Primary Responsibilities
Dr. Diflo came to NYU in 1992 at the completion of his training and was made director of the Renal Transplant Program in 1993. Under his guidance, the annual volume of kidney transplants at NYU has quadrupled, and the program has expanded with the introduction of laparoscopic living donor nephrectomies. The laparoscopic approach has significantly lessened donor discomfort and shortened hospital stays, with no alteration in the excellent graft function seen with living donation. Overall kidney graft survival at NYU last year was 97% at one year.
Dr. Diflo's scientific interests began during his research fellowship, in which he investigated small intestinal transplantation. Currently he is the principal investigator in several medication studies for our patients. The Transplant Service at NYU has an active basic science research program. The basic science lab, centered at the the John HC Ranson Surgical Basic Science Laboratory at Bellevue hospital, has a full-time surgical resident research fellow and is currently funded through the generosity of the Mary Lea Johnson Richards Research Institute. Dr. Diflo's recent and ongoing projects in the lab involve the study of chronic rejection and the expression of matrix metalloproteinase enzymes, and the effects of immunosuppression on wound healing. A particularly exciting avenue of investigation involves the study of transplanted bone marrow cells and their effects on peripheral wounds and the repopulation of injured or dysfunctional organs. Other studies under consideration involve the effects of sirolimus on neointimal hyperplasia in PTFE grafts, and chronic rejection in urokinase-deficient animals.
Education and General Information
