About the Author:

Paolo Aseni, after his degree in Medicine at the University of Milan in 1975, trained abroad in different centers in Germany and France: at the Medizinische Hochshule in Hannover and in Zentrum für Experimentelle Medizin in München in 1978, then in the next years, at the Hôpital Beaujon in Paris and in Hôpital Paul Brousse in Villejuif. Since 1980, he has been working at the Department of Surgery and Transplant Center in Niguarda Hospital in Milan, Italy. He is currently Associate Surgeon and responsible for the surgical training in Medicina d'Urgenza - Emergency Department in the same hospital. Since 1989, he has been also Assistant Professor for Anatomy and Human Macroscopic Morphology, University of Medicine, Milan.

Antonino M. Grande earned his degree in Medicine at the University of Pavia (Italy) in 1980. He trained abroad at the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston, Texas, USA, from 1982 to 1984 and then in Marseille (France). Since 1986, he has been working as attending surgeon at the IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico San Matteo in Pavia, Italy, in the Cardiac Surgery - Heart and Lung Transplant Department. Dr. Grande has also over 25 years of experience in cardiovascular postoperative intensive care; his main clinical interests include heart failure, heart/lung transplantations, and mechanical circulatory support. Between 2000 and 2010, he has been Assistant Professor for Surgical Anatomy at the University of Pavia.

Luciano De Carlis got his degree in Milan in 1979 and trained as visiting fellow at the Transplant Surgery Center in Pittsburgh (USA) in 1984, in 1987, and again in 1988, studying particular aspects in the field of liver, kidney, pancreas, heart, and heart-lung transplantation. Another important experience abroad, this time as visiting professor, was at the University of Tokyo in 2001. Prof. De Carlis has been working since 1985 at the Niguarda Hospital in Milan, Italy, specializing in particular in the field of renal, hepatic, and pancreatic transplantation. He is currently Professor of Surgery at the University of Milano-Bicocca School of Medicine, and Director of the Department of Surgery and Transplant Center at the Niguarda Hospital in Milan, where he introduced the fi rst adult living donor liver transplantation program in Italy and, recently, the fi rst Italian liver transplant program from "donation after cardiac death".