Kareem Mohamed Abu-Elmagd

Abu-Elmagd participated in performing the first successful intestinal transplantation under tacrolimus in 1990 at the University of Pittsburgh[14] Later being a participant in the establishment of the clinical utility of tacrolimus in 1991.[15] He was a part of the team which demonstrated the immune-protective effect of the concomitantly transplanted liver and the deleterious effect of DSA on the visceral allograft.[16] His research led to the establishment of Medicare coverage for intestinal and multivisceral transplant in the United States.[17] Abu-Elmagd pioneered or introduced surgical techniques and procedures, for correction of intestinal malrotation in children and adults, replacing the historic Ladd's procedure.[18][19][20][21] Another technique developed by him utilized the patient's own gut for the effective management of gut failure, eliminating the need for intravenous nutrition commonly called TPN. An algorithm with a predictive model was established to guide clinicians, health care providers, payers and patients to achieve the best and most cost effective outcome, eliminating the need for gut transplantation. [22]

Abu-Elmagd is the founder of the “Kareem Abu-Elmagd Transplant and Gut Foundation” national institute for patient care, clinical training, medical education and research in Egypt.[23][24]

In 2019 he performed a pro bono operation for a 24-year-old woman from Bangladesh who had been suffering severe abdominal pain for a long time, without any known diagnosis. Her case involved reorganizing her intestines.[25]