Matthew Cooper, MD

Matthew Cooper, MD is the Chief of Transplantation, Director of the Solid Organ Transplant Line and a Professor of Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He is the Mark B. Adams Distinguished Professor of Surgery.

Dr. Cooper seeks new opportunities for living donation through innovation and by removing the disincentives for those considering donation while promoting the safety and long-term care of live organ donors. His clinical interests included kidney and pancreas transplantation; particularly the use of marginal organs and has chaired both an NKF sponsored Task Force to decrease kidney allograft discards and a UNOS-sponsored System Performance Improvement Committee which have led to several exciting projects to potentially bring more patients an opportunity for transplantation. Dr. Cooper is involved in several ongoing clinical research projects primarily with an interest in immunosuppression minimization and tolerance and amelioration of delayed graft function in kidney allografts following ischemic reperfusion injury. He has authored over 240 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 300 abstracts and 12 book chapters. He is regularly invited to speak on a variety of transplant-related topics both nationally and internationally.

Dr. Cooper is involved in organ transplantation activities both nationally and internationally. He is the UNOS/OPTN Past President. He is a member of the National Board of Directors for the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and a member of the NKF’s National Transplant Task Force. He has served as the chairman of the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) Living Donor, Pancreas and Kidney Committees. He is a current councillor for the American Society of Transplant Surgeons. He is a current board member for the National Kidney Registry, the American Foundation for Donation and Transplantation, the International Pancreas and Islet Cell Transplant Association, and Donate Life America. Dr. Cooper has served as Chair of the American Transplant Congress.