When the need for an organ transplant becomes reality, the people of Georgia are fortunate to have Emory Transplant Center on which to rely.
Since its first transplant in 1947--Georgia's first cornea transplant--Emory has grown into one of the largest transplant programs in the country. Kidney transplants were first performed in 1966 and bone marrow transplants in 1975. Since 1985, heart, liver, pancreas, and lung transplant programs have been established. Today, about 350 solid organ transplants and 250 bone marrow transplants take place at Emory annually.
But surgery is only one aspect of Emory's expansive program. Emory boasts extensive participation in clinical trials, a sizable program in both clinical and basic research, and a training program that is committed to providing education on transplantation to medical students, residents, fellows, and those who are interested in even more advanced training.
"It's that combination of having a strong clinical presence, a commitment to research, and an active educational program which gives Emory the strength that it has in transplantation," said John Neylan, MD, Medical Director of Emory's Kidney Transplant Program and Outpatient Transplant Services.
"Many of our staff are involved in the national organizations related to transplantation," he added. Indeed, the staff is another one of Emory's strengths, agreed Robert D. Gordon, MD, Professor of Surgery and Director of Liver Transplant Services.
"We have an excellent mix of professional staff. We have among our surgeons an array of talents that I think any state-of-the-art transplant program would want to have," Dr. Gordon said. "We have a very diversified liver team, doing both adult and pediatric transplants, live donor transplants, and we just did our first split cadaver organ transplant" in which half of a donated liver was given to an adult and the other half to a child.
Yet another strength, Dr. Gordon said, lies in Georgia's demographics. "We have a state of about 6.5 million people, which is just about the right size to be served by an organ transplant center. We're also fortunate in that we're served by a single organ procurement organization in this state that makes the logistics of procurement here very simple and straightforward," he said. On July 11, Emory launched an extensive home page (www.emory.org/transplant) that provides detailed information on its services to both patients and physicians alike.
For Your Information:
Emory Transplant Center
http://www.emory.org/transplant/
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