Dr. Ricordi is the Stacy Joy Goodman Professor of Surgery; distinguished professor of medicine; and professor of biomedical engineering, microbiology and immunology at the University of Miami (UM), Florida, where he serves as director of the Diabetes Research Institute and the Cell Transplant Center. Previously he served as director of cellular transplantation at the University of Pittsburgh Transplantation Institute.
Acknowledged by his peers as one of the world’s leading scientists in diabetes cure-focused research and cell transplantation, Dr. Ricordi is well-known for inventing the machine and developing the method that made it possible to isolate large numbers of islet cells from the human pancreas and for performing the first series of successful clinical islet allotransplants that reversed diabetes after implantation of donor purified islets into the liver of recipients with diabetes. He has also developed highly innovative strategies with the objective to transplant cells and organs without the continuous requirement for anti-rejection drugs.
His honors and awards include the 2001 Nessim Habif World Prize in Surgery (University of Geneva) for developing a technology that significantly contributed to the advancement of a surgical field, the 2002 Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award, and delivered the Lilly Lecture at the 2002 Congress of the American Diabetes Association. He also delivered the opening plenary (Galileo Lecture) at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes Congress in Rome (2008).
In 2010, Dr. Ricordi was the only surgeon, and one of the few surgeons ever, to be inducted into the Association of American Physicians. In 2011, he received the Top Award from dLife for making the biggest difference in diabetes in 2010. He also serves as president of The Cure Alliance and chairman of the Diabetes Research Institute Federation, coordinating, and promoting cure-focused research at over 24 leading institutions worldwide. He is also developing telescience platform technologies to eliminate geographic barriers to scientific collaboration. He has authored over 600 scientific publications, and as an inventor, he has been awarded 11 patents.