UAB Medicine, home to Alabama’s leading transplant program, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Transplant Institute, has been named the presenting medical partner of the Transplant Games of America when the biennial event comes to Birmingham in July 2024. Additionally, UAB’s Sports and Exercise Medicine team will be providing medical coverage for all athletes at the games.
The Transplant Games of America gathers thousands of transplant recipients, living donors, donor families, individuals on the waiting list, caregivers, transplant professionals, supporters, and spectators for the world’s largest celebration of life, as transplant recipients and living donor athletes compete in 20 athletic and recreational competitions.
“We are honored to sponsor the Transplant Games, as this event brings much needed attention to the life-changing and -saving power of transplantation,” said Jayme E. Locke, M.D., director of the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute. “We cannot wait to cheer on our patients and those from around the world as they compete.”
At the games, athletes ranging in age from 5 to 80-plus are given the chance to demonstrate that having a transplant is a second chance at a full, productive and inspiring life, as well as display to their donor families what their gift means to them. The games will take place at a variety of locations across Birmingham from July 5-10, 2024.
“With UAB’s tremendous transplant medical history and a community known for Southern hospitality, Birmingham was a natural choice to host the 2024 Transplant Games,” said Transplant Games of America President and CEO Bill Ryan. “We are excited to introduce all that Birmingham has to offer to the thousands of donation and transplant attendees from across the United States.”
UAB is consistently recognized as one of America’s top transplant centers, based on the hospital’s history of innovation and achievement in organ transplantation. To date, more than 16,000 organ transplants have been performed at UAB, including heart, lung, combined heart/lung, liver, kidney, pancreas, and uterus procedures. UAB has been able to lead in this lifesaving space thanks to Legacy of Hope, Alabama’s federally regulated organ and tissue procurement organization.
With UAB physicians and medical staff from UAB Sports and Exercise Medicine providing on-site support for the thousands of participating athletes, UAB Medicine’s holistic commitment to the games reflects the hospital’s mission to deliver world-class patient care to the residents of Alabama and beyond.
“I’m thrilled that UAB Sports and Exercise Medicine will provide medical coverage of all athletes at the 2024 Transplant Games here in Birmingham, and our support is a testament to our program’s commitment to service, community and advancing exposure of the benefits of physical activity,” said Irfan Asif, M.D., chair of the UAB Department of Family and Community Medicine and associate dean of Primary Care and Rural Health. “The Transplant Games provides a great opportunity for the public to learn more about the importance of organ transplant donation so that we can continue to save lives, and I’m proud that UAB will play such a pivotal role.”
To learn more about transplantation at UAB, please visit here.
To learn more about the Transplant Games of America, please visit here.