Description of Research Expertise

James Markmann, M.D. is a board certified general surgeon with extensive specialty training in all areas of abdominal organ transplantation. He has a highly active clinical practice in liver, kidney and simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplantation. His special interests include: treatment of hepatobiliary malignancy, living-related and split liver transplantation, transplantation for Type I diabetes (pancreas and islet transplantation), and minimally invasive approaches to transplant surgery such as laparoscopic donor nephrectomy.

Dr. Markmann's lab works on basic Transplantation Immunology and has three general areas of interest: First, we are working on gene based strategies to improve graft survival. We have constructed viral vectors encoding immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory moelcules to impact the host response to allografts. Second, we have focused on characterization of a particular population of immunoregulatory T cells that are know to be critical for self-tolerance as a means to induce tolerance to an allograft. Finally, we have recently begun clinical trials of human isolated islet transplantation. A number of projects in the lab center on ways to improve the efficiency of islet function or ways to improve islet transplant success by inducing replication of islet cells or differentiation of beta cells form stem cells.

Selected Publications

Velidedeoglu E, Mange KC, Frank A, Abt P, Desai NM, Markmann JW, Reddy R, Markmann JF: Factors differentially correlated with the outcome of liver transplantation in HCV+ and HCV- recipients Transplantation 77 (12): 1834-1842,2004.

Lee MK 4th, Moore DJ, Jarrett BP, Lian MM, Deng S, Huang X, Markmann JW, Chiaccio M, Barker CF, Caton AJ, Markmann JF: Promotion of allograft survival by CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells: evidence for in vivo inhibition of effector cell proliferation Journal of Immunology 172 (11): 6539-6544,2004.

Kobinger GP, Deng S, Louboutin JP, Vatamaniuk M, Matschinsky F, Markmann JF, Raper SE, Wilson JM: Transduction of human islets with pseudotyped lentiviral vectors Human Gene Therapy 15 (2): 211-9,2004.

Abt PL, Desai NM, Crawford MD, Forman LM, Markmann JW, Olthoff KM, Markmann, JF: Survival following liver transplantation from non-heart-beating donors Annals of Surgery 239 (1): 87-92,2004.

Wu Z, Bensinger SJ, Zhang J, Chen C, Yuan X, Huang X, Markmann JF, Kassaee, A, Rosengard BR, Hancock WW, Sayegh MH, Turka LA: Homeostatic proliferation is a barrier to transplantation tolerance Nature Medicine 10 (1): 87-92,2004.

Lee MK 4th, Moore DJ, Markmann JF: Regulatory CD4+CD25+T cells in prevention of allograft rejection Frontiers in Bioscience 8 : s968-s981,2003.

Cao X, Gao Z, Robert CE, Greene S, Xu G, Xu W, Bell E, Campbell D, Zhu Y, Young R, Trucco M, Markmann JF, Naji A, Wolf BA: Pancreatic-derived factor (FAM3B), a novel islet cytokine, induces apoptosis of insulin-secreting beta-cells Diabetes 52 (9): 2296-2303,2003.

Htaik TT, Santaniello NA, Markmann JF, Shaked A, Clark TW: Treatment of obstructive nephroureteral clot with a rheolytic mechanical thrombectomy device Journal of Vascular & Interventional Radiology 14 (7): 933-936,2003.

Markmann JF, Rosen M, Siegelman ES, Soulen MC, Deng S, Barker CF, Naji A: Magnetic resonance-defined periportal steatosis following intraportal islet transplantation: A functional footprint of islet graft survival? Diabetes 52 (7): 1591-1594,2003.

Markmann JF, Deng S, Huang X, Desai NM, Velidedeoglu EH, Lui C, Frank A, Markmann E, Palanjian M, Brayman K, Wolf B, Bell E, Vitamaniuk M, Doliba N, Matschinsky F, Barker CF, Naji A: Insulin independence following isolated islet transplantation and single islet infusions Annals of Surgery 237 (6): 741-750,2003.

Academic Contact Information

Division of Transplant Surgery
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
3400 Spruce Street, 2 Ravdin Courtyard
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: 215-662-4083
Patient appointments: 800-789-7366