Bryan W. Tillman, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Vascular Surgery


Dr. Tillman is a member of the Division of Vascular Surgery, the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and the Cellular and Molecular Pathology Graduate Training Program.

Office Location:
Shadyside Medical Building
5200 Centre Avenue, Suite 307
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
 Contact Information:
Office Telephone: 412-623-3333
Email: tillmanbw@upmc.edu

Education

  • PhD - University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2000
  • MD - University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2001

Research Interests

Dr. Tillman's translational laboratory focuses in two primary research areas. His principal research direction is to develop novel therapies for vascular graft failure resulting from graft stenosis, which is a major cause of limb loss and mortality among vascular and dialysis patients, respectively. To date, local therapies have not been effective in control of this disease process. Several lines of evidence suggest involvement of circulating bone marrow derived progenitors in the formation of the hallmark intimal lesions of vascular graft failure. A novel progenitor depletion approach is being applied to examine and prevent the role of progenitor cells in vascular graft failure. As an extension of this potential new systemic paradigm of graft failure, the laboratory also applies neutralizing immunotherapy approaches to prevent recruitment of these cells to sites of vascular interventions.

A second and continued focus of the laboratory includes the development of bioreactor conditioned, tissue engineered grafts for vascular reconstruction. The goal is that these may one day be used to help patients who do not have other options for vascular reconstruction.

Selected Publications

View Dr. Tillman's publications on PubMed

Tillman, BW, Yazdani, SK, Lee, SJ, Geary, RL, Atala, AA, and Yoo, JJ. The in vivo Stability of Electrospun Polycaprolactone-Collagen Scaffolds in Vascular Reconstruction. Biomaterials. 30(4):583-8. 2009.

Yazdani, SK, Tillman BW, Soker S, Berry JL, Geary RL. The fate of an endothelium layer after preconditioning: An in vitro and in vivo analysis. Journal of Vasc Surgery. 51(1):174-83. 2010

Neff, LP, Tillman, BW, Yazdani, SK, Machingal, MA, Yoo, JJ, Soker, S, Bernish, BW, Geary, RL, and Christ, GJ. Vascular smooth muscle enhances functionality of tissue-engineered blood vessels in vivo. J Vasc Surg, 53(2): 426-434. 2011.

Tillman, BW, Yazdani, SK, Neff, LP, Corriere, MA, Christ, GJ , Soker, S, Atala, A, Geary, RL, Yoo, JJ. Bioengineered Vascular Access Maintains Structural Integrity in Response to Arteriovenous Flow and Repeated Needle Puncture. J Vasc Surg. 2012. in press.