John P. Roberts, M.D.
- Professor of Surgery
- Division of Transplant Surgery
- Endowed Chair in Abdominal Transplantation
Contact Information
Academic Office
(415) 353-1888 Clinical, Liver
(415) 353-1551 Clinical, Kidney and Pancreas
(415) 353-9321 Academic
[email protected]
(415) 353-1888 Clinical, Liver
(415) 353-1551 Clinical, Kidney and Pancreas
(415) 353-9321 Academic
[email protected]
Education
- Stanford University, Stanford, CA, B.S., Biology, 1972-76
- University of California, San Diego, CA, M.D., Medicine, 1976-80
Residencies
- University of Washington, Seattle, WA., Resident, Surgery, 1980-83
- University of Washington, Seattle, WA., Resident, Surgery, 1985-86
Fellowships
- Cornell University, New York, NY, Fellow, Research, 1983-85
- University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, Fellow, Transplant, 1986-87
Clinical Expertise
- Acute Liver Failure
- Bile Duct Cancer (Cholangiocarcinoma)
- Bile Duct Injuries
- Bile Duct Strictures
- Choledochal Cyst Disease
- Complex Cancer Resections
- Expanded Criteria Donor Kidney Transplant
- Fulminant Hepatic Failure
- Infections Post-Transplant
- Kidney Transplant
- Liver Cancer (Hepatocellular Carcinoma)
- Liver Resection
- Liver Transplant
- Living Donor Kidney Transplant
- Living Donor Liver Transplant
- Pediatric Kidney Transplant
- Pediatric Liver Transplant
- Portal Hypertension
- Rex Shunt or Meso-portal Shunt
- Surgical Shunts
Biography
John P. Roberts, M.D. is a transplant surgeon and professor of surgery in the Division of Transplant Surgery. He also hold the Endowed Chair in Abdominal Transplantation. Dr. Roberts is a former interim chair of the Department of Surgery and served in that role from October 2016 through March 2018.
After receiving his medical degree at the University of California, San Diego, Dr. Roberts completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Washington, Cornell University and the University of Minnesota. Dr. Roberts supervises medical students, residents, and postdoctoral fellows. He has received awards from the residents for his teaching efforts. He is active in health policy regarding transplantation and is a member of professional and public service organizations related to this field.
Dr. Roberts serves on numerous national committees related to his expertise on organ distribution. He frequently delivers presentations on topics involving transplantation science and the management of surgical patients.
Research & Funding
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- TRANSPLANTATION AND HEPATOTOXINS FOR LIVER CANCERSponsor: NIH/NCISponsor ID: R29CA058696Funding Period:Jan 1993-Dec 1997Principal Investigator
Publications
MOST RECENT PUBLICATIONS FROM A TOTAL OF 244
Data provided by UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI
- Edwards AL, Tavakol MM, Mello A, Kerney J, Roberts JP. Pretransplantation coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination requirements: A matched case-control study of factors associated with waitlist inactivation. Am J Transplant. 2023 Sep 24. View in PubMed
- Meier RPH, Nunez M, Syed SM, Feng S, Tavakol M, Freise CE, Roberts JP, Ascher NL, Hirose R, Roll GR. DCD liver transplant in patients with a MELD over 35. Front Immunol. 2023; 14:1246867. View in PubMed
- Dixon W, Sheetz K, Adelmann D, Bokoch M, Reddy M, Kothari R, Roberts JP, Syed S, Feng S, Roll G. Real-world implementation of normothermic machine perfusion: A detailed analysis of intraoperative and early postoperative impact. Clin Transplant. 2023 10; 37(10):e15049. View in PubMed
- Ascher NL, Roberts JP. Comments on Experience With Establishing a Robotic Donor Hepatectomy Program for Paediatric Liver Transplantation. Transplantation. 2023 Jun 09. View in PubMed
- Nunez M, Praglin CR, Torres AM, Agudelo EZ, Braun HJ, Huang CY, Syed S, Roberts JP, Roll GR. Steroid Avoidance After Adult Living Donor Liver Transplant: A Cohort Analysis. Transplant Direct. 2023 Jun; 9(6):e1488. View in PubMed
- View All Publications
Videos
Data provided by UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI
- Transplant Update: The Liver
- UCSF Kidney Transplant Update: State of Transplantation, New Drugs, New Trials, Transplant Controversies
- Fall 2009 UCSF Liver Transplant Update: Management of the Complications of Portal Hypertension
- 2010 Kidney Transplant Update: Bariatric Surgery for Transplant Candidates, Novel Therapies for Gastroparesis
- UCSF 2010 Liver Transplant Update: LDLT - Left or Right? Treatment of Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- UCSF Kidney Transplant Update 2011: State of Transplantation; Balance Between Efficacy and Toxicity at UCSF
- Live Donor Liver Transplant - Risks and Benefits
In the News
- Washington Post - - May 11, 2019Just 42 years old, Erosalyn Deveza was drifting toward death. Her kidneys were barely functioning. She was constantly exhausted. She had vertigo and vomited frequently. She was tethered to a home dialysis machine for eight hours each night as she slept. A kidney transplant was the only thing that could save her, but it was unlikely to happen in time in the United States. No one on Deveza's side of the family could provide an organ through a living donation, doctors said, because all were at [...]
- UCSF Department of Surgery - - August 17, 2017The Spring/Summer 2017 issue of Inside Surgery is now available online. Inside Surgery is a Department of Surgery brochure showcasing the clinical and research advances of our faculty. The edition highlights minimally invasive bariatric surgery to treat metabolic disease, and robotic surgery deployed across a variety of surgical specialties within the Department. The newsletter begins with a tribute to the outgoing Chair, Nancy L. Ascher, M.D., Ph.D. via a letter from the Interim [...]
- UCSF Transplant Surgery - - July 30, 2015UCSF News reports on a just published study in the The New England Journal of Medicine in which mild hypothermia in deceased organ donors was found to significantly reduce delayed graft function in kidney transplant recipients compared with normal body temperature. The lead author of the study is Claus Niemann, MD, Professor of Anesthesia and Surgery at UCSF, and co-Director of the Ischemic Organ Injury Lab. The findings in the study could lead to an increase in the availability of kidneys for [...]
- UCSF Transplant Surgery - December 20, 2014A new video on AASLD TV (American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases) features the UCSF Liver Transplant Program and faculty John P. Roberts, M.D., Norah A. Terrault, M.D., M.P.H. and Francis Y.K. Yao, M.D. As a leader in the treatment of liver disease and transplantation, UCSF has performed more than 2,500 liver transplants in both children and adults, many in their growing living donor liver transplantation program. The UCSF team is also researching cures for hepatitis as well as [...]
- UCSF Transplant Surgery - October 22, 2014UCSF News reports on a study that found that the vast majoirty of liver transplant candidates who died or were delisted from the transplant list had previously received one or more liver donation offers: Most liver transplant candidates who died or were removed from the transplant list actually received one or more liver donation offers, according to a recent UCSF study. "What we found challenges the simplistic view that transplant dynamics are driven simply by organ availability," said [...]
- UCSF Transplant Surgery - July 29, 2014UCSF News report on a joint collaboration between UCSF and Walgreen that provides blood pressure testing at no charge to living kidney donors. While recipients of living donor kidney transplants receive steady follow-up care, the living donors themselves also need to be monitored. To make follow-up care more accessible, UC San Francisco and Walgreens (NYSE: WAG) (Nasdaq: WAG) are collaborating to launch the first program in the country that provides blood pressure testing at no charge to [...]
- UCSF Transplant Surgery - April 19, 2014UCSF's Kidney Transplant Program has ranked number one in the country for transplant volume, according to the newest data just released by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). The program, led by John Roberts, M.D., Chief of the Transplant Service and Division of Transplant Surgery at UCSF, transplanted a total of 355 adult and pediatric kidney patients from July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013 (this includes living donor and deceased donor transplants). Established in 1964, [...]
- UCSF Transplant Surgery - June 05, 2013"The sun wasn't up at 5 o'clock Wednesday morning, but a new day had already dawned for Matthew Ouimet. Matthew, a 2-year-old Antioch boy who had waited 15 months for a life-sustaining kidney and liver transplant, had his new organs. Dr. John Roberts took the lead on the liver transplant, and Dr. Peter Stock, who handled the kidney procedure in a 12-hour surgery that began around 6 p.m. Tuesday, delivered the good news to parents Kristi and Kelly Ouimet and a half-dozen family members who spent [...]
- UCSF Transplant Surgery - June 14, 2012Liver cancer patients in need of an organ transplant often face a cruel reality -- while waiting for a deceased-donor liver, their cancer may worsen, spreading to other organs and making them ineligible for a transplant. With two children to raise and time ticking down, Amy Baghdadi was fast running out of options. But at her daughter's soccer practice, a fellow parent, who happened to be UCSF transplant surgeon, Andrew Posselt, M.D., Ph.D., heard Amy's story, and convinced there were other [...]
- UCSF Transplant Surgery - May 09, 2012John P. Roberts, M.D., Professor and Chief of Transplant Surgery and the Organ Transplant Service at UCSF, has been elected President of the National Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/United Network for Organ Sharing (OPTN/UNOS) Board of Directors. Roberts will serve a one-year term beginning in late June 2012.
- UCSF Transplant Surgery - October 20, 2011UCSF News reports on the award of a $2 million grant by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to a team led by Claus Niemann, MD, Associate Professor in the UCSF Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care and co-Director of the Ischemic Organ Injury Lab to improve outcomes in organ donor transplantation. The grant was awarded to Niemann and his collaborators including John Feiner, MD, as well as Ryutaro Hirose, MD, and John Roberts, MD, chief of the UCSF Transplant [...]
- UCSF Transplant Surgery - May 28, 2011Dr. John Roberts, UCSF professor and chief of transplant surgery, has been elected vice president/president-elect of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/United Network for Organ Sharing (OPTN/UNOS) Board of Directors. Roberts will serve a one-year term beginning in June 2011 and will become the organization's president in June 2012.
- UCSF Transplant Surgery - January 07, 2011"John Roberts, M.D., chief of the UCSF Transplant Service and a leading expert in liver transplant surgery for adults and children, recently talked with Andrew Schorr of Patient Power about the risks and benefits of living donor liver transplant surgery. Liver transplants provide patients a chance for a longer, more active life in the final stages of liver disease or end-stage liver disease. At UCSF Medical Center, the majority of organs for transplantation are obtained from people who have [...]
- UCSF Transplant Surgery - December 23, 2009UCSF Medical Center's Liver Transplant Program exceeded all standards for adult transplants in an annual review by the Kaiser Permanente National Transplant Network. Outcomes data, including national benchmarks of the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS), were used in the review. Dr. Ronald Potts, quality performance medical director at Kaiser, recognized UCSF for the "statistically high patient and graft survival outcomes." UCSF outcomes for adults have been consistently higher than [...]
- UCSF Transplant Surgery - September 19, 2006UCSF News reports on the the difficult choices that patients, families and doctors face because of the shortage of donated organs for transplantation. A difficult conundrum for the nation's transplant patients was aired September 22 when the news program California Connected featured UCSF's Liver Transplant Program. The story, produced by Jon Dann for public television stations KQED and KCET, highlights the difficult choices that patients, families and doctors face because of the shortage of [...]
- UCSF Transplant Surgery - December 18, 2005"Of all the things for a married couple to bicker about, Nancy Ascher and John Roberts have hit on a first -- a pulsing human liver. To be precise, they are standing forehead to forehead with a man splayed out between them. Roberts wants more of his liver to take next door to a waiting recipient. Ascher wants more of it left behind for the donor's recovery."
Patient Stories
- Alyssa Welch
A Story of Hope and Survival
Alyssa flanked by mother Kim and older sister My name is Kim Welch, and my daughter Alyssa’s story is one of hope and survival. She was born 15 years ago with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD). ARPKD causes severe damage to both your kidney and liver. Alyssa was two and a half years old when she had her first kidney transplant. Ten days after her successful kidney transplant, unrelated to her congenital disease, Alyssa was diagnosed with eye cancer. Her left eye was surgically removed and replaced with an artificial one. Time marched on and so did Alyssa’s[...] - Gloria & Veronica Ramos
Living Donor Transplant Emblemmatic of Loving Family
When Gloria Ramos received the call in August 2000 that UCSF Medical Center had a liver for the transplant she badly needed, the Ramos family drove to the hospital with great anticipation and excitement. But further testing of the available organ revealed it wasn't a good match for Gloria and her daughters and husband expressed their disappointment. "This only means that I'm at the top of the list," Gloria recalls assuring her family. "I'll get called again!" Gloria contracted Hepatitis C through a blood transfusion in 1982 but the deadly virus lived undetected in her body until the summer[...]