José Oberholzer

José Oberholzer, M.D., is a scientific founder at Sigilon. He is a physician-scientist with a long track record in cell therapy. Dr. Oberholzer, brings a wealth of highly valuable islet encapsulation expertise to Sigilon. He is a researcher, surgeon and the director of the Charles O. Strickler Transplant Center at the University of Virginia. Previous to that he was a Professor of Surgery, Endocrinology and Diabetes, Bioengineering, and Chief of the Division of Transplantation at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Dr. Oberholzer graduated from the University of Zurich Medical School in Switzerland and obtained a master’s in health care management from Harvard University. He completed his surgical training at the University of Geneva (Switzerland), as well as at the University of Alberta in Edmonton (Canada), where he completed a fellowship in hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery and transplantation. He was the Head of the Islet Transplant Program at the University of Geneva and the GRAGIL islet consortium from 1998 to 2002, completing a significant number of islet transplants. He has been heading UIC’s islet program since 2003.