Stuart R. Geffner, MD

Internationally-recognized transplant surgeon, Stuart R. Geffner, MD, MS- HCM, FACS, is one of the most experienced transplant surgeons in the United States having performed over two thousand renal transplants and over one thousand living donor surgeries in his role as Director of Transplant Surgery for The Division of Renal and Pancreas Transplant at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center.

Associated with The Division of Renal and Pancreas Transplant since 1995, Dr. Geffner has helped to build the program into one of the largest kidney and pancreas transplant centers in the United States. Dr. Geffner's expertise in transplant surgery includes performing the world’ first robotic assisted transplant surgery, a transplant on the youngest pediatric patient in New Jersey, and the New Jersey’s first laparoscopic kidney donation surgery and isolated pancreas transplant. He maintains an active clinical practice in transplant surgery, general surgery, and advanced laparoscopic surgery.

Dr. Geffner’s contributions to the organization have occurred both inside and outside the operating room. He has held every leadership role within the Medical Staff including president. He joined the Board of Trustees in 2011 as part of his Medical Staff office and was invited to continue as a full trustee at the completion of his presidency. He has been active on numerous medical staff committees and is the chairman of the Quality Committee of the Board of Trustees.

Dr. Geffner received his undergraduate degree in bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from the New Jersey Medical School. He completed his general surgery residency at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, and then completed a two-year fellowship in abdominal organ transplant surgery at the University of Wisconsin. In 2015, Dr. Geffner received a Master of Science Degree in Healthcare Management from the Harvard University School of Public Health. He is a published author and has made multiple presentations at national and international surgical conferences.

Dr. Geffner plays an active role in the community and pioneered "Live from Kidney Transplant," a series of live, interactive video telecasts of transplant surgery to high school students in partnership with the Liberty Science Center, Jersey City, NJ. Since the program’s inception in 2005 over 15,000 local, national, and international high school students have participated and witnessed live the miracle of transplantation. He has served as the Region 2 Representative on the Pancreas Transplantation Committee for the United Network for Organ Sharing and continues to serve on the surgical board of the National Kidney Registry. He has also served as Medical Director of the New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network.

In 2005, he Dr. Geffner received the National Medical Award for Excellence in Transplantation by the Kidney and Urology Foundation of America, Inc., and has been the honoree at the Liberty Science Center Medical Marvels Gala. He is a member of the American Association for Physician Leadership, American College of Surgeons and the American Society of Transplantation.