Thanks to a series of altruistic donations that began in Colorado, three people who were waiting for a kidney received a life-saving transplant, including a patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The Vanderbilt Transplant Center, one of the largest organ transplant programs in the Southeast, is on pace to surpass last year’s transplant totals with 254 solid organ transplantations to date.

Pediatric cardiac surgeons at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt have performed the state’s first ABO incompatible heart transplant in a 2-month-old patient.

Tacrolimus is essential for patients receiving new hearts, kidneys and other organ transplants. The drug suppresses the body’s immune system, helping to prevent rejection.

Haley Hoy, Ph.D., ACNP, recently received the 2013 Advanced Transplant Provider Award from the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) during its Winter Symposium.