In a battle with a rare and aggressive cancer called “double-hit” lymphoma, James “Milton” Wilkins struck first – or rather, his grandson did, with an accidental elbow to Wilkins’ abdomen. This led to a speedy diagnosis that gave him a fighting chance.

“I started taking cough drops for a minor sore throat,” he says. “Then one day, when I was doing rounds before my shift, I became weak and had shortness of breath.”

Many young adults create TikTok videos, but Jessica Hernandez may be the only 20-year-old who has used the social media platform to document her heart-lung transplant journey.

UAB Division of Transplantation Professor and Surgical Director of Kidney Transplantation Michael J. Hanaway, MD, was named the inaugural recipient of the Martha Robinson Tankersley Endowed Professorship in Transplant Clinical Excellence. A specialist in kidney and pancreas transplantation as well as live-donor surgery, Dr. Hanaway has played a key role in the UAB Division of Transplantation since he joined in February 2005.

Many women and families spend their early reproductive years thinking and planning when to have children, so when they have trouble getting pregnant, it can be both unexpected and upsetting. Infertility can take many forms, but for those with uterine factor infertility, a new potential avenue for having a child is available through the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute’s TxAccess online portal connects the CTI with 500 dialysis centers and nephrology practices throughout the Southeast. The portal makes it easier for these practices to refer patients for kidney or pancreas transplant, transmit patient information without using a fax machine or other cumbersome methods, and keep tabs on patients during the transplant journey. The TxAccess portal was previously called TxConnect.

UAB Medicine clinicians take pride in the excellent care they provide for patients and families. In 2020, employees Kacy and Daniel Tucker got an up-close view of that care – this time from the patient side. An organ transplant surgery and the premature birth of their child at the same time are not what the Tuckers would have planned, but the family now reports good outcomes for both experiences.

Through a month-long series of events and promotions, Legacy of Hope (formerly the Alabama Organ Center) observes National Donate Life Month in April. The celebration – established by Donate Life America to promote organ donation – highlights the various perspectives of families and individuals touched by donation and transplantation.

The word xenotransplantation — or the concept of it — is new to most people and many have lingering questions for its future. Xenotransplantation is the transplantation of organs or tissues from an animal source into a human recipient. Researchers and surgeons have been working towards viable xenotransplant options for decades, in the hopes of being able to save more live and improve the quality of life of their patients.  

Surgeons with the University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine reached an institutional milestone in February, surpassing 16,000 total organ transplants performed since its first almost 54 years ago.

On September 30, 2021, a University of Alabama at Birmingham medical team transplanted two pig kidneys into a brain-dead human recipient, a major step toward future pig-kidney transplants to people with kidney failure.

University of Alabama at Birmingham Assistant Professor Saulat Sajjad Sheikh, MBBS Division of Transplantation is one of the first female transplant surgeons from her originating country, Pakistan.