Dr. A. M. James Shapiro (born in Leeds, England) is a British-Canadian surgeon best known for leading the clinical team that developed the Edmonton Protocol – an islet transplant procedure for the treatment of type 1 diabetes.
The result became known internationally as the ‘Edmonton Protocol.’ Shapiro led the clinical team that tested his approach in seven initial patients, all of whom (100%) were able to discontinue the need for insulin injections for periods beyond a year.
[5] Countries including England, Scotland, France, Switzerland, Australia, and Canada have approved and funded islet transplantation as part of ‘standard of care’ for patients with brittle, difficult-to-control, forms of Type 1 diabetes.
Since the development of the Edmonton Protocol, he has led or co-led three major ongoing international multicentre clinical trials to further improve islet transplantation outcomes.
In his basic science laboratory, Professor Shapiro developed a new means to transplant cells beneath the skin by using a temporary tube to induce new blood vessels to grow.
[9] Besides maintaining an active immunology/transplant research laboratory, Dr. Shapiro has a busy clinical practice specializing in hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, surgical oncology, as well as transplant surgery, and was featured in an internationally acclaimed movie about organ transplantation called ‘Memento Mori.’ A shorter length version of this called ‘Vital Bonds’ was aired last year across Canada by the CBC’s David Suzuki’s 'The Nature of Things'.