Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University named Juan Pablo Rocca, M.D., transplant surgeon, Liver-Kidney-Pancreas Transplantation; director, Living Donor Kidney Transplantation; director, Transplant Surgery Fellowship, Division of Transplant Surgery, Department of Surgery, Montefiore; and assistant professor of Surgery, Einstein. Dr. Rocca joins from Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York where he was surgical director of the Living Donor Kidney Program at the Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute. 

The Division of Transplant Surgery at Montefiore provides comprehensive treatment for adult and pediatric patients with diseases of the kidney, pancreas and liver, from early stage through end stage. Montefiore also offers transplant patients access to important clinical research trials and innovative treatment options. 

“Dr. Rocca’s experience in living donor transplantation surgery will be a major asset to our team,” said Robert E. Michler, M.D., surgeon-in-chief, Montefiore, professor and chairman in the Department of Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery and professor and chairman in the Department of Surgery, Einstein. “His experience coupled with our dedication to innovative surgery and improved outcomes will mean great things for the patients we serve.” 

Dr. Rocca specializes in living kidney donation, hepatobiliary diseases and abdominal organ transplantation. He has performed hundreds of laparoscopic donor nephrectomies and transplantation procedures, liver transplants for patients with liver cirrhosis, kidney transplants for patients with renal failure and pancreas transplants for select diabetes patients. Dr. Rocca also provides both open and laparoscopic procedures for diseases of the liver and biliary system. 

“Montefiore’s Division of Transplant Surgery produces excellent outcomes for both pediatric and adult transplant patients; now we have even greater expertise thanks to the addition of Dr. Rocca,” said Milan Kinkhabwala, M.D., chief, Transplantation, Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation, and professor of Surgery, Einstein. “We are so pleased to welcome Dr. Rocca and are excited to see how he will help further advance our program.”

Dr. Rocca’s research focuses on liver transplantation outcomes from donation after cardiac death, living kidney donor selection criteria and long-term outcomes, and surgical innovation techniques for transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery. He is a member of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS), serving the membership and minorities committees and the American Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association. He also served on the Surgical Committee of the National Kidney Registry. 

“Montefiore is focused on impacting patient care by promoting safe practices in living donation and increasing the number of kidneys available to the community,” said Dr. Rocca. “I look forward to sharing my experience with the entire team and helping to decrease waiting list times and extend life expectancy for transplant patients.” 

Dr. Rocca received his medical degree from the School of Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was chief resident in General Surgery at the British Hospital of Buenos Aires and completed ASTS accredited fellowships in Transplant Research and Surgery at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, New York, as well as a Transplant Surgery Fellowship at Northwestern University-Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois.