Dr. Nima Nassiri
Urologist
1 Podcast on BackTable
Dr. Nima Nassiri is a urologist and transplant surgeon practicing at UCLA in Los Angeles, California.
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Episode # 274 • 18 Nov 2025
Techniques & Challenges in Bladder Transplant Surgery
For the first time in history, a human bladder was transplanted. Dr. Nima Nassiri (UCLA) joins Dr. Ruchika Talwar to share how his team completed this landmark operation alongside a kidney transplant. He walks through the clinical scenario, key steps in donor and recipient selection, and how years of preclinical work informed the operative approach.
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About
Dr. Nima Nassiri is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Urology at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. He received a Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, and subsequently received his Medical Doctorate from UCLA. During medical school, Dr. Nassiri completed a Post-Doctoral Scholarship investigating novel prostate cancer diagnostic modalities and focal therapies. After completing his medical education, he completed his surgical training in Urology at the University of Southern California. This was followed by additional fellowship training in Kidney Transplantation at UCLA accredited through the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS).
Dr. Nassiri’s clinical interests include adult and pediatric kidney transplantation, renovascular surgery, robotic kidney transplantation, urologic reconstructive surgery post-transplantation, and general urology. He is facile in both open and robotic approaches to urologic and kidney transplant surgery, tailoring his approach to the individual needs of the patient.
From a research perspective, Dr. Nassiri's interests include novel methods for bladder substitution, including reconstructive transplantation and bladder transplantation, and immunological tolerance among organ transplant recipients. He has authored many publications and presented and international symposium on these topics. He mentors undergraduate students, medical students, and trainees at all levels, and leads the Genitourinary Research in Transplantation (GRiT) Research Group.
Dr. Nassiri is a member of a number of professional organizations, including the American Society for Transplant Surgeons, the Urologic Society for Transplantation and Renal Surgery, the American Society for Reconstructive Transplantation, and the American Urological Association. He has received a number of awards for excellence in patient care and research, including multiple Young Investigator Awards, USC Choi Family Excellence in Patient-Centered Care Award, the John P. Stein Award, and the inaugural John M. Barry Award through the Urologic Society for Transplantation and Renal Surgery.
Visit UCLA Health to learn more about Dr. Nima Nassiri.
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