J. Richard Thistlethwaite, MD, PhD

Professor of Surgery

President, Medical Staff

Dr. J. Richard Thistlethwaite, the senior member of the University of Chicago Transplant Surgery faculty, has been performing transplants for more than 20 years. In that time, he has performed more than a thousand kidney transplants, 300 liver transplants, and approximately 180 pancreas transplants.

Dr. Thistlethwaite performed Illinois' first pancreas transplant and was also a member of the team that performed the first liver transplant in Illinois. One of his patients is the longest surviving recipient of a living-donor liver transplant. The University of Chicago Transplant Surgery section developed this operation. Some of Dr. Thistlethwaite's other patients include the youngest recipient of a deceased donor liver transplant, and the second youngest recipient of a deceased donor kidney transplant worldwide.

Dr. Thistlethwaite is the president of the Medical Staff at the University of Chicago. He is a past-president of the Illinois Transplant Society and has served as board chairman for the Regional Organ Bank of Illinois and has been a councilor for the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the United Network of Organ Sharing. He is currently president of the International Pediatric Transplant Society, chairman of the Solid Organ Transplantation Subgroup of the Immune Tolerance Network, and a governor of the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Thistlethwaite's PhD is in immunology, and he has more 200 published research papers on transplantation, immunology, and anti-rejection medications.

Practice Location

Center for Advanced Medicine
5758 S. Maryland Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637

Year Started Practice

1984

Board Certification

General Surgery

Medical School

Duke University, Durham, NC

Residency

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston

Fellowships

National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston

Memberships

American Association of the Study of Liver Disease
American College of Surgeons
American Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association
American Society of Transplant Surgeons
American Society of Transplantation
Cell Transplant Society
Illinois Transplant Society
International Liver Transplantation Society
International Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Association
International Pediatric Transplant Association
Society of University Surgeons
The Transplantation Society

Language Spoken

English

Email

jthistle@surgery.bsd.uchicago.edu

Office Phone

(773) 702-6104

Office Fax

(773) 702-2126

Office Postal Address

J. Richard Thistlethwaite, MD, PhD
University of Chicago Medical Center
5841 S. Maryland Avenue, MC 5026
Chicago, IL 60637

Physician Photo

Clinical Interests

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Read More About Dr. Thistlethwaite

In May 2003, University of Chicago physicians performed the fourth heart/liver/kidney transplant in the United States. Dr. Thistlethwaite performed the kidney portion of the surgery. Four years later, Michael Gaynor feels energetic and is helping others cope with life before and after transplant.

Dr. Thistlethwaite performed the first liver and pancreatic islet cell transplant in the Midwest on Patsy Esposito. Only two other medical centers in the U.S. have performed this rare combined cell transplant. Read Esposito's story.

Selected Publications

View a partial list of Dr. Thistlethwaite's publications through the National Library of Medicine's PubMed online database.



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