Paulo Fontes, MD, FACS

Dr. Paulo Fontes is a transplant surgeon, a scientist and an entrepreneur. He is a co-founder and Chief Medical Office, LyGenesis Inc., Pittsburgh, PA. He is also Professor of Surgery, and Director, Surgical Innovation & Research, Department of Surgery, WVU Medicine, Morgantown, WV. Dr. Fontes is also a co-founder and Medical Advisory Board of VirTech Bio Inc., Natick, MA. This company has licensed 3 of his University of Pittsburgh-based IPs while developing a new human-derived hemoglobin based oxygen component for both ex-vivo and in-vivo applications. Dr. Fontes is also the Director of VGS Foundation, Sao Paulo, Brazil, a life science foundation. He is an advisory board member, Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute, Houston, TX. Dr. Fontes was a faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh, Starzl Transplantation Institute (STI), Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) for 27 years. He was Professor of Surgery, Director of the Liver Transplant Program, STI, UPMC, for almost a decade. The STI performed 1,500 liver transplant procedures under his tenure, where he provided directly to over 10,000 patients. He was also a Deputy Director, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine (MIRM), School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh for 4 years. Dr. Fontes has been certified in transplant surgery by the American Society of Transplant Surgeons in 1998 and proudly accepted as a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) in 2001. He has received over 30 awards and honors, including the Award for Commitment and Excellence in Service, UPMC, “America’s Best Physicians,” “America’s Best in Medicine,” the TechConnect Innovation Award, three University of Pittsburgh Innovation Awards, and the Coulter Award. Dr. Fontes has contributed to over 250 publications (115 peer-review papers, 10 book chapters, and 126 published abstracts) and 7 patents. He has been directly involved in the training of more than 90 transplant surgeons and has continued to teach and mentor medical and bioengineer students. Dr. Fontes has given over 120 national and international lectures. Dr. Fontes is a member of the Editorial Review Board of 24 scientific journals and grant agencies. He has received financial support for his ongoing research from 7 different funding agencies, including the Department of Defense (DOD), the SBIR and the NIH. Dr. Fontes was appointed the Director for Surgical Innovation and Research, WVU Medicine in 2018.  He has guided the filing on 7 new invention disclosures and provisional patent applications. His mentees have received 3 consecutive $50,000 awards from the CTSI, WVU. He is mentoring 5 new investigators towards the inception of 5 new WVU-based startup companies, while recruiting 3 new CEOs. These companies are being currently considered to join the Innova Commercialization Group, Fairmont, WV, to benefit from ongoing accelerator initiatives. View a list of Dr. Fontes’ publications here.