About

Matthew H. Levine, M.D., Ph.D., is the Donald Guthrie Professor in Surgery III at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He serves as an Attending Surgeon at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Levine is the Surgical Director and Primary Surgeon for Kidney Transplantation at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and also co-directs the Transplant Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Additionally, he is the Director of the Transplant Fellowship in the Department of Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine. His educational background includes a B.S. in Biochemistry from Brown University (1994), an M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine (2001), and a Ph.D. in Immunobiology from Yale University School of Medicine (2001). His research focuses on transplantation and kidney surgery, with key contributions to understanding renoprotective properties of estrogen, utilization of machine perfusion to increase transplantation of macrosteatotic livers, and effects of HDAC6 inhibition during hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury. Dr. Levine has authored multiple publications in the field of transplantation and surgery.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Oncology
• Gastroenterology
• Biochemistry
• Cancer research
• General surgery
• Cell biology
• Intensive care medicine
• Psychiatry
• Biology
• Psychology
• Surgery
• Endocrinology

Selected publications

• Center Experience Is Associated With Improved Survival in Liver Transplantation for Hilar Cholangiocarcinoma: A Retrospective Study

  Transplantation Direct · 2025-06-27 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Background. Hilar cholangiocarcinoma has limited treatments, with transplantation emerging as a curative option. During the era of regional patient review, it was suggested that transplant centers performing a higher volume of transplants for cholangiocarcinoma had improved outcomes. However, it is unknown whether this association persists since the national standardization of guidelines in May 2019. Methods. Transplant candidates listed in the United Network of Organ Sharing database using cholangiocarcinoma exception points from May 2019 to December 2022 were included. Experienced centers were defined as performing at least 10 transplants during the time period. Recipient and donor characteristics, graft and patient survival, and hospital length of stay were compared between more and less experienced centers. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test, Fisher exact test, Kaplan-Meier curves, log-rank tests, and Cox hazards analyses were used where appropriate. Results. Between May 2019 and December 2022, 166 transplants for cholangiocarcinoma were performed at 37 centers, with “more experienced” centers accounting for 59% (n = 98). Unadjusted graft survival ( P = 0.03) and patient survival ( P = 0.047) were lower at less experienced centers. In addition to center experience, univariable Cox analyses recipient age (0.02), diabetes (0.18), and donor age (0.08) had a P value of ≤0.2. In a covariate-adjusted model, more experienced centers were associated with a 70% lower hazard of graft failure (hazard ratio, 0.29; 95% confidence interval, 0.12-0.70; P = 0.006) and 72% lower hazard of mortality (hazard ratio, 0.27; confidence interval, 0.11-0.69; P = 0.007). Conclusions. These data suggest that experienced centers have improved posttransplant survival. Variations in selection and postoperative care not captured by this study may underlie this association. More granular studies are warranted to elucidate the impact of center experience on outcomes in transplantation for cholangiocarcinoma.

  PublisherDOI

• Risk Factors for Solid Organ Graft Failure and Death in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients Undergoing Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: A Retrospective Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) and Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Study

  Transplantation · 2025-06-23 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: There is a growing population of solid organ transplant (SOT) survivors who subsequently require a hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT), although there are limited data on survival, risk factors for SOT graft loss, and death in this cohort. METHODS: This retrospective Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research study included recipients of SOT followed by HCT between 1989 and 2017. HCT data were merged with organ transplant data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. RESULTS: Eighty-three patients with an SOT underwent an HCT. Organs transplanted included heart/lung (thoracic, n = 15), kidney (n = 42), and liver (n = 26); 24 patients (29%) received a living donor graft and 59 (71%) a deceased graft. Forty-one patients (49.4%) received an allogeneic HCT and 42 (50.6%) an autologous HCT. Three-year overall survival (OS) from HCT in the entire cohort was 38.6%. There were no significant differences in OS by SOT type, although 3-y OS appeared lowest in the kidney SOT group at 29.9%, compared with liver SOT at 40.6% and thoracic SOT at 58.2%. The incidence of SOT graft failure 3 y post-HCT was 59.1%. There were no significant differences in SOT graft failure by organ type: 3-y failure probability 67.2% for kidney, 56.5% for liver, and 46.2% for thoracic. Shared risk factors for death and graft failure included HCT indication (leukemia, lymphoma, and nonmalignant diseases), HCT type (allogeneic), and SOT type (kidney). CONCLUSIONS: Although some SOT recipients may benefit from HCT, the incidence of SOT graft failure was high and OS was poor, particularly after allogeneic HCT.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Risk Factors for Solid Organ Graft Failure and Death in Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients Undergoing Solid Organ Transplantation: A Retrospective Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research and Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Study

  Transplantation · 2025-06-23

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  BACKGROUND: There is a growing population of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) survivors who later require a solid organ transplant (SOT). However, there are limited data on survival, risk factors (RFs) for SOT graft loss, and death. METHODS: This is a retrospective Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research study that included recipients of HCT followed by SOT between 2001 and 2017. HCT data were merged with data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. RESULTS: Eighty patients underwent autologous (45%) or allogeneic (55%) HCT followed by single SOT. Common indications for HCT included leukemia/myelodysplastic syndrome (45%) and plasma cell disorders (38.8%). The median time from HCT to SOT was 47.7 mo. There were 49 kidney, 26 thoracic, and 5 liver transplants. Overall survival from SOT was significantly different by organ ( P = 0.01). Three-year overall survival by organ type was 85% among kidney, 70.7% among thoracic, and 30% among liver SOT recipients. Significant RFs for death included lymphoma versus plasma cell disorders and SOT type; thoracic and liver SOT carried a greater risk of death than kidney SOT. There was no significant difference in SOT failure incidence by SOT type; 3-y overall incidence was 27.8%. RFs for SOT graft loss included lymphoma, liver SOT, and positive recipient cytomegalovirus status at SOT. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, liver SOT recipients had inferior outcomes. However, renal and thoracic SOT recipients after HCT have acceptable outcomes compared with those of the general SOT population, and thus, SOT should be considered a viable treatment option in these patients.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Renal Ischemia Reperfusion Injury Severity Differentiation Using Hyperpolarized Imaging

  American Journal of Transplantation · 2025-08-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Multi-parametric hyperpolarized imaging of renal ischemia reperfusion injury

  Proceedings on CD-ROM - International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Scientific Meeting and Exhibition/Proceedings of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Scientific Meeting and Exhibition · 2025-09-16

  article

  Motivation: Renal ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) significantly contributes to kidney morbidity and mortality, highlighting the need for noninvasive diagnostic strategies. Goal(s): To investigate the effects of IRI severity on kidney function using co-hyperpolarized (HP) pyruvate and urea in a female mouse model, and test 1-13C lysine as a novel biomarker. Approach: Female mice underwent ischemia for 28 or 45 minutes, followed by co-HP pyruvate and urea imaging. Separately, HP lysine imaging was performed in controls. Results: All mice exhibited decreased urea signal in the IRI kidney. The lactate-to-urea ratio differentiated between moderate and severe injuries. Lysine imaging demonstrated strong signal localized to the kidneys. Impact: Our results suggest that co-polarized pyruvate and urea imaging could serve as a sensitive diagnostic tool to distinguish IRI severity. Additionally, the feasibility of lysine imaging suggests the potential to enhance the specificity of HP imaging for renal IRI diagnosis.

  PublisherDOI

• Biliary Tract Cancers, Version 2.2025, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines In Oncology

  Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network · 2025-09-01 · 23 citations

  article

  The NCCN Guidelines for Biliary Tract Cancers (BTCs) provide recommendations for the evaluation and comprehensive care of patients with gallbladder cancer, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. The multidisciplinary panel of experts is convened at least once annually to review requests from internal and external entities as well as to evaluate new data on current and emerging therapies. This manuscript focuses on the adjuvant chemotherapy and chemoradiation treatment options for BTCs as well as the systemic treatment recommendations for patients with advanced BTCs.

  PublisherDOI

• Benchmarking Gaussian processes for prediction and data assimilation of Alzheimer's disease progression

  Journal of Alzheimer s Disease · 2025-12-12

  article

  The ability to predict the trajectory of disease progression with high resolution for individual patients can enhance clinical trial design, enabling personalized, data-driven medical approaches. In this study, we deployed a kernel/Gaussian process-based dynamic model to predict Alzheimer's disease progression. Our numerical results demonstrate that the dynamic method outperforms static linear regression, improving the prediction of ADAS-Cog 11 subscores over extended periods by effectively incorporating intermediate data observations. This approach highlights the potential of computational models in enhancing clinical trial design and advancing personalized medicine for Alzheimer's disease.

  PublisherDOI

• HDAC-6 Inhibition Provides Protection Against Acetaminophen-Induced Liver Injury

  American Journal of Transplantation · 2025-08-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Locoregional Treatment Options for Locally Advanced Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

  Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network · 2025-08-14 · 3 citations

  review

  Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is an aggressive primary liver malignancy. Although surgical resection remains the standard of care, most patients present with either metastatic or locally advanced, unresectable disease. Although effective systemic therapy is paramount in these situations, locoregional tumor control frequently delays liver-related complications and mortality. To address this challenge, a variety of liver-directed therapies have emerged, including transarterial chemoembolization, transarterial radioembolization with yttrium-90, hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy, external-beam radiation therapy and in select cases, liver transplantation. These modalities have shown promise in prolonging survival, enhancing local control, and in some instances, downstaging tumors to resectability. This review examines recent advancements in locoregional treatment options for unresectable ICC, highlights their use and associated outcomes, and explores general guidelines for optimal patient selection.

  PublisherDOI

• Liver Transplant From a Deceased Donor With Cystinosis: A Case Report

  JIMD Reports · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Many inherited metabolic disorders (IMD) are associated with end-organ damage necessitating organ transplantation. Although utilization of deceased donors with history of IMD warrants caution, there may be circumstances under which such donors could be considered as suitable organ donor candidates. We present the first known report of liver transplantation from a deceased donor with cystinosis. The donor was a 20-year-old male with infantile cystinosis who had previously undergone two deceased donor kidney transplants. Unfortunately, he incurred cranial trauma, and after careful consideration of the metabolic consequences, his liver was deemed suitable for transplantation. The liver was successfully transplanted into a 65-year-old female recipient with hepatitis C (HCV) cirrhosis. The recipient is currently 12 months post-transplant and experiencing good graft function without evidence of cystine crystals on liver biopsy. This case highlights that liver transplantation from donors with rare IMD can result in favorable outcomes. However, it is crucial to approach the use of such livers with caution. These transplants should be considered after a thorough assessment, ensuring that a comprehensive decision-making process is in place to mitigate potential risks.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Histone/Protein Deacetylase Inhibitors Minimize Renal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

  NIH · $614k · 2011–2016

• Histone/Protein Deacetylase Inhibitors Minimize Renal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

  NIH · $154k · 2011–2016

• HDAC2 Inhibition Mitigates Renal Ischemia Reperfusion Injury

  NIH · $1.8M · 2016–2022

Frequent coauthors

• Wayne W. Hancock

  University of Pennsylvania

  108 shared

• Peter L. Abt

  University of Pennsylvania

  89 shared

• Zhong Lin Wang

  Georgia Institute of Technology

  56 shared

• Peter P. Reese

  University of Pennsylvania

  55 shared

• Ulf H. Beier

  University of Pennsylvania

  52 shared

• Ali Naji

  Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

  38 shared

• Seth J. Concors

  University of Pennsylvania

  37 shared

• Guanghui Ge

  35 shared

Labs

• Levine LabPI

Education

• Fellow in Abdominal Transplant Surgery, Transplant Surgery Division

  UCSF Medical Center

  2008

• Intern, Resident in General Surgery, Surgery

  Massachusetts General Hospital

  2006

• PhD, Immunobiology

  Yale University School of Medicine

  2001

• MD, School of Medicine

  Yale University School of Medicine

  2001

• ScB Biochemistry, Biochemistry

  Brown University

  1994

Awards & honors

• Donald Guthrie Professor in Surgery III
• Surgical Director and Primary Surgeon, Kidney Transplantatio…
• Surgical Co-Director for the Transplant Center, Children's H…
• Director, Transplant Fellowship, Department of Surgery, Pere…