Doctor receives worldwide attention for article on altruistic kidney transplants

March 16, 2009 | News, UToday
By Staff



The groundbreaking approach to increasing the quantity and quality of kidney transplants across the country was explained by a UT Medical Center physician in the March 12 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine — and has since received media attention around the world.

Posing for a photo after the March 12 broadcast of the CBS Evening News With Katie Couric were, from left, Matt Jones, the altruistic donor who started the chain; Couric; Dr. Michael Rees; Angela Heckman, the second recipient in the chain; Matt Lockwood, UT director of public relations; and Laurie Sarvo, the third donor.

Posing for a photo after the March 12 broadcast of the CBS Evening News With Katie Couric were, from left, Matt Jones, the altruistic donor who started the chain; Couric; Dr. Michael Rees; Angela Heckman, the second recipient in the chain; Matt Lockwood, UT director of public relations; and Laurie Sarvo, the third donor.

The article titled “A Nonsimultaneous, Extended, Altruistic Donor Chain” highlights the world’s longest chain of kidney transplants made possible by maximizing the good that can come from an altruistic, or Good Samaritan, kidney donor.

Lead author of the report, Dr. Michael A. Rees, UT professor of urology and medical director of the Alliance for Paired Donation, said, “By passing the altruism of the first donor in the chain on to all subsequent donors, incompatible pairs no longer have to pay back the gift given to them. Instead, the barriers between donors and recipients are overcome through a chain of nonsimultaneous transplants in which participants ‘pay it forward’ to others in need.”

Media outlets ranging from the CBS Evening News With Katie Couric to The Blade have run stories on the newly published article. For an overview of coverage, click here. To read the UT  News story, click here.

To read Rees’ article, click here. For more information about the Alliance for Paired Donation, go to http://paireddonation.org.

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