The Vanderbilt Transplant Center performed a record number of solid organ transplants in fiscal year 2025 — 918 lifesaving procedures among its adult and pediatric programs. The adult program performed a record 859 transplants, and the pediatric program completed a record 59 transplants during the fiscal year, which ran from July 2024 until the end of June 2025.
This marks a second record-shattering year for solid organ transplants for Vanderbilt Health, surpassing last year’s previous record with an additional 109 lives saved. Again this year, Vanderbilt Heart retains its status as the world’s busiest heart transplant program.
Vanderbilt’s adult heart, lung and kidney transplant programs individually had record fiscal years, with 184 heart transplants, 126 lung transplants and 375 kidney transplants, including pancreas transplants and simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplants. In addition,
Vanderbilt performed 174 adult liver transplants and one heart-lung transplant.
“What a remarkable year we have had as a transplant center,” said Heidi Schaefer, MD, professor of Medicine and medical director of Adult Solid Organ Transplant. “The opportunity to provide record numbers of transplants and the highest quality of care to patients in need is humbling. We are so proud of the efforts of all the individuals who contribute to the successes of our programs at VUMC. It is an honor to be a part of it.”
Pediatric transplant teams with Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt performed a record 22 kidney transplants in addition to 21 liver transplants and 15 heart transplants. Vanderbilt also performed the state’s first-ever pediatric liver-pancreas transplant.
VUMC has exceeded 13,000 total transplants of all organs since its first kidney transplant in 1962.
It takes a highly specialized, multidisciplinary team of about 150 people to work on a single transplant. The transplant teams include physicians in each organ specialty, surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists, intensivists, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, social workers, financial coordinators, nutritionists, organ procurement coordinators, preservationists and operating room staff, among others.
“I am continually amazed by the extraordinary work of our transplant teams and the countless ancillary services across our Medical Center that make transplant possible,” said Heather O’Dell, MSN, ANP-BC, MMHC, executive director and associate operating officer for the Vanderbilt Transplant Center.
“These patients touch every corner of this institution, and it is the unwavering multidisciplinary collaboration that drives our ability to reach more patients year after year. We are proud to have reached a record number of transplants because we know what that means for our patients — the gift of time with their loved ones. I am deeply grateful to everyone who contributes to the care of these patients.”
