James Shapiro (physician)

For other people named A. M. James Shapiro, see A. M. James Shapiro (disambiguation).

A. M. James Shapiro (born in Leeds, England) is a British-Canadian physician best known for leading the clinical team that developed the Edmonton Protocol for treating brittle diabetes. Shapiro is professor of surgery, medicine and surgical oncology, and the director of the Clinical Islet Transplant Program at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. He holds a Canadian Research Chair in transplantation. Shapiro obtained his medical degree at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and trained surgery at the University of Bristol. After coming to Canada in 1993 he trained in liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery at the University of Alberta where he also earned his PhD.

Shapiro and his colleagues developed the Edmonton protocol, an islet transplantation technique which has allowed many severe diabetics to stop taking insulin entirely, although the duration of this insulin independence does vary. The Edmonton Protocol is considered a major advancement from earlier transplantation efforts, and has regenerated much interest and research into establishing islet transplantation as a regular treatment modality for diabetes. One of the key components included a successful cocktail of non-corticosteroid immunosuppressive drugs, necessary for the prevention of allogeneic graft rejection.

James is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Hunterian Medal from the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the Paul E. Lacy Gold Medal, the Gold Medal in Surgery from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the Governor General's Gold Medal, the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, and in 2011 was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He holds the Canada Research Chair in Transplant Surgery and Regenerative Medicine and has an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University in Sweden.

James continues to lead the Edmonton team which is the most successful and active islet transplant program worldwide.

External links

• James Shapiro on the University of Alberta website of the Alberta Diabetes Institute