The UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute performs human leukocyte antigen (HLA) testing prior to organ transplantation, to help ensure a good match between donor and recipient and reduce the risk of rejection. This testing is carried out by the Institute’s state-of-the-art Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Lab, which plays an important role in the transplant process.

On their wedding day 34 years ago, when Steve and Lynne Harrison vowed to be at each other’s side in sickness and in health, neither could have imagined the journey ahead.

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Cardiovascular Institute (CVI) published a study in Circulation showing that, among ventricular assist device recipients, patients with a particular form of dilated cardiomyopathy known as familial dilated cardiomyopathy have better clinical outcomes compared with other forms of the disease.

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).

Many thousands of Americans are waiting on a kidney transplant, sometimes for as long as five years. And kidney disease is a particular burden for many Alabamians. But by transplanting gene-edited pig kidneys into an individual who had been declared brain dead, a UAB team has delivered a breakthrough that may end the burden of waiting.

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.

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.

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.

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.