“A kidney transplant…is extraordinarily powerful,” said Jayme Locke, M.D., MPH, director of the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute (CTI), in a recent episode of ‘The Checkup’ podcast. “So is a liver, a heart, a lung—they all change people's lives. They all give life back.”

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine announces today the first peer-reviewed research outlining the successful transplant of genetically modified, clinical-grade pig kidneys into a brain-dead human individual, replacing the recipient’s native kidneys. These positive results demonstrate how xenotransplantation could address the worldwide organ shortage crisis.

Alan Spriggs, program manager of Authorization Development with Legacy of Hope, Alabama’s organ procurement organization, approached the Parsons family with this rare opportunity to be a part of something that could change the course of many lives. Parsons’ accident occurred in Montgomery, Alabama; but O’Hara had already made her way to Huntsville to be with their children and family when Spriggs connected with her on the phone. Spriggs asked if she would be open to talking to Locke about a potential study.

Due to a shortage of deceased-donor organs, living donation programs are a great way to meet the need for organs among those awaiting a transplant. Thanks to treatment advances by the UAB Medicine Comprehensive Transplant Institute (CTI) – along with a special program that helps donors navigate the transplant process – living kidney donation is easier than ever.

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

Four years ago, 28-year-old Ana Kenney was told that she would either spend the rest of her life on dialysis or have to wait up to 10 years for a kidney transplant.

Stanley Wright is carefully crafting an emotional letter to a grief-stricken family. He yearns to express his boundless gratitude for their ultimate gift: the liver that gave Wright a new lease on life. “I want the family to know that their loved one lives on,” he says.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham and UAB Medicine have established the first uterus transplant program in the Southeast and the fourth such program in the United States.