Vanderbilt’s adult heart, lung, liver and kidney transplant programs individually had record fiscal years, with 150 heart transplants, 90 lung transplants, 180 liver transplants and 333 kidney transplants. In addition, adult transplant teams performed three heart/lung transplants and four kidney/pancreas transplants.

The new policy changed liver allocations from a regional service area to an “acuity circles” system that assigns donor livers as far as 500 nautical miles away based on the acuity of recipients.

Melissia Boynton got the call about 3 a.m. on Mother’s Day that her new heart was available. Immediately, her plans changed from a barbecue around the family pool to a middle-of-the-night drive to Nashville to get her new heart.

The 5,704 nautical-mile trip is the farthest VUMC has traveled for an organ. The remarkable journey illustrates how new technologies make it possible to preserve organs longer, allowing Vanderbilt to look farther for a match.

LSU baseball fan sporting a new set of lungs after VUMC transplant

Sixty-nine individuals donated their organs at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2023, and they and their families were saluted on April 17 at the annual Donate Life Ceremony.

Peter Reese, MD, PhD, has been named the inaugural director of the Vanderbilt Center for Transplant Science.