Awards

The first solid organ transplant at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics—the patient received an identical kidney from his brother—was performed in 1969 by a team of specialists led by William Bonney, MD, and Richard Lawton, MD.

The transplant was the result of years of dedication by faculty and staff members who worked with patients and in the laboratory to develop a successful organ transplant program.

Since that time, nearly 2,500 kidney transplants have been performed at UI Hospitals and Clinics, along with approximately 550 liver transplants and 75 pancreas transplants. The program has excellent patient survival rates. Since 2004, adult survival is 100 percent after one year and 95 percent after three years.

Since the heart transplant program’s inception in 1985, more than 240 patients—including 54 children (LINK TO PEDIATRIC)—have received heart transplants.

The Lung Transplant Program was launched in 1988, when UI surgeons performed their first double-lung transplantation procedure. The University of Iowa is the only Lung Transplant Program in the state of Iowa.

Transplantation at UI Hospitals and Clinics is multi-organ and multidisciplinary, meaning many physicians from different specialties come together to create the best possible treatment plan for each individual patient. Transplants performed include adult pancreas and both adult and pediatric kidney, liver, heart, lung, and blood and marrow.