Public invited to attend free event on Sunday, Sept. 20
MADISON, Wis. — The UW Health Transplant Center is celebrating 60 years of transforming lives through organ transplantation and living organ donation, and invites the community to join a special anniversary celebration later this month.
The free, family-friendly event at the Alliant Energy Center on Sunday, Sept. 20, will honor transplant recipients, living donors, deceased organ donors and their families, health care professionals and community members who have helped make six decades of transplant success possible.
Since performing its first kidney transplant in 1966, the UW Health Transplant Center has grown into one of the nation’s leading transplant programs. Over the past 60 years, the program has performed transplants on more than 20,000 patients. The center has also supported more than 4,200 living donors in that time.
Perhaps most remarkably, nearly 900 transplant recipients who are more than 25 years post-transplant are still alive today, according to Melissa Roberts, executive director of the UW Health Transplant Center.
“Every transplant represents a remarkable story of generosity, hope and second chances,” she said. “As we celebrate this milestone, we’re honoring not only our program’s history, but also the donor heroes and dedicated healthcare professionals whose commitment has made these life-saving gifts possible.”
Over the past 60 years, the UW Health Transplant Center has built a legacy defined by historic milestones, clinical excellence and innovation. The program performed its first pediatric transplant in 1967, Wisconsin’s first lung transplant in 1988 and the state’s first combined heart-lung transplant in 1989. UW Health has also helped shape the field through groundbreaking discoveries, including the development of the UW Solution, which transformed organ preservation worldwide, and key contributions to one of the most widely used anti-rejection medications in transplant medicine.
In 2022, the health system opened the Pleasant T. Rowland Transplant Clinic at University Hospital, a state-of-the-art transplant clinic that consolidated its services under one roof. In 2023, UW Health launched its pediatric heart transplant program, becoming the only center in the Midwest actively transplanting all five major organs in both adults and children. Through its partnership with the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, UW Health also provides specialized transplant care for veterans, including one of only three Veterans Affairs-affiliated lung transplant programs in the country. The program performed its 1,000th lung transplant in October 2024.
In 2025, the center performed more than 520 organ transplants, the highest volume of any program in Wisconsin, and is on pace to exceed that total in 2026. Several transplant programs rank among the nation’s best, including the pancreas transplant program, which is consistently among the highest-volume programs in the country. Earlier this year, the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients recognized UW Health’s Heart Transplant Program as the top-performing heart transplant program in Wisconsin.
Looking ahead, UW Health is investing in new technologies and research aimed at expanding access to transplantation and improving patient outcomes. Key initiatives include advancing organ perfusion technology, opening a new perfusion laboratory in 2027 and participating in emerging research areas such as xenotransplantation, which has the potential to help address the national shortage of donor organs.
“Our transplant program has always been driven by innovation and a commitment to providing patients with access to the highest level of care,” said Dr. Dixon Kaufman, director of the UW Health Transplant Center and professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. “While we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished over the last 60 years, we’re equally excited about the future and the opportunities to expand transplantation and living donation for patients who need it most.”
The anniversary celebration event will feature family-friendly activities including a life-sized – almost – game of Operation, and local food trucks will be on site offering snacks and beverages. Football fans don’t need to worry; a big screen will show the Green Bay Packers game.
Advanced registration is encouraged, and more information about the event can be found at https://www.uwhealth.org/transplant-60th-anniversary.
UW Health Transplant Center
The UW Health Transplant Center is one of just six centers in the nation actively transplanting hearts, kidneys, livers, lungs and pancreases for adults and children, with more than 21,000 organs transplanted since 1966. The center is home to the largest renal autotransplant program in the nation, as well as one of the nation’s longest-running living donor programs, serving kidney and liver donors and recipients. To register as an organ donor, visit uwotd.org.
