All Coleen Leszczynski ever wanted was to be normal. Born with a congenital heart disease (CHD), she labored to breathe, having only three-quarters the oxygen capacity of a healthy person. Still, she fought to live, serving as a cardiac nurse in her native Philadelphia area for more than 16 years. She wanted to help people like her.

A new documentary television series premiering this fall follows the life-saving stories of organ transplant patients at the Vanderbilt Transplant Center.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Vanderbilt Transplant Center have won Platinum Recognition, the highest possible level of achievement, from the National Hospital Organ Donation Campaign of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

The Vanderbilt Transplant Center performed a record number of solid organ transplants in fiscal year 2021 (FY 21) — 637 life-saving procedures among its adult and pediatric programs — despite occurring entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A rule requiring greater accountability from organ procurement organizations (OPOs) will increase the nation’s supply of organs donated for transplantation, but it must be implemented quickly and effectively, Seth Karp, MD, director of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center, testified before Congress on Tuesday, May 4.

Ninety-one people gave the gift of life as deceased organ donors at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2020, and behind every one of them is a story. This is the story of Evan Snider, 19, of Franklin, Tennessee.

The pediatric liver transplant program at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt continues to reach milestones — the most recent being named one of the best programs in the country.