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St. Joseph’s Norton Thoracic Institute Names Director of Research

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World-renowned scientist expected to further advance hospital's lung transplant program

Already on the cutting edge of lung transplantation, Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center has committed to further advancing the field with the recent appointment of Thalachallour Mohanakumar, Ph.D., as director of the Norton Thoracic Institute Research Laboratory. He will also serve as chairman of the Institute’s Translational Sciences Program.

A world-renowned research expert in transplant immunology, Dr. Mohanakumar joins St. Joseph’s from Washington University School of Medicine, where his research emphasis included lung transplant rejection, lung transplant immunology, and vaccination as a treatment strategy for breast cancer. At the Norton Thoracic Institute, one of the largest and most advanced lung disease programs in the Southwest, he will oversee research initiatives dedicated to improving lung transplantation as well as the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the lungs, chest and esophagus.

Dr. Mohanakumar has been published extensively and has received a number of research-related awards and recognitions. He is a member of several national and international societies and committees, including the Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists, American Society for Transplantation, and the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation.

Dr. Mohanakumar earned his undergraduate degree from Madras Veterinary College in Madras, India and his master’s degree from All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India. He earned his doctorate from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and is board certified by the American Board of Bioanalysis and by the American Board of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics as a Certified Laboratory Director.

Publish date: 

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

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