Transplant Hepatology Fellowship at the University of Toronto
and Toronto General Hospital
Welcome and thank you for your interest in the University of Toronto Transplant Hepatology Fellowship Program.
Our liver transplant program was established in 1985 and has grown to one of the largest in North America with about 200 adult liver transplants and over 30 children performed in 2025 at our center.
Our fellows benefit from the largest living donor liver transplant program in North America with 79 donors in 2025, innovative research and clinical protocols, and a strong teaching curriculum. It is our vision to train the future leaders in transplant hepatology with an outstanding clinical exposure and cutting edge research education.
We take great pride in educating the future leaders in the field of transplant hepatology.
Dear Applicant,
Our transplant hepatology fellowship was established in 2005 and we have trained over 50 physicians from around the world.
The program includes several unique distinguished features: We are one of the largest living donor liver transplant program in North America, the largest donation after circulatory death (DCD) region in Canada and the US, and leaders in normothermic perfused liver preservation for extended criteria grafts, in liver transplantation for patients with extended hepatocellular carcinoma. In addition, our program pursues innovative research and clinical protocols, such as tolerance induction after liver transplantation, living donor liver transplantation for novel transplant indications, such as patients with low risk colorectal cancer metastasis. Teaching and education has a strong tradition in our program and we have established an outstanding teaching curriculum.
It is our vision to train the future leaders in transplant hepatology with an exceptional clinical exposure, cutting edge research, and high-level education.
Dr. Leslie Lilly, MD MSc FRCP(C)
Transplant Hepatology, Gastroenterology
University Health Network, University of Toronto
Liver Transplant Hepatology Fellowship Director, Ajmera Transplant Centre
Distinguishing Features of the Fellowship
Clinical Experience
- Donation after Neurologic Determined Death (NDD) and Circulatory Determined Death (DCD)
- Liver transplantation with normothermic ex vivo preserved liver grafts
- Elective and emergency endoscopy of transplant patients
- Multidisciplinary transplant team
- Rotations in transplant related areas such as infectious disease, radiology possible
Lifestyle
Fellows will experience the advantages of a “large” Fellowship program with 8 transplant hepatology fellows:
- Focus on the transplant specific disease process
- On-call scheduling and cross-coverage
- Facilitates time off without compromising clinical experience
- Camaraderie
Education
The Fellowship program offers multiple opportunities for additional learning through:
- Transplant Seminar Series
- Pathology and GI Interdisciplinary conferences
- Tumor boards
- Transplant Conferences: Live Donor, Listing, and Quality
- Multi-Organ Transplant Rounds & Invited Professors
- Journal Clubs
- Quality control rounds
- Pathology
- Oncology
- Radiology
Research Opportunities
For Clinical and Outcomes Research, Fellows can expect to undertake one project in their fellowship. Our transplant program maintains an extensive transplant database including large amount of door and recipient data. The database is overseen by a research analyst, who assists with data extraction ad analysis. In addition, our program includes a biostatistician to assist with the data evaluation. There are also Basic Science opportunities for laboratory-based research on the topics of:
- Ischemia/reperfusion
- Genomics/proteomics
- Dendritic cells
- Tolerance
- Stem cell biology
News & Announcements