ transplantation at Banner University Medical Center Tucson.
Dr. Harland comes to the UA from East Carolina University's Brody School of Medicine, where he served as professor of surgery and division chief of surgical immunology and transplantation. He previously was associate professor and director of the Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program at the University of Chicago School of Medicine. He also has been on the medical faculty at Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Massachusetts. He is board certified in internal medicine, as well as surgery.
Dr. Harland has more than 20 years of experience in the management of complex patients with end-stage organ failure. In addition to kidney, pancreas and liver transplantation, his expertise includes advanced laparoscopic surgery, including donor nephrectomy, hepatobiliary diseases and pancreatic and dialysis access surgery in patients with diabetes and end-stage kidney disease. He also has extensive experience with multi-organ transplantation, such as heart/liver and heart/kidney transplants and in the management of patients who require repeat transplantation.
Dr. Harland treats each patient as unique and may require a slightly different approach to management. This approach presents opportunities to transplant each patient with the best possible organ as successfully and quickly as possible. He also is a strong advocate of working as part of a multidisciplinary team to provide the best care to each patient.
As a researcher, Dr. Harland has been active in both basic and clinical studies focused on such areas as xenotransplantation (the transplantation of nonhuman cells and organs into humans) and development of novel immunosuppressive agents or regimens to make transplantation safer and more successful. He has published more than 80 articles and book chapters.
A graduate of Duke University School of Medicine, Dr. Harland completed residency training in internal medicine and general surgery, and a multi-organ abdominal transplant fellowship in transplant surgery at Duke.
Dr. Harland is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, the International Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Association and the International Xenotransplant Society.
Dr. Harland's addition to the transplant team holds great promise for continuing the success of our transplant program. He will help us capitalize on opportunities to grow programs, improve efficiency and enhance quality of care and service for our patients said Leigh Neumayer, MD, professor and chair, UA Department of Surgery. Dr. Harland also has a long history of faculty mentoring and, in his role as vice chair of academic affairs, will be implementing a formal faculty-development program to assist with faculty recruitment and retention in the Department of Surgery