Alan Langnas, D.O., chief of transplant surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, was named the president of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons in May.
Dr. Langnas is a professor of surgery-transplant at UNMC and chief of the transplant center at the Nebraska Medical Center. He will serve as ASTS president through July 2014.
"Dr. Langnas truly represents the 'triple threat' in academic surgery as he lead his division of transplant surgery to the forefront in clinical practice, education and research," said David W. Mercer, M.D., chairman and the McLaughlin Professor of Surgery in the department of surgery at UNMC.
"While some programs follow the standard of care, Dr. Langnas pushes the envelope by challenging existing paradigms to formulate new standards of care that improve outcomes in patients with end stage organ dysfunction,” Dr. Mercer said.
"UNMC and the ASTS are truly fortunate to have such a gifted and innovative individual serve in a leadership capacity," he said.
The ASTS represents transplant surgeons in the United States, and by default, the institutions they lead, Dr. Langnas said. The organization is engaged in advocacy on legislative issues at the state and federal level, but also promotes research and education.
"One area we are focusing on is trying to revamp and redesign the transplant fellowship training program, moving more toward education and away from service," Dr. Langnas said.
Dr. Langnas received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and medical education at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. He began his internship at Botsford General Hospital in Farmington Hills, Michigan in 1982. In 1987 he began his transplantation fellowship at Henry Ford Hospital and completed a second year of fellowship training at UNMC.
On completion of his fellowship in 1989, he joined the faculty of UNMC. He has been chief of the section of transplantation surgery and the director of the transplantation fellowship at UNMC since 1997.
The American Society of Transplant Surgeons is composed of about 2,000 transplant surgeons, physicians, scientists, advanced transplant providers and allied health professionals.
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