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Dr. Sang-Mo Kang is an organ transplant surgeon, performing transplants of the kidney, liver and pancreas. His expertise includes gastrointestinal surgery, laparoscopic kidney donor surgery, laparoscopic liver surgery, and surgeries related to the liver, bile ducts and gallbladder.

Kang maintains a research laboratory focused on understanding how the immune system responds to transplanted organs. He investigates new methods to induce transplant-specific tolerance, with the goal of replacing immunosuppressive medications. He has been awarded research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

Kang earned his medical degree at Harvard Medical School and completed a surgical residency and transplant fellowship at UCSF Medical Center. He received two research fellowships from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which he used to study transplant immunology at the NIH and the UCSF Transplantation Research Laboratory.

Kang teaches fellows, residents and medical students at UCSF.

  • Education

    Harvard Medical School, 1992

  • Residencies

    UCSF Medical Center, Surgery

  • Fellowships

    UCSF Medical Center, Transplantation

  • Board Certifications

    Surgery, American Board of Surgery

  • Academic Title

    Professor

  • Languages

    Korean

    Spanish

Where I see patients (5)

    Selected research

    My work

    Mom's liver donation saves daughter's life

    By the time Sahej's family reached our hospital, the baby was seriously ill with biliary atresia. Learn how Dr. Kang's transplant team helped her thrive.

    Craigslist kidney donor, recipient paying it forward

    Tender wagging care

    Our therapy dogs spread joy and smiles at the bedside and throughout the hospital.

    Visit Child Life services

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