National Kidney Registry 2018 Award Winners

The National Kidney Registry announced its 2018 Award Winners at its Gala dinner hosted at the Rainbow Room in New York City.

The Terasaki Medical Innovation Award is given to an individual or organization that has invented, developed or created breakthrough technologies in transplantation. The 2018 winner was the UCSF Medical Center for successfully completing the world’s first combined liver-kidney exchange. In July of 2017 a 22-year-old liver donor, whose mom needed a kidney, donated a part of her liver to a patient needing a liver transplant. The liver recipient’s paired donor donated a kidney to the liver donor’s mom. This was the first paired exchange where a liver was swapped for a kidney.

The Grace under Pressure Award is presented to an individual or organization that went above and beyond the call of duty to complete a swap under the most challenging circumstances. The 2018 winners were Kay Kosberg, Kristen Pelletier, Annemarie Dunn Morgan, Karen Miller, Donna Collins, and Tammy Wright, representing the Mayo Clinic Rochester, Brigham & Woman’s Hospital, University of Wisconsin, University of Pennsylvania and Sharp Memorial Hospital. This chain experienced a total of four swap failures in the three business days prior to swap commencement. The quick reaction and precise communication between these centers allowed for rapid chain repairs leading to the facilitation of transplants for four additional patients.

The Excellence in Physician Leadership Award is presented to the physician, who through engagement, teamwork, personal example, sharing and leadership improved the practice of kidney transplantation and who facilitated a significant number of living donor transplants at their center and around the country. The 2018 winner of the Physician Leadership Award was Dr. Matt Cooper of MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

The Excellence in Teamwork Award goes to the member centers demonstrating excellence in teamwork by successfully completing the largest swap during the past year. This year’s award goes to 10 centers that completed a single swap involving 26 surgeries resulting in 13 transplants. The 2018 winners were Hartford Hospital, Indiana University, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Mayo Clinic Rochester, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Mount Sinai Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, UCSF Medical Center and The University of Minnesota Medical Center.

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