Anthony J. Demetris, MD

Division Director, Transplantation Pathology, Starzl Professor of Liver and Transplant Pathology

Dr. Demetris is the Director of the Division of Liver and Transplantation Pathology and also the Research Histology Shared Resource Laboratory of the University of Pittsburgh. He is a member of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Chairman of the IRB Risk Management Committee, and a member of the Thomas E. Starzl Transplant Institute IT Steering Committee.

Clinical Expertise

Native and allograft liver, kidney, and heart pathology. Autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, liver and biliary tract cancers.

Certifications

  • Medical License - Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of State, Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs - 1984
  • The American Board of Pathology, Combined Anatomical and Clinical Pathology - 1987
Education & Training
BS - 1978, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
MD - 1982, University of Pittsburgh
Awards
International Liver Transplantation Society, Distinguished Service Award – 2012
PEW Scholar Program Candidate, University of Pittsburgh – 1987
Resident Research Award, Pittsburgh Academy of Medicine – 1984, 1985
Alpha Omega Alpha (Medical Honor Society) – 1982
Research Interests

Dr. Demetris' interests include: 1) immunobiology of tolerance induction and chronic rejection; 2) non-neoplastic and neoplastic biliary epithelial cell biology and 3) digital pathology for enhancing transplantation and liver pathology and research. Current translational and basic research projects include: a) study and development of experimental animal and human protocols to understand mechanisms of spontaneous operational tolerance to solid organ allografts; b) biliary epithelial cell biology in benign and neoplastic chronic liver disease; c) use of multiplexing and high resolution whole slide imaging in studying biological phenomena, including tolerance induction and biliary pathobiology; d) next generation sequencing-multiplex protein genotype-phenotype platform to study liver biology.

Representative Publications

View Dr. Demetris' publications on PubMed.

  • Reichenbach DK, Li Q, Hoffman RA, Williams AL, Shlomchik WD, Rothstein DM, Demetris AJ, Lakkis FG: Allograft Outcomes in Outbred Mice. Am J Transplant. 2013 Mar;13(3):580-8. doi: 10.1111/ajt.12056.
  • Demetris AJ, Isse K: Tissue biopsy monitoring of operational tolerance in liver allograft recipients. Curr Opin Organ Transplant. 2013 Jun;18(3):345-53.
  • Specht S, Isse K, Nozaki I, Lunz JG 3rd, Demetris AJ: SPRR2A expression in cholangiocarcinoma increases local tumor invasiveness but prevents metastasis. Clin Exp Metastasis. 2013 Oct;30(7):877-90.
  • Ezzelarab MB, Zahorchak AF, Lu L, Morelli AE, Chalasani G, Demetris AJ, Lakkis FG, Wijkstrom M, Murase N, Humar A, Shapiro R, Cooper DK, Thomson AW: Regulatory Dendritic Cell Infusion Prolongs Kidney Allograft Survival in Nonhuman Primates. Am J Transplant. 2013 Aug;13(8):1989-2005. doi: 10.1111/ajt.12310.
  • Sebagh M, Castillo-Rama M, Azoulay D, Coilly A, Delvart V, Allard MA, Dos Santos A, Johanet C, Roque-Afonso AM, Saliba F, Duclos-Vallée JC, Samuel D, Demetris AJ: Histologic Findings Predictive of a Diagnosis of De novo Autoimmune Hepatitis After Liver Transplantation in Adults. Transplantation. 2013 Oct 15;96(7):670-8. doi: 10.1097/TP.0b013e31829eda7f.
  • Castillo-Rama M, Sebagh M, Sasatomi E, Randhawa P, Isse K, Salgarkar AD, Ruppert K, Humar A, Demetris AJ: “Plasma cell hepatitis” in Liver Allografts: Identification and Characterization of an IgG4-rich Cohort. Am J Transplant. 2013 Nov;13(11):2966-77. doi: 10.1111/ajt.12413.
  • Nachmany I, Dvorchik I, Devera M, Fontes P, Demetris A, Humar A, Marsh JW: A validated model for predicting outcome after liver transplantation: implications on transplanting the extremely sick. Transpl Int. Transpl Int. 2013 Nov;26(11):1108-15. doi: 10.1111/tri.12171.
  • Mizuguchi Y, Isse K, Specht S, Lunz JG 3rd, Corbitt N, Takizawa T, Demetris AJ: Small Proline Rich Protein 2a in Benign and Malignant Liver Disease. Hepatology. 2013 Mar;59(3):1130-43.
  • O'Leary JG, Kaneku H, Demetris AJ, Marr JD, Shiller SM, Susskind BM, Tillery GW, Terasaki PI, Klintmalm GB: Antibody-mediated rejection as a contributor to previously unexplained early liver allograft loss. Liver Transpl. 2014 Feb;20(2):218-27. doi: 10.1002/lt.23788. Epub 2014 Jan 2.
  • Haas M, Sis B, Racusen LC, Solez K, Glotz D, Colvin RB, Castro MC, David DS, David-Neto E, Bagnasco SM, Cendales LC, Cornell LD, Demetris AJ, Drachenberg CB, Farver CF, Farris AB 3rd, Gibson IW, Kraus E, Liapis H, Loupy A, Nickeleit V, Randhawa P, Rodriguez ER, Rush D, Smith RN, Tan CD, Wallace WD, Mengel M; as the Banff meeting report writing committee: Banff 2013 meeting report: inclusion of c4d-negative antibody-mediated rejection and antibody-associated arterial lesions. Am J Transplant. 2014 Feb;14(2):272-83. doi: 10.1111/ajt.12590.
  • O'Leary JG, Demetris AJ, Friedman LS, Gebel HM, Halloran PF, Kirk AD, Knechtle SJ, McDiarmid SV, Shaked A, Terasaki PI, Tinckam KJ, Tomlanovich SJ, Wood KJ, Woodle ES, Zachary AA, Klintmalm GB: The Role of Donor-Specific HLA Alloantibodies in Liver Transplantation. Am J Transplant. 2014 Apr;14(4):779-87.
  • Neil DA, Demetris AJ. Digital pathology services in acute surgical situations. Br J Surg. 2014 Jun 11. doi: 10.1002/bjs.9576.
  • O'Leary JG, Shiller SM, Bellamy C, Nalesnik MA, Kaneku H, Jennings LW, Isse K, Terasaki PI, Klintmalm GB, Demetris AJ: Acute liver allograft antibody-mediated rejection: an inter-institutional study of significant histopathological features. Liver Transpl. 2014 Jul 6. doi: 10.1002/lt.23948.
  • Gandhi CR, Chaillet JR, Nalesnik MA, Kumar S, Dangi A, Demetris AJ, Ferrell R, Wu T, Divanovic S, Stankeiwicz T, Shaffer B, Stolz DB, Harvey SA, Wang J, Starzl TE: Liver-Specific Deletion of Augmenter of Liver Regeneration Accelerates Development of Steatohepatitis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Mice. Gastroenterology. 2014 Oct 13. pii: S0016-5085(14)01207-4. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2014.10.008. [Epub ahead of print]