Daniel James Firl
Clinical Instructor, Surgery - Abdominal Transplantation
Bio
Daniel Firl is an abdominal transplant surgery fellow at Stanford Medicine and a surgeon-scientist working at the intersection of hepatobiliary cancer surgery and transplantation. His work centers on patient selection in primary liver cancer — determining which patients are best served by resection and which by transplantation — and on the risk-assessment tools that make that decision more precise.
He is a co-developer of HALT-HCC, a risk model for liver transplantation in hepatocellular carcinoma, and first author of its international validation across more than 4,000 patients. His aim is to make selection between resection and transplantation progressively more sophisticated — sharpening prediction of waitlist and post-transplant outcomes, informing donor selection, and enabling the safe use of grafts that might otherwise be declined — with a particular interest in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and gallbladder cancer, where the role of transplantation is still being defined. He sees the next step as the integration of tumor genomics, bringing the molecular features of each cancer into the models that guide surgical decisions.
Earlier, during postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, he studied the immunology and physiology of kidney xenotransplantation, including the design and long-term function of organs from genetically engineered porcine donors — part of the broader effort to expand the supply of transplantable organs.
Dr. Firl completed general surgery residency at Duke University, where he served as chief resident, and earned his MD with Special Qualifications in Biomedical Research through the research-intensive program at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. He holds a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Boston College.
He is the author of over 30 peer-reviewed articles, with work in Nature, Cell, The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Hepatology, and The Lancet Digital Health. He serves as an ad hoc reviewer for journals including The BMJ, Kidney International, the American Journal of Transplantation, JCO Precision Oncology, and Transplantation.
He has received fellowships and grant funding from prestigious organizations during competitive funding opportunities including from: the NIH-NIAID, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the American Society of Transplantation.
Clinical Focus
- General Surgery
- Transplant Surgery
- Hepatobiliary Surgery
- Hepatocellular Carcinoma
- Cholangiocarcinoma
- Gallbladder Cancer
Professional Education
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Residency: Duke University Hospital (2026) NC
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Medical Education: Case Western Reserve School of Medicine (2018) OH