Daisuke Imai, MD PhD

Biography

Offering new life to the sickest patients

Dr. Daisuke Imai sees patients at their sickest before they undergo an organ transplant.

When they enter Imai’s care, the transplant surgeon’s patients are often living with a host of health complications that may include liver disease, end stage renal disease, diabetes, cirrhosis, obesity, heart problems and other issues. But seeing Imai, part of the team of transplant surgeons at the Hume-Lee Transplant Center, offers patients a chance at a healthier future.

“Some patients haven’t noticed how far along their disease has progressed,” Imai says. “The transplant makes a big change in their quality of life. We can cure a patient and give them a whole new life.”

But Imai adds that staying healthy is a team effort that also relies on the patient taking the steps needed to remain in good health.

“This is a time to change their lifestyle, to live healthier,” he says. “The transplant gives the patient a second chance, so that they can improve their life.”

Imai’s surgical career began in Japan, where he performed living-donor liver transplants as well as pancreatic and digestive tract procedures. He came to Hume-Lee in 2019 for a VCU Department of Surgery transplant fellowship focused on liver, kidney, and pancreatic transplant care.

As an abdominal transplant surgeon, he’s often performing the delicate work that places a new organ into a patient. In addition to his surgical practice, he also trains future surgeons as an assistant professor of transplant surgery at VCU’s School of Medicine.

As he treats patients with multiple health problems, Imai knows how essential it is to work closely with a team of providers offering the care needed to treat and manage patients with complex medical conditions.

“We need a big team, a good team who can communicate with each other,” Imai says. “Every part of the team is important, not just the physicians but also the coordinator, the nurse, the social worker, pharmacist and others.”

Outside of work, he likes to be outside and get outdoors with his two young sons going cycling, hiking and skiing.

Advice to Patients 

“I’m part of your support team. I’m here to help you and to give you the support you need.”

Research Interests

Liver, kidney and pancreas transplants, robotic transplant procedures, hepatobiliary tumors