Meet the Team

Our nationally renowned team includes three transplant nephrologists, eight kidney transplant surgeons, advanced practice practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, dietitians, social workers and financial coordinators. One of the most important members of the team is the transplant clinical coordinator, who will be at your side throughout the process to any questions or concerns.

Ari J. Cohen, MD

Medical Director of Multi-Organ Transplant Institute

Section Head of Transplant Surgery

George E. Loss Jr, MD

Regional Medical Director, Ochsner Medical Center
Chief Surgical Services and Multi-Organ Transplant Institute

Jorge C. Garces, MD

Transplant Nephrologist,

Associate Program Director, Nephrology Fellowship Training Program

Associate Professor of Medicine, Louisiana State University Transplant Nephrologist

Catherine Staffeld-Colt, MD

Transplant Nephrologist

Medical Director, Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation

Section Head Transplant Nephrology

Associate Professor of Medicine, Louisiana State University

Zohreh Soltani, MD

Transplant Nephrologist, Associate Professor of Medicine, Louisiana State University

David Bruce, MD

Abdominal transplant surgeon

Ian C. Carmody, MD

Abdominal transplant surgeon

Humberto E. Bohorquez, MD

Abdominal transplant surgeon
Section of Abdominal Organ Transplantation

Emily Bugeaud, MD

Abdominal transplant surgeon

John Seal, MD

Abdominal transplant surgeon

Dennis Sonnier, MD

Abdominal transplant surgeon

Dana A. Paddock, AGPC, NP-C, APRN, MSN

Danielle Cook, APRN

Brooke Torres, APRN

Mallory Gilbert, PA-C

Denise Martin, FNP-C

Allison Messonnier, PA-C

Hilary Ledet, DNP-C

Tara Redwantz, APRN

Mary Upchurch, PA-C

Katherine Ward, PA-C

Sara Artigues, RD, LDN

There for you before, during and after transplant surgery

Your journey to wellness will begin with a comprehensive evaluation before your transplant, performed at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans or in collaboration with your referring physician. Ochsner offers patients a one-day work-up with pre-transplant medical, psychosocial and financial consultations conveniently scheduled on the same day.

After the initial evaluation, recommendations regarding candidacy for transplantation are provided by a committee made up of a team representing many disciplines. Once approved, transplant candidates are then placed on a national register to wait for the availability of a cadaveric organ. If you have a living donor, your transplant may occur shortly after approval. After transplantation, we closely monitor all of our patients. Our commitment to you lasts long after you’re discharged from the hospital.

The Advantage of Having Your Transplant Surgery at Ochsner

• Kidney-pancreas transplant patients at Ochsner typically wait less than six months for a transplant. This is far less than the standard three years.
• Our survival rates are better than the national average.
• Our patients experience shorter hospital stays than national rates after their transplants.
• Our unit features sophisticated, state-of-the-art equipment including high-tech monitoring.
• The Ochsner transplant team participates in multi-center clinical trials and research. We’re always looking for new and better ways to improve outcomes and make transplants safer.

Conditions

Conditions that may lead to the need for a kidney or kidney-pancreas transplant include:

• End-stage kidney disease (renal failure)
• Severe diabetes
• Glomerular diseases
• Hypertensive nephrosclerosis
• Polycystic kidney disease
• Renovascular and other vascular diseases
• Uncontrolled hypertension

What Referring Physicians Need to Know

The Ochsner Multi-Organ Transplant Institute provides consistent follow-up information to all referring physicians via written correspondence. You’ll be kept abreast of initial clinic visits, surgery, hospital discharge and routine follow-up visits to the clinic. After surgery, our team continues to monitor for transplant-related complications and regulates maintenance immunosuppression.

To refer a patient for transplant, call our Referral Hotline: 504-842-3925 or email referrals to: KidneyTransplant@Ochsner.org.