The first Turkish doctor to perform a liver transplant, Professor Münci Kalayoğlu, has passed away.

The first Turkish doctor to perform a liver transplant, Prof. Dr. Münci Kalayoğlu, passed away at his home in Istanbul.

MÜNCİ KALAYOĞLU HAS PASSED AWAY

Sad news has come from Prof. Dr. Münci Kalayoğlu, 84, who had been receiving treatment for dementia and suffered a brain hemorrhage in August. Kalayoğlu, the first Turkish doctor to perform a liver transplant, passed away at his home in Istanbul. The funeral ceremony is expected to be held on Tuesday in Istanbul.

HE HAD PERFORMED OVER 1500 TRANSPLANTS

Prof. Dr. Münci Kalayoğlu had performed over 1500 transplants to date. Kalayoğlu was considered one of the best surgeons in the world.

WHO IS MÜNCİ KALAYOĞLU?

Kalayoğlu was born in 1940. After graduating from Ankara Medical School, he received specialty training in the Department of General Surgery at Hacettepe University Medical School. Between 1967-1968, he worked in the Department of General Surgery at Mount Sinai Medical School, and between 1968-1971, he worked in the Department of Pediatric Surgery at Pittsburgh Children's Hospital. He became an associate professor at Hacettepe University Medical School in 1972 and a professor in 1977.

Between 1981-1983, he worked alongside Prof. Thomas Starzl, one of the pioneers of liver transplants, in the Transplantation Department at the University of Pittsburgh. He became the first Turkish doctor to perform a liver transplant. In 1983, he initiated the Liver Transplantation Program at the University of Wisconsin and remained at the helm of the program for 25 years. Until his return to Turkey in 2006, he performed 1500 liver transplants, over 2000 kidney transplants, and around 1000 pancreas transplants.

HE ALSO MADE FIRSTS IN THE USA

The first liver transplant in Wisconsin, the first reduced (from adult to child) liver transplant, the first "cluster" (transplant of all organs in the abdomen), the first living liver transplant from adult to adult, the first child liver transplant, and the liver transplant to the youngest patient in the state were among the over 1500 transplants he performed. He also pioneered the use of organ preservation solutions in clinical liver transplants.

After working at Memorial Hospital between 2006-2018, Kalayoğlu transferred to Koç University Hospital with his team. There, he served as the head of the Organ Transplant Center that bears his name.