Professor
Vice Chair, Basic Research
UAB Cardiovascular Surgical Research Endowed Chair

Areas of Interest
immune regulation of post-transplant vascular disease and allograft rejection, transplantation and heart failure outcomes research

Biography

Dr. James F. George is a Professor of Surgery for the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. He is a molecular and cellular biologist who has worked in the field of heart failure and transplantation for more than 20 years. He is actively involved in researching the basic biology of heart failure and transplant rejection, the development of new drugs, and clinical outcomes after cardiac surgery and transplantation.

His studies are concentrated in transplantation immunobiology, particularly in relation to allograft vascular disease, immune regulation, and the role of heme oxygenase-1. As Director of the Transplantation Immunobiology Laboratory and the UAB Microsurgical Core Laboratory, Dr. George has pursued investigations in: The role of Heme oxygenase-1, in arterial thrombosis, and the development of post-transplant vascular disease, one of the largest limitations to long-term heart transplant survival. The mechanisms of clinical benefit from extracorporeal photopheresis, a clinical treatment involving the exposure of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to ultraviolet irradiation. The development of unique rodent-based animal models in acute kidney injury, including ischemia reperfusion and unilateral ureteral obstruction, and the molecular mechanisms of immunological tolerance. Dr. George also has a substantial interest in clinical outcomes research as it relates to transplantation and heart failure. As Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery Research, he oversees all clinical research efforts within the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery in the Department of Surgery. Clinical research efforts in collaboration with heart failure physicians are concentrated on time-related analyses of outcomes with respect to patient demographic variables, clinical care, and post-treatment morbid events in patients undergoing heart failure, heart and lung transplantation, and those implanted with ventricular assist devices.

Selected Publications

Hull TD, Agarwal A, George JF. The mononuclear phagocyte system in homeostasis and disease: a role for heme oxygenase-1. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2014 Apr 10;20(11):1770-88. doi: 10.1089/ars.2013.5673. Epub 2014 Mar 3 PMID: 24147608

Lara DA, Olive MK, George JF, Brown RN, Carlo WF, Colvin EV, Steenwyck BL,Pearce FB. Systemic effects of intracoronary nitroglycerin during coronaryangiography in children after heart transplantation. Tex Heart Inst J. 2014 Feb;41(1):21-5. doi: 10.14503/THIJ-12-2704. PubMed PMID: 24512395;PMCID: 3967485 PMCID: PMC3967485

Higgins RS, Brown RN, Chang PP, Starling RC, Ewald GA, Tallaj JA, Kirklin JK, George JF. A multi-institutional study of malignancies after heart transplantation and a comparison with the general United States population. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014 May;33(5):478-85. doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2014.01.862. Epub 2014 Jan 28. PMID: 24630406

Carlo WF, Pearce FB, George JF, Tallaj JA, McGiffin DC, Marques MB, Adamski J, Kirklin JK. Single-center experience with extracorporeal photopheresis in pediatric heart transplantation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2014 Jun;33(6):624-8. doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2014.01.863. Epub 2014 Jan 29. PMID: 24661684

Mazimba S, Tallaj JA, George JF, Kirklin JK, Brown RN, Pamboukian SV. Infection and rejection risk after cardiac transplantation with induction vs. no induction: a multi-institutional study. Clin Transplant. 2014 Sep;28(9):946-52.doi: 10.1111/ctr.12395. Epub 2014 Jul 25. PMID: 24930563

Education

Graduate School
University of Cincinnati
Master of Science, Biology

Graduate School
University of Alabama Birmingham
Ph.D.

Contact Information

Campus Address
LHRB 790
ZIP 0007

Phone
205-934-4261

Email
jfgeorge@uabmc.edu