Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is home to the second busiest heart transplant program in the country, according to the most recent data released by the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN).

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) Committee on Trauma has verified Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt as a Level I pediatric trauma center, recognizing the hospital’s commitment to provide the highest level of care for injured pediatric patients.

It comes down to privacy — biomedical research can’t proceed without human genomic data sharing, and genomic data sharing can’t proceed without some reasonable level of assurance that de-identified data from patients and other research participants will stay de-identified after they’re released for research.

Erin Morris, 29, has much to be thankful for this holiday season, and at the top of her list is Roman Perri, M.D., assistant professor, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

On Aug. 4, 2014, Mary Thomas of Tullahoma biked 10 miles. Fourteen days later she received a life-saving heart transplant at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC).

The Vanderbilt Transplant Center, one of the largest organ transplant programs in the Southeast, has not only surpassed the projected number of transplants it expected to perform for fiscal year (FY) 2016, but also experienced an increase in the total number of transplants performed over the previous year.

Turning tragedy into triumph is something Khris Downing is learning to do. He’s getting a lot of practice, as he is alive today because of a life-saving organ donation from his older sister, Geraldine Williams, who died on July 26.