For the second calendar year in a row, Vanderbilt Lung Transplant has the busiest program in the Southeast and leads the nation in innovation in organ preservation and regeneration.

Through dramatic growth, the VTC is now the nation’s third busiest transplant center by volume, saving 136 more critically ill patients in calendar year 2024 than in 2023.

The initiative seeks to eliminate barriers and foster a safe, judgment-free space for families, employees and community members.

The results are important because it could enable at-home testing and increased access to testing for patients undergoing telehealth care.

The pilot project, which is expected to digitize 500,000 slides over three years, aims to open avenues for research, assist with access to whole-slide images for education and clinical meetings (of tumor boards, for example), and facilitate planning for the implementation of digital pathology for diagnostic purposes. 

The research could point to future therapeutic strategies that treat PF patients based on their individual stage of cellular and molecular remodeling.

Vanderbilt patients will have close-to-home access to all aspects of preventive cardiology, assessment of symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, rather than having to drive to Nashville.