Dev M. Desai, M.D., Ph.D.

Dev M. Desai, M.D., Ph.D., is the Regents Distinguished Scholar in Medical Research and a Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics in the Division of Surgical Transplantation at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where he also serves as Director of the Transplant Surgery Fellowship. He specializes in pediatric and adult liver, kidney, pancreas, and intestinal transplantation, as well as open and laparoscopic hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, portal hypertensive vascular decompression procedures, and laparoscopic donor nephrectomy.

Dr. Desai earned his medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco, where he also completed a doctorate in immunology. He performed his residency in surgery and fellowship in transplant surgery at Stanford University Medical Center.

Certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, he joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2007.

In addition to his roles at UTSW, he is the Chief of Pediatric Transplantation at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.

Dr. Desai gives presentations and lectures around the world on his translational research in transplantation. The author of numerous scholarly articles and book chapters, he also serves on the editorial board of the American Journal of Robotic Surgery and as a reviewer for the Hepatology Journal, Journal of Pediatric Nephrology, Pediatric Transplantation Journal, and journals published by Nature Publishing Group.

He serves on the boards of the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons and the National Pediatric Liver Review Board for the United Network of Organ Sharing, as well as the Medical Advisory Board of the Southwest Transplant Alliance. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, the American Surgical Association, the Halsted Surgical Society, the International Pediatric Transplant Association, and the Society of University Surgeons.

In 2017, Dr. Desai earned the Dallas Innovates Award for his work with Smart Pills, which are pills with internal sensors that help physicians monitor children’s health.