to the laboratory of James H. Southard, PhD in the Department of Surgery at the University of Wisconsin Clinical Sciences Center. This laboratory was first established in 1975 by Dr. Folkert O. Belzer.
In the late 1980's we developed a universal organ preservation solution which was given the name UW Solution and a machine perfusion solution named Belzer-MPSTM.
Our primary interest is organ preservation and transplantation and associated fields. These include hypothermia (4 degrees Celcius) and cryobiological preservation of tissues and cells, the mechanism of injury to cells and cellular pathobiology, reperfusion injury and the role of calcium and oxygen free radicals and oxygen free radical scavangers, energy metabolism, and membrane structure and function. The organs we are preserving include the kidney, liver, heart, lung, intestine and pancreas. Our studies utilize whole animal transplant models, isolated perfused organs, and isolated cellular systems. The biochemical phenomena we investigate include metabolism, membrane transport, cell viability, lipid peroxidation, calcium transport, phospholipid metabolism, and how drugs affect various aspects of metabolism. Techniques we use are standard biochemical techniques using spectrophotometers, high performance liquid chromatography, atomic absorption spectrophotometry, flame photometry, and enzyme analysis techniques. Our objective is to improve organ transplantation for clinical applications.
