The Hepatobiliary and Liver Transplant Service at the Vanderbilt Transplant Center is being renamed the Pinson Service in honor of C. Wright Pinson, MBA, MD, upon his stepping away as Deputy CEO and Chief Health System Officer on June 30.
Pinson, a graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, was a pioneer in the field of liver transplantation, founding the Vanderbilt Liver Transplant Program, establishing multiple transplant residency and nurse practitioner programs, and performing groundbreaking surgeries. He started two previous liver transplant programs before returning to Vanderbilt in 1990 to start the liver transplant program here.
On Feb. 23, 1991, Pinson led the team of approximately 100 medical professionals who performed VUMC’s and Middle Tennessee’s first liver transplant. The patient, Julie Damon, a wife, mother and former teacher at Franklin High School, is still celebrating life today.
Pinson served as director of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center from 1993 to 2011, helping build the foundation for VUMC to grow into one of the world’s top transplant centers. The transplant center is now the third largest by volume in the United States: Last year Vanderbilt’s comprehensive adult and pediatric liver program set an institutional record of 208 liver transplants. Also in 2024, VUMC celebrated its 3,000th liver transplant.
“We are so pleased that the service that Dr. Pinson founded and grew to one of the finest in the world is named in his honor,” said Seth Karp, MD, H. William Scott Jr. Professor of Surgery and chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences. “This will serve as a reminder to all faculty and staff who interact with the service of his enormous contributions to the care of patients with liver disease.”
Through agreements Pinson established, the Nashville VA Medical Center became the third VA center in the country contracted to perform liver and heart transplants for veterans. The son of an Air Force Major General who served in the Army Air Forces during World War II, Pinson established VUMC as an official site of the U.S. Army Military-Civilian Trauma Team Training (AMCT3), formalizing a long-standing relationship between VUMC and the Army to advance trauma care skills for both entities.
“Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the entire transplant community are deeply indebted to Dr. Pinson and his tireless efforts to bring outstanding transplant care to our patients,” said Joseph Magliocca, MD, director of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center, professor of Surgery and Pediatrics and surgical director of the Pediatric Liver Transplant Program.
“His vision laid the groundwork for the creation of the world-class transplant center that exists at VUMC today,” added Magliocca, who holds the Cindy and Dave Baier Directorship.
“In this regard, there is no truer thought than one penned by Sir Isaac Newton which stated, ‘If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.’ It is a small but deeply significant tribute to rename the Hepatobiliary and Liver Transplant Service in his honor.”
