Kidney Transplant

The kidney transplant program at UVA was started in 1967 and is one of the busiest in Virginia. We have performed more than 1800 kidney transplants, many on high-risk patients.

Living Donation and the Challenge of Organ Supply

There is a national shortage of organs available for transplant. Because of this, we discuss living donor kidney donation during each patient’s evaluation process. Living donations (where a living person donates an organ) decrease waiting times for the recipients and studies show these organs function earlier and better than organs from deceased donors.

We’re also performing living donor transplants even when the donor and recipient are blood type-incompatible or recipients are “cross match positive.” These are types of transplants that in the past could not be done.

Commitment and Research

Our primary goal is to improve your quality of life. Many of our patients have participated in our medical and drug studies, including drug studies looking at ways to reduce and manage the effects of organ transplant rejection and reduce complications from those drugs.

Keys to Success

You’ll have a team of doctors, transplant coordinators, social workers, financial counselors and more working to ensure you receive the best care possible. We’ll work with your referring and primary doctor, who is an important member of your transplant team.

Total Kidney Transplants Performed Annually

Our Approach

The evaluation process begins with a referral by your family doctor or nephrologist. The next step is a visit to our transplant clinic. Find out more about our approach.

A Note to All Patients
The United Network for Organ Sharing provides a toll free patient services line to help transplant candidates, recipients and family members understand organ allocation practices and transplantation data. You may also call this number to discuss a problem you may be experiencing with your transplant center or the transplantation system in general. The toll free patient services line is 888.894.6361.