Dr. Hans Sollinger will discuss organ transplants at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 13, at the Waupaca Area Public Library.
Hosted by Winchester Academy of Waupaca, the program is free and open to the public.
Professor of surgery and director of the University of Wisconsin Kidney Transplant Program, Sollinger will bring his audience up-to-date on the state of human organ transplants.
His program was inspired by a Waupaca kidney donor who participated in a paired kidney exchange (PKE) last summer.
The UW Health Transplant Program in Madison works with about 50 clinics nationwide, performing transplant procedures working with living donors, through a national paired kidney exchange program.
The exchange program helps the donor shortage by using organs from living donors, and it increases the odds of finding a compatible donor for an individual patient.
Sollinger will explain how the PKE process works and how donor chains are initiated.
Since joining UW Health in 1975, Sollinger has revolutionized the entire transplant field through some of his research and studies.
In 1982, he developed the “Wisconsin technique” for pancreas transplants, a method that more than doubled the survival rate of kidney-pancreas recipients throughout the world.
In 1995, he developed an immunosuppressant agent, one of the world’s most frequently used drugs of its kind, benefiting more than 600,000 patients worldwide.
Sollinger received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Munich, Germany.
In 1980, Sollinger joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, and in 1995 was named chairman of the Division of Organ Transplantation at UW.
He became professor of surgery in 1996 and is currently director of the Transplant Program.
Winchester Academy is supported by sponsors and tax-deductible donations. Sollinger’s program is sponsored by Dr. David Hathaway.
For more information about Winchester Academy, visit winchesteracademywaupaca.org, follow the group on Facebook or contact Executive Director Ann Buerger Linden at 715-258-2927 or [email protected].