Portland, Ore.

Oregon native will create a living-donor liver transplant program at OHSU.

Oregon Health & Science University announced today the arrival of the new director of its liver transplant program. John M. Ham, M.D., now leads the OHSU-Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center liver transplant program, the state's only resource for liver transplantation. He, his wife and three children are returning to Oregon, where he was born in Enterprise, a small town in eastern Oregon.

"Dr. Ham's pioneering work in living-donor liver transplantation will add a new dimension to our liver transplant program," said John Barry, M.D., transplant surgeon and chief of OHSU's Division of Abdominal Organ Transplantation and Division of Urology. "In addition, I feel his leadership will give OHSU the ability to move forward and expand the services offered by our nationally recognized transplant programs."

Ham is joining OHSU from Virginia Commonwealth University and McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center in Richmond, Va., where he was the director of the Living-Donor Liver Transplant Program and the Pancreas Transplant Program, and an associate professor in the Department of Surgery at the university. "OHSU has a great liver transplant program," said Ham. "I look forward to this opportunity to expand the liver and pancreas programs. My goals include increasing the number of transplants, and adding both pediatric liver and living-donor liver transplant programs."

Ham received his medical degree from Loma Linda University in California, where he also completed his specialty training in surgery and a fellowship in vascular surgery. Following that, Ham completed a transplant surgery fellowship at the University of Michigan Medical Center. He is currently certified in surgical intensive care and vascular surgery.

In addition to his liver transplant expertise, Ham specializes in kidney and pancreas transplant surgery, as well as hepatobiliary surgery. His professional affiliations include the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, the International Liver Transplant Society and the American College of Surgeons. He was on the board of directors for the Virginia Affiliate of the National Kidney Foundation, and a representative to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) kidney and pancreas transplantation committee.

OHSU has the oldest and most comprehensive solid organ transplant program in Oregon, and the first in the state to perform heart, kidney, liver, lung and pancreas transplants. Patient outcomes in all of its transplant programs continue to exceed national averages. The OHSU/VA consortium, which began in 1988, has performed more than 600 liver transplants.

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