Transplants

A treatment targeting T-cell metabolism could reinvigorate immune tolerance mechanisms to combat autoimmune disease and transplant rejection, Vanderbilt researchers discovered. Read More

Post-transplantation diabetes mellitus (PTDM), a common complication of immunosuppressive drugs that are given to prevent transplant rejection, may be reversible and at least partially preventable, researchers at VUMC report. Read More

On Dec. 11, 2015, Jamie Heard woke up earlier than usual. She said she went through her normal routine, which included morning prayers. Read More

Blood-forming stem cells play a role in immune tolerance and acceptance of organ transplants, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered. Read More

How many heart transplant programs do we really need? That was a question posed by a group of investigators, including Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Ashish Shah, M.D., in a novel study that used a computerized algorithm to highlight the value of high-volume transplant centers with corresponding improved outcomes. Read More

Thirty-three percent of pediatric heart transplant patients developed antibodies against the donor heart, which can lead to rejection, a new Vanderbilt study reports. Read More

A new genetic model has generated new strategies for promoting tolerance to transplants – and improving long-term transplant outcomes – in the background of autoimmune disease. Read More

Becky Holman has worked at DCI Donor Services Tissue Bank for 22 years, allowing her to be a part of the donation process for hundreds of patients. Read More

A Vanderbilt University Medical Center postdoctoral research fellow in the area of transplant outcomes research has added health literacy as a metric to an existing battery of surveys that assess patient-reported outcomes in Vanderbilt transplant patients. Read More

In the latest VUCast: Check out some creative inventions by Vanderbilt students; see how a "bionic man" has ties to Vanderbilt; and learn details about a new academic building under construction on campus. All this and more in the latest VUCast, Vanderbilt's online newscast. Watch now. Read More

When Renee Coats retrieved a packet from her mailbox she was not sure how to feel. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center will hold its fifth annual Donate Life Flag-Raising Ceremony as part of national Donate Life month. The event celebrates organ donor families, living donors and hospital staff who care for donors and transplant recipients. Read More

The Vanderbilt Transplant Center, one of the largest organ transplant programs in the Southeast, is on pace to surpass last year’s transplant totals with 254 solid organ transplantations to date. Read More

Kim Duncan donated a kidney to her husband, Thomas, on Valentine’s Day last week. (photo by Daniel Dubois) For the nearly 25 years Thomas Duncan has been married, he was crowned the king of Valentine’s Day gift giving. Not this year however, says his wife, Kim, who… Read More

There are many reasons why David Shaffer, M.D., surgical director of the Kidney Transplantation Program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, loves his job. Read More

Targeting diabetes that develops after a stem cell transplant may help moderate graft-vs.-host disease, an adverse effect of the procedure, and improve outcomes. Read More

Nathan’s journey to life takes a turn filled with hope, thanks to the greatest gift of all…a new heart. Watch this VUCast update on the child whose story touched us all. [vucastblurb]… Read More

Nathan Roberts, an 18-month-old patient from Snead, Ala., whose heart has been operating with the help of a mechanical assistance device called the Berlin Heart since May 27, 2010, received a donor heart early yesterday morning at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Doctors say the transplant surgery went… Read More