Pinson, who is stepping away from his role as Deputy CEO and Chief Health System Office for VUMC on June 30, was a pioneer in the field of liver transplantation, founding the Vanderbilt Liver Transplant Program and establishing multiple transplant residency and nurse practitioner programs.

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.

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.

A 17-year-old cystic fibrosis warrior and liver transplant recipient with antibiotic resistance got to see science in action at Vanderbilt Medical Laboratories.

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

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

Young Cameron Campbell recently became the first pediatric patient to receive a living donor liver transplant at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.