Clive O. Callender, M.D., F.A.C.S., is currently the La Salle D. Leffall, Jr. Professor of Surgery at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C. A native of New York, he attended New York public high school and Hunter College. After completing Meharry Medical College in 1963 and surgical training at Freedmen's Hospital in 1969, Dr. Callender received his transplant surgical training at two of the premier transplant training programs in the United States: the University of Minnesota, under Dr. John S. Najarian (Kidney) 1971-1973 and at the University of Pittsburgh under Dr. Thomas E. Starzl (Liver) 1986-1987. Since returning to Howard University Hospital (HUH, formerly known as Freedmen's Hospital) in 1973, Dr. Callender helped develop the first minority directed dialysis and transplant center and histocompatibility and immunogenetic laboratory in this country.
From 1996 until 2008, Dr. Callender served in the appointed position of Chairman of the Department of Surgery. In February 1996, he was appointed as the first LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr. Professor of Surgery at the Howard University College of Medicine.
As the senior African American transplant surgeon and expert as it relates to ethnic minorities and organ/tissue donation and transplantation, Dr. Callender was appointed to serve on the White House Physicians Forum on Health Reform and as a member of the African American Health Alliance. Dr. Callender's media appearances include: The Oprah Show, CNN News, the CBS Evening News and hundreds more. He has spoken to professional and lay audiences at more than 1,000 meetings/forum and has authored more than 125 scientific publications. He is a member of numerous professional societies, and serves as referee for various scientific journals. Dr. Callender serves as a member or advisor of numerous boards, committees and task forces involved with transplantation issues. Dr. Callender has received many honors and awards in recognition of his significant contributions, but it is his dream that he be remembered as a God fearing surgeon who reached the "unreachable stars".
National Minority Organ/Tissue Transplant Education Project (MOTTEP)
On August 8, 1991, the New England Journal of Medicine, chronicled the 10 year experience of the first National Organ/Tissue Donor Program in America. (Originated by Dr. Callender at HUH, the National Kidney Foundation of the National Capital Area - and the DOW Chemical Company). This article referred to National Gallup Polls which were conducted in 1985 and 1990 and demonstrated a tripling of the number of Blacks signing donor cards and the number of Blacks aware of the highly successful nature of transplantation. These successful joint HUH and Dow Chemical Company efforts targeted the Black community and were the models used in 1991 to conceptualize and develop the National Minority Organ/Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP) for the purpose of increasing minority donation rates nationally.
National MOTTEP is the first national organization to identify a two-fold solution to the donor shortage – disease prevention and intervention (increasing donation rates). Since its inception, National MOTTEP has been awarded total funding in the amount of $16 million from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) for program expansion. National MOTTEP's methodology has contributed to the increase in minority donation rates from 15 percent in 1990 to 30 percent in 2008. National MOTTEP established a MOTTEP-Export Research Center of Excellence which strives to eliminate minority renal health disparities via telehealth programs in hypertension and diabetes. The Research Center also examines psycho-neuro-immunological issues that may lead to renal disease. |
