Varvara A. Kirchner

Varvara A. Kirchner, MD, FACS, Associate Professor of Surgery, Department of Surgery, Division of Abdominal Transplantation, Stanford University

Research Description: Dr. Varvara A. Kirchner is Associate Professor of Surgery at the Division of Transplantation, Stanford University. She completed her medical school, surgical residency and multi-organ transplant fellowship in adult and pediatric liver, pancreas, kidney transplantation and total pancreatectomy with islet auto-transplantation at the University of Minnesota. She underwent further training in living donor liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery at the Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea. Her clinical practice involves living and deceased donor liver and kidney transplantation in adult and pediatric patients as well as total pancreatectomy with islet auto-transplantation for patients with chronic and acute recurrent pancreatitis. She currently serves as Surgical Director of the Islet Cell Auto-Transplant at Stanford Children’s and Associate Director of the Living Donor Liver Transplant Program at the Division of Abdominal Transplantation. Dr. Kirchner’s research focuses on the biology of aging, cellular and solid organ transplantation. Her specific interest is in auto-islet and iPSC-derived hepatocyte therapies. Her research on the impact of donor age on generation of iPSC-derived cellular products is supported by the NIA K08 Faculty Development Award. She is an active member of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the International Liver Transplantation Society where she serves as a Past-Chair of the Vanguard Committee and the Co-Coordinator of the Special Interest Group on Infectious Diseases and Liver Transplantation.

Selected relevant publications (SDRC members in BOLD):

  1. Circulating miRNA in Patients Undergoing Total Pancreatectomy and Islet Autotransplantation CELL TRANSPLANTATION Vasu, S., Yang, J. M., Hodges, J., Abu-El-Haija, M. A., Adams, D. B., Balamurugan, A. N., Beilman, G. J., Chinnakotla, S., Conwell, D. L., Freeman, M. L., Gardner, T. B., Hatipoglu, B., Kirchner, V., Lara, L. F., Morgan, K. A., Nathan, J. D., Posselt, A., Pruett, T. L., Schwarzenberg, S. J., Singh, V. K., Wijkstrom, M., Witkowski, P., Naziruddin, B., Bellin, M. D.All Authors 2021; 30: 963689721999330

  2. Metabolic measures before surgery and long-term diabetes outcomes in recipients of total pancreatectomy and islet autotransplantation AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION Nanno, Y., Wastvedt, S., Freeman, M. L., Trikudanathan, G., Schwarzenberg, S. J., Downs, E. M., Kirchner, V. A., Pruett, T. L., Beilman, G. J., Chinnakotla, S., Hering, B. J., Bellin, M. D. 2021; 21 (10): 3411-3420

  3. Body Composition is Associated With Islet Function After Pancreatectomy and Islet Autotransplantation for Pancreatitis JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM Harindhanavudhi, T., Yang, Y., Hodges, J. S., Pruett, T. L., Kirchner, V., Beilman, G. J., Bellin, M. D. 2021; 106 (2): E496-E506

  4. Early use of continuous glucose monitoring in children and adolescents after total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation PEDIATRIC DIABETES McEachron, K. R., Potlapalli, N., Rayannavar, A., Downs, E. M., Schwarzenberg, S. J., Kirchner, V. A., Beilman, G. J., Chinnakotla, S., Bellin, M. D. 2021; 22 (3): 434-438

  5. A Study on the Effect of Patient Characteristics, Geographical Utilization, and Patient Outcomes for Total Pancreatectomy Alone and Total Pancreatectomy With Islet Autotransplantation in Patients With Pancreatitis in the United States PANCREAS Lara, L. F., Bellin, M. D., Ugbarugba, E., Nathan, J. D., Witkowski, P., Wijkstrom, M., Steel, J. L., Smith, K. D., Singh, V. K., Schwarzenberg, S. J., Pruett, T. L., Naziruddin, B., Long-Simpson, L., Kirchner, V. A., Gardner, T. B., Freeman, M. L., Dunn, T. B., Chinnakotla, S., Beilman, G. J., Adams, D. B., Morgan, K. A., Abu-El-Haija, M. A., Ahmad, S., Posselt, A. M., Hughes, M. G., Conwell, D. L.All Authors 2019; 48 (9): 1204-1211

  6. Age and Disease Duration Impact Outcomes of Total Pancreatectomy and Islet Autotransplant for PRSS1 Hereditary Pancreatitis. Pancreas Bellin, M. D., Prokhoda, P., Hodges, J. S., Schwarzenberg, S. J., Freeman, M. L., Dunn, T. B., Wilhelm, J. J., Pruett, T. L., Kirchner, V. A., Beilman, G. J., Chinnakotla, S. 2018; 47 (4): 466-470

  7. A multicenter study of total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation (TPIAT): POST (Prospective Observational Study of TPIAT). Pancreatology : official journal of the International Association of Pancreatology (IAP) ... [et al.] Bellin, M. D., Abu-El-Haija, M., Morgan, K., Adams, D., Beilman, G. J., Chinnakotla, S., Conwell, D. L., Dunn, T. B., Freeman, M. L., Gardner, T., Kirchner, V. A., Lara, L. F., Long-Simpson, L., Nathan, J. D., Naziruddin, B., Nyman, J. A., Pruett, T. L., Schwarzenberg, S. J., Singh, V. K., Smith, K., Steel, J. L., Wijkstrom, M., Witkowski, P., Hodges, J. S.All Authors 2018; 18 (3): 286-290

  8. Total Pancreatectomy With Islet Autotransplantation for Acute Recurrent and Chronic Pancreatitis. Current treatment options in gastroenterology Kirchner, V. A., Dunn, T. B., Beilman, G. J., Chinnakotla, S., Pruett, T. L., Wilhelm, J. J., Schwarzenberg, S. J., Freeman, M. L., Bellin, M. D. 2017; 15 (4): 548-561

  9. Long-term Outcomes for Living Pancreas Donors in the Modern Era. Transplantation Kirchner, V. A., Finger, E. B., Bellin, M. D., Dunn, T. B., Gruessner, R. W., Hering, B. J., Humar, A., Kukla, A. K., Matas, A. J., Pruett, T. L., Sutherland, D. E., Kandaswamy, R. 2016; 100 (6): 1322-8

  10. Pancreas oxygen persufflation increases ATP levels as shown by nuclear magnetic resonance. Transplantation proceedings Scott, W. E., Weegman, B. P., Ferrer-Fabrega, J., Stein, S. A., Anazawa, T., Kirchner, V. A., Rizzari, M. D., Stone, J., Matsumoto, S., Hammer, B. E., Balamurugan, A. N., Kidder, L. S., Suszynski, T. M., Avgoustiniatos, E. S., Stone, S. G., Tempelman, L. A., Sutherland, D. E., Hering, B. J., Papas, K. K.2010; 42 (6): 2011-5