Thanks to the tremendous leadership provided by our previous directors – Dr. Cal Stiller (1987-1997) and Dr. William Wall (1997-2007) – as well as the current directors, Dr. Anthony Jevnikar and Dr. Patrick Luke, our transplant program developed as a truly multi-disciplinary group. Physicians and research scientists work together with allied health professionals, including nurses, physiotherapists, social workers, recipient coordinators, donation specialists, dietitians, psychologists and pharmacists. More than 6,000 patients have received transplants that have transformed their lives.
LHSC’s transplant program is credited with many firsts, including the first clinical trial on cyclosporine, the world’s first liver-bowel transplant, and transplanting the youngest multi-organ recipient who received a liver-bowel-stomach-pancreas transplant. In Canada, the first heart-lung transplant was done in London and the longest-surviving heart and liver recipients received their new organs at University Hospital. We performed the first liver transplants that used living donors, and have split livers from deceased donors so that two patients could be transplanted. We have now extended that innovation to splitting the pancreas so two patients can each receive a combined pancreas-kidney transplant. We are the leading Canadian centre with DCD (donation after circulatory death) donors.
Innovation has always been a hallmark of our transplant program. Research provides a strong foundation for the care of our patients, from basic discovery of new ways to prevent rejection, to new surgical approaches, to optimal treatment of living donor transplants. Our linked research centre, The Matthew Mailing Centre for Translational Transplant Studies, houses the most advanced mircrosurgery transplant facility in the world as well as a leading research team of transplant scientists, enabling us to continue pushing forward into new frontiers.
"As directors, we are proud to work with a dedicated team that has been internationally recognized through pioneering work in clinical transplantation as well as innovation in bench and translational research. Over the next few years, our team will engage in new transplant challenges and reshape paradigms in transplant medicine. The future of transplantation has never appeared as bright as it does today."
Dr. Patrick Luke & Dr. Anthony Jevnikar
Directors, Multi-Organ Transplant Program, LHSC
