LIVER
Meet The Team
The Texas Transplant Institute's multi-disciplinary team approach to patient care includes highly skilled physicians, advanced practice nurses, transplant coordinators, dietitians, social workers, pharmacists, and other caregivers dedicated to the care of transplant candidates, recipients, and donors. The patient and their referring physician is an integral part of the transplant team as well. |
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Preston F. Foster, MD, FACS |
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Fernando E. Membreno, MD, MS Medical Director, Liver Failure and Transplant Program Texas Transplant Institute Dr. Membreno received his medical degree from the Autonomous School of Medical Sciences, San Jose, Costa Rica. He completed an Internal Medicine Residency at the Staten Island University Hospital in New York. Due to his interest in liver diseases he completed a Gastroenterology/Hepatology fellowship at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston where he also received a Masters of Science in Clinical Research. After these accomplishments, he joined the gastroenterology faculty at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Denver Colorado and trained in Liver Transplantation at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Dr. Membreno is triple board certified in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology/Hepatology and Transplant Hepatology. He is a member of the American Gastroenterology Association, American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Dr. Membreno has written numerous articles, reviews and textbook chapters on various topics of liver diseases to include Hepatitis B, Gallbladder Diseases, and Liver Transplantation. His clinical research interests are in the treatment of ‘Difficult-to-treat’ populations with Hepatitis C before or after Liver Transplantation, Fatty Liver and Liver Cancer. Dr. Membreno is an independent practitioner with Texas Transplant Physician Group. |
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Victor S. Ostrower, MD Transplant Gastroenterologist, Liver Failure and Transplant Program Texas Transplant Institute Dr. Ostrower graduated from Marietta College in Ohio with a Bachelor of Science degree, and received his medical degree at New York Medical College. He interned at the University of Chicago and returned to NY Medical College for residency in Internal Medicine and a year of fellowship in Hematology. After serving 2 years in the Army, Dr. Ostrower took a 3 year Gastroenterology fellowship at University of Colorado Health Science Center in Denver before coming to San Antonio to serve on the faculty at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio for several years. He entered private practice in 1980, and left his group practice to join the Liver Program at Texas Transplant Institute in 2006 to indulge his interest in liver disease. Dr. Ostrower is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Internal Medicine–Gastroenterology. He is a member of the American Gastroenterological Association, the American Society for Gastroenterology Endoscopy, and served on various leadership positions with the Texas Society for Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Association. Dr. Ostrower is an independent practitioner with Texas Transplant Physician Group. |
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Francis H. Wright, Jr., MD Director, Solid Organ Transplant Program and Director, Transplant Surgery Fellowship Program Texas Transplant Institute Dr. Wright received his medical degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. After work at the University of Iowa with Dr. Robb Corry he directed the transplant program at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. He joined Dr. Lynn Banowsky in San Antonio in 1994 and later helped found the Texas Transplant Institute as Director of Organ Transplantation for the Institute. Dr. Wright is certified by the American Board of Surgery, is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and has personally performed over 2000 transplant procedures in his nearly twenty years of transplant surgery experience. He is active with the United Network for Organ Sharing working to develop national transplant policy. Dr. Wright is a member of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, the International Transplantation Society and other major professional organizations. He has served as president of the Southeastern Organ Procurement Foundation and the American Foundation for Donation and Transplantation. He has research interests in immunosuppression, pancreas transplantation and organ preservation, and has multiple publications regarding organ transplant topics. Dr. Wright is an independent practitioner with Texas Transplant Physician Group. |
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Juan Palma-Vargas, MD Abdominal Transplant Surgeon, Liver and Kidney Transplant Programs Texas Transplant Institute Dr. Palma-Vargas graduated from the University of Guadalajara, Mexico with a Bachelor of Science in Biology, and obtained his medical degree at the Autonomous University of Guadalajara. Dr. Palma trained in general surgery at the Maine Medical Center, and completed a research fellowship in kidney transplantation at the Michigan Transplant Institute at Michigan State University, and a fellowship in abdominal organ transplantation at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Palma is trained in liver, kidney and pancreas transplantations and performs live donor nephrectomies as well as complex hepatobiliary surgery. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery, is a member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, and the Mexican Society of General Surgery. Dr. Palma is an independent practitioner with Texas Transplant Physician Group. |
Liver Clinic Staff
| Clinical Director Linda McFarlin, RN, BSN, MAM Clinic Supervisor Jennifer Fuller, RN, BSN Outreach Coordinator Kim Chaffin, RN |
Transplant Coordinators Corina Esparza, RN, BSN Melissa Butler, RN, BSN Priscilla Salinas, RN Rachel Pelzel, RN Social Worker Merri Cohoe, LMSW |