December 9, 2021
…San Diego Health cardiac transplant recipients forge unique friendship “I can feel your heart beating, bro!” Isaac Gonzalez, 19, told George Jimenez, 56, while hugging him hello during their first in-person meeting in three months. “I can feel mine, too! With my old heart, I could never feel it because…
March 12, 2015
…Leads to Lifesaving Organ Transplant James Lebowitz, 18, helped transform the lives of more than 60 patients across the United States through organ and tissue donation. In January 2015, the lives of more than 60 people changed forever when Paul and Susan Lebowitz made the decision to donate their son’s…
November 30, 2016
…San Diego Health performed the region’s first combined heart-liver transplant (CHLT). During the 10-hour surgery, 54-year old Frank “Sonny” Taitano received a healthy heart and liver. This is the first successful heart-liver transplant for San Diego; less than 10 of these surgeries are performed each year in the U.S.
September 3, 2020
UC San Diego Health is the first hospital in San Diego and only health care system in Southern California to transplant a liver from a donor with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) into an HIV-positive recipient. The surgery is part of a national clinical trial.
August 27, 2019
For the first time in Southern California, surgeons at UC San Diego Health have transplanted the kidney of a deceased donor with HIV into a recipient with a pre-existing HIV infection. The procedure is part of an unprecedented multi-site national clinical trial.
July 6, 2021
The lung transplant team at UC San Diego Health performed San Diego County’s first transplant surgery with lungs donated after cardiac death, an approach that could mean more opportunities to save the lives of those in critical need of new lungs.
November 16, 2018
On October 29, 2018, the Cardiovascular Institute at UC San Diego Health performed its 50th heart transplant of the year. The patient, 52-year-old Nate Jackson, will spend Thanksgiving with family, friends and a new heart.
January 11, 2016
UC San Diego Health and Sharp HealthCare have formed a joint program to enhance liver transplantation service¬¬s in San Diego by combining resources, collaborating on research and expanding specialized liver care. The alliance is expected to strengthen clinical services for patients with end-stage liver disease while reducing costs.
March 1, 2016
…more than 15,000 patients are waiting for a liver transplant. Approximately 6,300 persons each year will receive a new liver; 1,400 die waiting. In California, one in four listed for liver transplant will die before an organ becomes available. Fortunately, living donation is now a lifesaving option at UC San…
September 22, 2014
The concept of a whole eye transplant seems futuristic, if not impossible. But with a $1million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine hope to someday make implantation of an entire, functional eye a reality.
