Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation

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Sandip Kapur, MD
Chief, Transplantation Surgery

The NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Transplant program, in cooperation with the Rogosin Institute, was the first kidney transplant program established in New York State, now more than four decades ago. Since that time, over 3,000 kidney transplants have been performed. With over 200 kidney transplants performed each year since 2006, our program is among the largest in the country offering the very latest transplant management protocols and surgical interventions. We are the only transplant center serving the New York metropolitan area that has patient and graft survival rates that are significantly higher compared to the expected outcomes. Expected outcomes are calculated by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) based on the mix of recipient and donor characteristics at our center compared with experience with similar patients throughout the country. Notably, our excellent outcomes have occurred in the setting of high transplant volumes in a diverse and often complicated patient population.

For the first time in the history of kidney transplantation, we are able to individualize the medication regimen used to suppress the immune system and reduce the amount of exposure to these medications by utilizing molecular tools developed at Weill Cornell. Since 2001, approximately 75% of our kidney transplant patients have received a steroid-sparing medication regimen and over 1,000 transplanted patients are completely off of steroids.

Our expertise extends to pancreas transplantation for patients with life-threatening complications of type 1 diabetes mellitus. We are also the only center in the tri-state region to have performed successful human islet cell transplantation, a minimally invasive procedure to isolate the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin and implant them in a patient in order to improve control and reduce complications of type 1 diabetes.

Our skilled transplant team offers progressive therapeutic options not generally available through other transplantation programs, with lower rejection rates and higher graft survival rates compared to national standards. In cooperation with the Rogosin Institute, we have developed a comprehensive multidisciplinary program that provides access to the best in medical and surgical expertise. Our Transplant Research Program, amongst the best in the world, allows for developments in the laboratory to be brought directly to our patients' bedside.