Days after finishing her first semester of medical school, Amaris Elston awoke in a hospital room. She felt drained as her body started to adjust to its new reality.

Drew Ferguson, whose distinguished career in sports medicine at UAB and Children’s of Alabama spans over 40 years, understands the pursuit of excellence in health care. He has witnessed and been part of many care and safety advances for athletes, but he’s also benefitted personally from the progress of medical science. He’s received two kidney transplants at the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute that, in his words, have been a major part of his good fortune in life.

Amanda knew that Adam had Goodpasture syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder that causes the body to make antibodies that attack the lungs and kidneys. “When I turned 18, Adam got really sick and was in and out of the hospital a lot,” Amanda recalled. “Ultimately, we were told that he needed a kidney transplant.”

Ashley Nichols, 32, shares her journey from managing her type 1 diabetes to navigating her rare kidney-pancreas transplant with the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute care team.

Clifton Booth had long considered becoming a living kidney donor, but he wasn’t sure it was the right course of action for him. Then, in fall 2017, he encountered an acquaintance who had been a donor and encouraged Booth to consider it.

Tabitha Derryberry, 49, is no stranger to chronic medical conditions. She has lupus, an inflammatory disease in which the immune system attacks joints, organs, and the skin. And when she was 35, Derryberry learned that her kidneys were failing due to having Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that attacks the body’s cells.

Frank Reeves says he has two birthdays. The first was the day he was born 62 years ago, and the second was May 12, 1998 – the day he received his kidney transplant. Reeves’ difficult path to that second birthday began when he was 35 and serving as a police officer in Dothan, Ala.

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.

Thank you for your interest in the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute. We are committed to providing excellent care and we look forward to helping you through your transplant journey. We’ve created this series of videos that we hope you will share with your family and friends. We hope you get all your questions answered by […]

Carol Glover retired in 2017 after working 32 years for University of Alabama Athletics, and she was looking forward to her upcoming wedding and traveling the world with her new husband. Glover couldn’t have foreseen that her journey would lead to her becoming the oldest kidney-pancreas transplant patient at the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute (CTI).

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.