Department of Surgery

VUMC has long record of supporting military on Veterans Day — and every day

“Vanderbilt is an extremely welcoming environment for military personnel, and you see that all over campus.”

J. Kelly Wright Jr., MD, speaks during his recent retirement reception. (photo by Erin O. Smith)

Pioneering transplant surgeon J. Kelly Wright Jr. retires

Wright and C. Wright Pinson, MBA, MD, performed Vanderbilt’s first liver transplant in 1991. This year, VUMC celebrated its 3,000th liver transplant.

Wali Johnson, MD, left, and Rachel Forbes, MD, MBA, were among the surgeons who performed an unusually high number of kidney transplantations in 48 hours. (photo by Erin O. Smith and Diana Duren)

Dedication, teamwork key to performing 10 kidney transplants in two days

Why were there so many kidney transplants in a weekend?
Rachel Forbes, MD, MBA, said it was purely happenstance. All the transplants were the result of matching kidneys from deceased donors being discovered at once for 10 patients.

Jimena Lopez, 13, received VUMC’s 3,000th liver transplant. (photo by Donn Jones)

VUMC reaches new liver transplant milestone 

While the surgery was a milestone for the hospital, for the pediatric patient and her family, it represented an answer to many prayers. 

Yelena Bodien joins VUMC to advance efforts in research, treatment of brain disorders

Bodien, who will co-direct the Neuroimaging Core of the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship Center, has applied behavioral measures and advanced neuroimaging to improve the diagnosis and prognosis of severe brain injury.

Enock Adjei, MD, left, and Wali Johnson, MD, perform a liver transplant in February 2024. (photo by Erin O. Smith)

Vanderbilt Transplant Center finishes fiscal year with record 809 solid organ transplants

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.

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