1501 N. Campbell Avenue
Tucson, Arizona  85724
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Appointment Phone: (520) 626-9911 or (520) 626-9989

Innovative islet transplantation procedure offers potential cure for patients with severe type 1 diabetes.  Arizona patients with severe chronic pancreatitis now will have the option of having an auto (meaning "self") islet transplant after their total pancreatectomy, which involves removing the entire pancreas.  Although a pancreatectomy usually is effective in relieving the debilitating pain in patients when all other treatments fail, it induces severe, permanent diabetes, requiring patients to take insulin shots or use an insulin pump for the rest of their lives. 

Horacio L. Rilo, MD
Dr. Rilo is an international pioneer in islet cell transplantation for the treatment of diabetes, has been appointed Professor of Surgery and Director of Cellular Transplantation at The University of Arizona Department of Surgery.  Dr. Rilo joins the UA to establish a clinical islet transplant program to treat patients with severe type 1 diabetes or with painful chronic pancreatitis.  Dr. Rilo received his medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine in Argentina, and completed his residency in general surgery at Buenos Aires Hospital.  After his residency, Dr. Rilo completed a fellowship in liver transplantation in Sao Palo, Brazil.  He completed a fellowship and worked as an assistant professor in transplantation at the distinguished University of Pittsburgh Transplantation Institute.  Dr. Rilo was recruited by the University of Chicago, where he worked as an Associate Professor and the Director of Cellular Transplantation.  Dr. Rilo has focused his career for the past eighteen years on treating patients with islet cell transplantation and in advancing the field of islet cell research and therapy in the battle to cure diabetes.   

"Dr. Rilo possesses one of the largest experiences in clinical islet transplantation in the world, " said Rainer Gruessner, MD, Professor and UA Department of Surgery Chairman.  "His expertise will help to establish The University of Arizona College of Medicine as one of the top programs in the country for transplantation surgery and for the treatment of diabetes."

The Comprehensive Center for Chronic Pancreatitis is a part of the University Medical Center and in affiliation with The University of Arizona and physicians from University Physicians Healthcare.  Click here to view the Comprehensive Center for Chronic Pancreatitis website.

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