Dicken Ko
Chief Medical Officer, St. Elizabeth's Medical Center | Professor of Urology, Tufts Univ. School of Medicine| Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School | Consulate General of Canada (CTA Boston)
Boston, MA, UNITED STATES
Chief Medical Officer on the front line of the hospital preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biography
Dr. Ko is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and has worked at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School for 22 years. He was Director of Regional Urology for MGH, overseeing affiliates sites, integrating clinical practices, sharing academic and community practices, developing lean practice programs and exploring regional growth opportunities. Before joining the Department of Urology full-time, Dr. Ko worked at MGH as a multi-organ transplant surgeon in the Departments of Surgery and Pediatric Surgery where he was Surgical Director of the Renal Transplant Program. In 2015, Dr. Ko was awarded the inaugural W. Scott McDougal Prize for Teaching and Mentoring in the Department of Urology.
Dr. Ko was instrumental in identifying, coordinating, and facilitating new developments for areas of unmet needs in urology. He co-led the team that performed the first successful genitourinary vascularized composite allograft (penile) transplant in the USA. His groundbreaking innovation has been featured in the New York Times, Time Magazine, CNN, and over many media outlets worldwide.
Dr. Ko has served on national committees and boards including the UNOS kidney and pancreas committee and on Harvard Medical School committees as well as the American Board of Urology where he is an examiner. His scholarly activities focus on tolerance models of transplantation, urologic outcomes research, and economics of transplantation. Dr. Ko has over 75 publications in peer-reviewed journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Urology, Transplantation, and American Journal of Transplantation. He was the 28th President of the Urological Society for Transplantation and Renal Surgery.
Industry Expertise (1)
Research
Areas of Expertise (5)
Public Health
Medicine
Urology
Surgery
Transplant Surgery
Education (5)
Harvard Medical School: Fellowship, Transplant Surgery 1997
University of British Columbia: Residency, Urology Residency Program 1995
University of Toronto: Internship, General Surgery Residency Program 1991
Queen's University: M.D., Medicine 1990
Professor's Prize in Surgery
University of British Columbia: B.Sc., Physiology and Biology 1986
Multimedia
Publications:
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Videos:
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Accomplishments (1)
First Penile Transplantation in the USA
Doctors Dicken Ko and Curtis Cetrulo announce that they have performed the nation's first penile transplant.
Links (1)
Selected Media Appearances (5)
Surgeons Transplant a Testicle From One Brother to His Twin
New York Times online
2019-12-06
The surgery was intended to give the recipient more stable levels of the male hormone testosterone than injections could provide, to make his genitals more natural and more comfortable, and to enable him to father children, said Dr. Dicken Ko, a transplant surgeon and urology professor at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, who flew to Belgrade to help with the procedure.
Men place too much importance on their manhood and not enough on health, experts say
Global News online
2017-03-06
It’s this belief in physical infallibility and focus on the sexual organ that has led to a 30-year lapse in the progression of men’s health awareness versus that of women’s health, says Dr. Dicken Ko, director of regional urology at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School.
Doctors Perform First Penile Transplant in US
NBC online
2016-05-16
Doctors Dicken Ko and Curtis Cetrulo announce that they have performed the nation's first penile transplant.
7 Things To Know About The Nation's First Penis Transplant
90.9 wbur online
2016-05-16
The goals of this operation, according to Dr. Dicken Ko, who co-led the surgical team, were threefold: to reconstruct natural-appearing genitalia, to allow the patient to urinate normally and, hopefully, to help him regain sexual functioning.
Cancer patient receives first penis transplant in US
Business Insider online
2016-05-16
Dr. Dicken Ko, who directs the hospital's urology program, said Manning has been shown post-operation photos but hasn't actually seen his new penis, since it is still bandaged. A big test, Ko said, will be when reconnected nerves start to take hold, bringing feeling back to the organ.
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