Celebrating 5 Years of Kidney Transplant Care

Seyed Ghasemian, MD, Chief of Abdominal Transplant Surgery, and Basit Javaid, MD, Chief, Abdominal Transplant Medicine.

Memorial Transplant Institute is celebrating five years of saving lives through kidney transplantation for both children and adults — and now has one of the shortest wait times and highest rates of transplantation in the country, according to Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients data.

Memorial began offering kidney transplants in 2017 and is the only center in Broward County — and one of only two in South Florida — to offer pediatric and adult kidney transplants.

“When a patient is progressing to or has established end-stage kidney disease, timing to transplantation is very important. That’s why we work tirelessly to make the referral, evaluation and transplant process as streamlined and smooth as possible, ensuring that patients get to transplant preemptively or as early after starting dialysis as possible,” says Basit Javaid, MD, Chief, Abdominal Transplant Medicine.

The kidney transplant team —led by Dr. Javaid and Seyed Ghasemian, MD, Chief of Abdominal Transplant Surgery — offers nationally recognized care from physician researchers who bring the latest therapies directly to patients, as well as specialized support and care for a lifetime.

The team has become known for taking on some of the most complex and challenging cases and offers multiple transplant options including:

• Living donor
• Deceased donor
• Preemptive
• Paired kidney donation
• Transplantation across immunological and physiological barriers

Memorial is one of only four centers in the state to offer paired kidney donation through the National Kidney Registry.

“Our team is one of the most experienced in the region and offers the most innovative options, including complex procedures to provide a transplant for people with challenging cases that might not be possible at other transplant centers,” Dr. Ghasemian says. “These options, coupled with our urgency and long-term care, give patients the second chance they’ve been hoping for.”

Patient Story: A Friend’s Loving Gift

Ben and Tia.

Ben had extreme swelling in his legs and feet, his heart was working at only 11% and his kidneys were failing. Slowly, his heart grew stronger, but he still needed a kidney.

Tia, a Memorial employee, knew Ben from church. She offered to help by donating one of her kidneys. Living donor transplants like this offer fewer complications and often last twice as long.

Now, Ben has his energy, strength and life back. “I got a second chance,” he says.