Associate Professor
Interim Director, Division of Transplantation
Director, VCA Transplantation, UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute
Director, Clinical & Translational Research, UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute
Vera Hauptfeld-Dolejsek Endowed Professor in Transplant Immunology

Areas of Interest
Uterus transplantation, VCA transplantation, reproductive immunology, transplant immunology, pregnancy alloimmunization, renal function during pregnancy, living donor kidney transplantation, sex and race disparities in transplantation, transplantation tolerance

Biography

Dr. Porrett was born in Port Huron, Michigan, and grew up in a farming community outside the suburbs of Detroit. She attended Northwestern University, where she obtained a B.A. in French and then her M.D. at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Porrett subsequently completed a PhD in immunology as well as her general surgical residency and transplant surgery fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. As an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Porrett started the third uterus transplant program in the United States in conjunction with colleagues in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

In 2020, Dr. Porrett joined the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) as the Director for Clinical & Translational Research for the Comprehensive Transplant Institute. She is the inaugural director of vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) for the UAB CTI and has been named the Vera Hauptfeld-Dolejsek Endowed Professor of Transplant Immunology. At UAB, Dr. Porrett began the fourth uterus transplant program in the United States and is recognized as a national and international leader in the field of uterus transplantation. She currently serves as the secretary of the International Society of Uterus Transplantation (ISUTx), a section of The Transplantation Society. Dr. Porrett also serves on the VCA Committee for the Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network (OPTN/UNOS).

Dr. Porrett has diverse intellectual interests and expertise. Her NIH-funded immunology laboratory studies maternal immune cell fate and function during pregnancy in both human and animal models. These studies aim to improve pregnancy outcomes in transplant recipients and have focused on multiple immune subsets, including T cells, B cells, NK cells, ILCs, and macrophages. Recently, Dr. Porrett expanded her portfolio to include xenotransplantation and has published the world’s first experience of a clinical-grade, gene-edited porcine kidney transplant into a human being.

Education

Medical School

Northwestern University, Chicago, IL

Residency
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
General Surgery

Fellowship
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Transplantation Surgery

Graduate Degree
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
PhD in Immunology

Contact

Campus Address
FOT 758 A

Phone
Patient Appointments and Questions: 205-996-6060
Academic Office: 205-934-2131

Email
pmporrett@uabmc.edu