The nationally recognized UC Davis Health kidney transplant program is one of the busiest in the nation for total kidney transplants. Since, 1985, our center has performed more than 5000 kidney transplants making us one of the most established and experienced programs in the United States.  Our kidney transplant surgeons are some of the most skilled in the country. They care for patients, lead clinical trials, and train the next generation of clinical surgeon/scientist leaders.

The UC Davis Transplant Center has consistently been among the nation’s top programs in terms of kidney transplant volume and our patient outcomes consistently meet or exceed the national average. This level of expertise means that our adult and pediatric patients benefit from some of the best outcomes in the nation.  

We provide expert care for all patients including those with complex conditions.  Each transplant candidate is carefully evaluated by a multidisciplinary team that includes transplant surgeons, gastroenterologists, nephrologists, hepatologists, infectious disease specialists, nurses, and social workers.  To ensure patients receive the most appropriate care, patients with end-stage renal failure may be evaluated for access procedures for chronic dialysis with the goal of providing kidney transplantation to as many patients as possible.  All candidates will also be encouraged to considered living-related or living-unrelated kidney transplantation in addition to deceased donor kidney transplantation. The transplant program at UC Davis Health ensures that all patients receive state-of-the-art care for highly complex procedures with comprehensive long-term follow-up.  Highlights of our program include:

High Volume Center: Each year, our program is recognized as one of the top centers in the nation for total kidney transplants.

Exceptional Outcomes: Our patient outcomes and survival rates are consistently at or exceed the national average.  As a referral center, we consistently see patients with the most complex cases, so these outcomes are very meaningful.

Birth – Adult Care: Our program welcomes both pediatric and adult patients.

Team Coordination of Care: Our program provides for seamless coordination of care with a team of advanced medical specialists working together to treat advanced kidney disease.

Conducting Ongoing Research: Our surgeons are actively researching and advancing treatment options for kidney disease.

At UC Davis Health we provide an array of transplant options to ensure that each patient receives the most appropriate treatment and care.  Our areas of care include:

Adult kidney transplants: We are one of the country’s largest kidney transplant programs, and have exceptional outcomes to match our high volumes.

Pediatric kidney transplants: Our pediatric transplant program provides comprehensive multidisciplinary care to children with a spectrum of kidney conditions, spanning all ages — from birth to young adulthood.

Living donor kidney transplants: These transplants involve removing a healthy kidney from a living person and transplanting it to a recipient. The living donor is often a close friend or relative, but anyone who is healthy can donate a kidney. Living donor transplants tend to offer more immediate function and may last longer.

Kidney exchange:  If your kidney donor is incompatible with you, participation in a national kidney exchange can increase your chance of finding a matching donor. With kidney exchange, your donor gives a kidney to a compatible match, and you receive a kidney from a donor who is compatible with you. 

Nonliving donor transplants: A deceased kidney donation comes from a donor who is no longer has functioning brain activity but whose other organs are still functioning. 

We are pleased to announce that the UC Davis Liver Transplant program is reopening, and we expect to see patients again in the spring of 2023.  UC Davis Health performed the first Liver Transplant in 1983 and, in 2009, due to operational changes, performed its last liver surgery.  With the arrival of Dr. Sophoclis Alexopoulos as Chief of the Division of Transplant Surgery, plans are underway to formally re-launch the UC Davis Health Liver Transplant program.  Dr. Alexopoulos is an experienced transplant surgeon with expertise in adult and pediatric transplantation as well as complex liver cancer surgery.