Dr. Eckhoff received his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and his medical diploma from the University of Minnesota. At the University of Wisconsin, he completed a general surgery residency, followed by a transplantation fellowship from 1986-1994. He joined the faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1994. In May 2003, he was appointed director of the Division of Transplantation at UAB and in 2004 he became a full professor. Dr. Eckhoff is a member of twenty professional societies including Fellow of American College of Surgeons, American Society of Transplant Surgeons, American Surgical Association and Southern Surgical Association. Dr. Eckhoff serves on a number of councils and committees both for the professional societies as well as internally at UAB. In addition to his title of professor and director of the Division of Transplantation, he has various academic appointments, including medical director of the Alabama Organ Center (AOC), co-director of the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute, Arnold G. Diethelm Endowed Chair in Transplantation Surgery and the medical director of transplantation. Dr. Eckhoff is principal investigator on two research projects. He runs an active laboratory in xenotransplant with the desire to transplant genetically modified kidneys from pig models to humans in the near future. Under the progressive direction of Dr. Eckhoff, the transplant program has had significant growth with paired kidney exchange, living related liver donor transplant and various aggressive surgical techniques for tumors including ablation and tumor removal. He has authored, co-authored and collaborated on 132 published manuscripts.