Irinel Popescu (born 22 April 1953[2]) is a Romanian surgeon,[3] specialized in hepato-pancrato-biliary surgery, and a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy (since November 2013). In 2000, he introduced liver transplantation in Romania and in 2008, he also firstly brought robotic surgery to this country.
After 1995, he took part in the construction of the Romanian organ transplantation program. In 1999, Popescu became Professor of Surgery at the Carol Davila UMF and Head of the Department of Surgery at the Fundeni Clinical Institute. In 2000, he obtained the certificates of the Ministry of Health of specialization in liver surgery and liver transplantation, oncological surgery, laparoscopic surgery, and medical management of health.[4] Also in 2000, he introduced liver transplantation at the clinical level (the first successful surgeries on an adult, with a whole liver, and a child, with a fragment of a liver) in the Center for Digestive Diseases and Liver Transplantation Fundeni. Currently, the number of transplant surgeries has exceeds 1,000.
He also had important contributions to establishing transplantation programs in the Republican Hospital in Chișinău (2013), the Sfânta Maria Hospital in Bucharest (2013), and the Sfântul Spiridon Hospital in Iași (2016).[4] In 2006, he founded ARCHBPTH (Romanian Association of Hepato-bilio-pancreatic Surgery and Liver Transplantation).
In 2008, Popescu introduced robotic surgery in Romania.
Since 2012, he has been the Head of the Center for Digestive Diseases and Liver Transplantation – Fundeni Clinical Institute.[5] In 2012, he won a European funded project for the construction of the Center of Excellence in Translational Medicine (CEMT) within the Fundeni Clinical Institute.[5] The center was inaugurated in March 2016 with laboratories of pathology, molecular biology, cell cultures, a tumor bank, and a laboratory of experimental surgery.
As the coordinator of numerous research projects, he obtained the title of Scientific Researcher first degree (2019) and made important contributions to the genomics of pancreatic cancer and cholangiocarcinoma.[6]
The IASGO Textbook of multidisciplinary management of hepato-pancreato-biliary diseases, Masatoshi Makuuchi, Norihiro Kokudo, Irinel Popescu, Jaques Belghiti, Ho-Song Han, Kyoichi Takaori, Dan G. Duda (Editors), Springer Nature, 2022.
Liver surgery, Irinel Popescu (Editor) (2 vols), University Publishing House "Carol Davila" Bucharest 2004 (Iuliu Hațieganu prize of the Romanian Academy)
Liver Transplantation, Irinel Popescu (editor), Academiei Publishing House, 2011. ISBN9789732720547
Textbook of hepato-bilio-pancreatic surgery and liver transplantation, Irinel Popescu (Editor), Romanian Academy Publishing House 2016, ISBN9789732725924
Textbook of Surgery - (10 volumes), Irinel Popescu (Editor) - Publishing House of the Romanian Academy 2007 - 2009,
Textbook of Surgery 2nd edition (12 volumes), Irinel Popescu, Constantin Ciuce (Editors), Romanian Academy Publishing House, 2011–2013
The Flying Publisher Guide to Hepatitis C Treatment, Costin Cernescu, Simona Ruta, Liana Gheorghe, Speranța Iacob, Irinel Popescu, Richard Sebastian Wanless, Edition 2011, Flying Publisher & Kamps. ISBN978-3-942687-04-1.
Minimally invasive surgery - advanced techniques, C. Dragomirescu, I. Popescu (under the editorship), Celsius Publishing House, Bucharest, 2000, Iuliu Hațieganu prize of the Romanian Academy.
Otovescu Dumitru - Irinel Popescu or the triumph of liver transplantation in Romania, Beladi Publishing House, Craiova, 2014
Victor Tomulescu, Catalin Copaescu: "Robotic surgery in Romania" in Victor Voicu, Irinel Popescu (coordinators): "Files from the history of Romanian medicine", Romanian Academy Publishing House, Bucharest, 2020
How many glasses of wine can we drink per day. Professor Irinel Popescu: "I went to a clinic in Germany and there I spoke with a doctor who had a broader and open view of medicine"
The surgeon is no longer alone - dialogue with Prof. Dr. Irinel POPESCU
Food that is good to eat daily. Prof. Dr. Irinel Popescu: "Other than that, we have to vary!"
