Laboratories

The Hume-Lee Transplant Center’s transplant program relies on all disciplines and departments within the VCU Medical Center. The administrative and laboratory support services are paramount to the successes of the transplant center.

 

 

Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory

The Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory opened in 1965 as one of the first of its kind in the world. Under the direction of Mary Carmelle Philogene, PhD, the lab specializes in antibody detection and compatibility testing to match organ donors with waiting recipients for both the solid organ and bone marrow transplant programs. The HLA Laboratory is located in a 10,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility in the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park.

Watch our HLA Laboratory video to find out more about who we are and what we do. 

Pancreatic Islet Cell Laboratory

Located in the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park, the laboratory includes a cGMP-certified and FDA-approved clean room for the isolation of islets from the human pancreas. Clinical islet isolation procedures performed in this laboratory are instrumental in the treatment of patients suffering from Chronic Pancreatitis and Type-1 Diabetes. The clinical and research lab is led by Mazhar Kanak, PhD, and it is also the center for basic research in Type-1 Diabetes, Chronic Pancreatitis and Transplant Immunology.

VCU has been an active member of the Collaborative Islet Transplant Registry (CITR) since its establishment in 2016. In 2023, this state-of-the-art facility was awarded a contract to be an Islet Isolation Center (IIC) for the Integrated Islet Distribution Program (IIDP). Before VCU, only 5 other centers in the United States have received the status of an IIC from the IIDP. The IICs are qualified based on the expertise of the isolation team and center director credentials, working relationships with local as well as specific distant Organ Procurement Organizations with the provision of consistent access to quality donor pancreata, exemplary islet isolation history, and stable recipient satisfaction.

Transplant Surgery Research Laboratory

Located in Sanger Hall, this research facility explores aspects of physiology and immunobiology as they relate to the transplantation of both cells and solid organs.