Massachusetts General Hospital | Transplant Center

Biography

Joren C. Madsen, MD, DPhil received his bachelor's degree from Brown University and his medical degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1982. After completing his first three years of general surgery training at Mass General, he was awarded the Claude E. Welch Surgical Research fellowship to study at Oxford University. His work there culminated in a doctorate degree from Balliol College in immunology. Dr. Madsen completed his surgical residency in 1990 and went on to train in cardiothoracic surgery at Mass General and Boston Children's Hospital. He joined the Division of Cardiac Surgery in 1993. Early on, Dr. Madsen focused his research efforts on the induction of immune tolerance. In 1996 he was made Director of the Cardiothoracic Immunology Laboratory and in 1999 was appointed Surgical Director of Cardiac Transplantation at Mass General.

Currently Dr. Madsen is Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and the W. Gerald and Patricia R. Austen Distinguished Scholar in Cardiac Surgery at Mass General. He directs the Transplant Center, which encompasses kidney, liver, lung, heart, pancreas and small bowel transplantation in adults and children. Dr. Madsen divides his time between cardiac surgery, transplant immunology research, teaching and administration. His academic interests and over 130 publications have focused on transplantation tolerance, chronic rejection and innate immunity. He has a strong commitment to both clinical and scientific education, having mentored over 30 pre- and post-doctoral fellows in his laboratory.

Dr. Madsen serves on the editorial boards of Transplantation, the American Journal of Transplantation and the Annals of Thoracic Surgery. He is currently the past president of the American Society of Transplantation, the first surgeon to be elected to that position.

Research

Dr. Madsen leads three interrelated research groups that study the molecular and cellular mechanisms of transplant rejection and immune tolerance in mice, swine and nonhuman primates, respectively. By understanding the biological of these processes Madsen hopes to find ways to prolong organ allograft survival (inducing tolerance), extend transplant recipients lives (preventing chronic rejection) and increase the organ donor pool (pig-to-human xenotransplantation). Dr. Madsen's laboratory has been the first to induce long term tolerance of cardiac allografts in large animals and to demonstrate the natural killer cells contribute to cardiac allograft vasculopathy.

Dr. Madsen is currently principal investigator on two Program Project Grants from the NIAID and NHLBI and an RO1 from the NHLBI. In addition, he directs clinical studies in heart transplantation through the Clinical Trials in Organ Transplantation (CTOT) project sponsored by the NIAID, NHLBI and NIDDK.

In 2002 he received the Fujisawa Basic Science Award from the American Society of Transplantation. In 2005 was made the W. Gerald and Patricia R. Austen Distinguished Scholar in Cardiac Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Publications

View my most recent publications at PubMed

Continuing the legacy

MGH Hotline 010909 Willard M. Daggett, MD, retired MGH cardiac surgeon and founder of the MGH Laboratory of Surgical Cardiovascular Physiologic Research, mentored hundreds of surgical trainees during his 50-year career at the MGH.

Record Number of Heart Transplants in 2008

MGH Hotline Twenty-eight patients received lifesaving heart transplants at the MGH Heart Center in 2008.

Raising awareness of the importance of organ and tissue donation

MGH Hotline 4.16.10 IN RECOGNITION OF National Donate Life Month, Partners HealthCare has partnered with the New England Organ Bank (NEOB) to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation.

Film festival shines spotlight on organ donation

WHILE SOME MGHERS are having a brush with stardom through the ABC series "Boston Med," one MGH physician -- Joren C. Madsen, MD, DPhil, director of the MGH Transplant Center and section chief of Cardiac Surgery -- rubbed shoulders with celebrities for a worthwhile cause during the Donate Life Hollywood Film Festival in Beverly Hills June 11 and 12.

MGH Transplant Center hosts inaugural golf tournament

MGH Hotline 08.27.10 Nearly 100 golfers -- including MGH President Peter L. Slavin, MD; MGPO Chairman and CEO David F. Torchiana, MD; and Chief of the MGH Division of Transplantation James F. Markmann, MD, PhD -- took to the links at the Weston Golf Club July 12 for the inaugural MGH Transplant Center Golf Classic.

Transplant Center unfolds strategic vision and plan

MGH Hotline 12.3.10 Members of the MGH Transplant Center gathered in the Bigelow Amphitheater Nov. 17 to hear Joren Madsen, MD, DPhil, director of the MGH Transplant Center; Jay A. Fishman, MD, associate director of the center; and Debra J. Doroni, MBA, executive director of the center and the Department of Surgery, unveil the Transplant Center's new strategic plan.

An MGH transplant miracle

This marks the second time in the past 20 years that the MGH has performed a heart and liver transplant, also the second operation of its kind ever done in New England.

Celebrating 50 years of transplantation

This week marks 50 years of transplantation at the MGH. Since the first kidney transplant performed on Feb. 27, 1963, the MGH Transplant Center has revolutionized transplant medicine as an innovator in complex, life-saving techniques

Leadership changes at the Transplantation Biology Research Center

After more than two decades of leading the MGH Transplantation Biology Research Center (TBRC), David H. Sachs, MD, is stepping down from his role as director.

Joren C. Madsen inducted as president of American Transplantation Society

Joren C. Madsen, MD, D.Phil, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Transplant Center, was inducted president of the American Society of Transplantation during the 2009 American Transplant Congress.