He helped build one of the leading kidney transplant programs in the country, both in terms of the number of transplants performed annually, and in long-term organ function and patient survival rates.

The Vanderbilt Transplant Center had a banner year in 2024. The number of patients whose lives were saved by Vanderbilt’s heart transplant team far surpasses any previous total by an individual transplant center. 

Reginald Porter of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, received the procedure in September after being diagnosed at an area hospital in February with cholangiocarcinoma, a rare cancer that develops in the bile ducts.

The recipient of the 2,000th transplant was Wes Carter, 37, a real estate agent from Pensacola, Florida, who first noticed an irregular heart rhythm in his mid-20s.

The center was created earlier this year to save the lives of patients waiting for a transplant and improve outcomes for patients after they receive a transplant.

Constance Mobley, PhD'98, MD'03, shared her journey to becoming a transplant surgeon, the research and clinical innovations she has contributed to during her career, and the wisdom she has gained through the years.

Hoetzenecker comes to Vanderbilt from the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, where he has been professor of Lung Transplantation and director of the Lung Transplant Program.