Driven to help people live on.

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Driven to help people live on.

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Ajmera Transplant Centre

Charles Cook, heart transplant (2016) and kidney transplant (2017) recipient, walking with his partner, Monica.

Heart failure. Diabetes. Kidney disease. Liver cancer. Lung disease.

These and other devastating illnesses cause life-threatening organ damage and organ failure, impact the lives of millions of Canadians and contribute to rapidly rising healthcare costs. As our population ages and lives longer, the urgent need for solutions will only intensify.

The Ajmera Transplant Centre at UHN’s Toronto General Hospital is the largest and most successful transplant program in North America, and one of the top three transplant research centres in the world. Our team of doctors, surgeons, nurses and allied health professionals cares for the sickest of the sick. Patients with the most complex and advanced organ damage are referred here from across the country because we have the life-saving expertise they need. In addition to performing more than 700 organ transplants each year, the Centre provides lifelong care for more than 6,000 transplant recipients living in more than 550 communities across Canada.

We are studying the diseases that cause damage and ultimately lead to organ failure, and are tireless in the pursuit of new treatments and cures. For more than 50 years, we have pioneered discoveries that have saved countless lives and improved care for patients everywhere. Some of our firsts in transplantation include:

  • The world’s first successful single- and double-lung transplants
  • The development and first use of the Ex Vivo Organ Perfusion System to repair donor organs for transplant – significantly increasing the number of organs available
  • Canada’s first living donor transplant to treat metastatic cancer in the liver

We need donor support to create a future where people with a life-threatening disease can live their lives fully, be engaged with their families and enjoy their children and grandchildren for years to come.

Fundraising priorities

As the global leader in organ repair technology, such as Ex Vivo Organ Perfusion, we will build on our knowledge to develop innovative strategies that ensure healthy organs for life. This will also unlock the potential to help the body repair itself – without the need for transplantation.

In partnership with UHN’s McEwen Stem Cell Institute, we will launch new treatments tailored to each individual patient. To get there, we must study, model and treat human disease using living cells. This will help us move discoveries and results from the lab to our patients as soon as possible.

We will use our unique ability to study and treat organs outside of the body to pursue new ways to use drugs, molecules and the body’s own immune system to target, treat and cure disease. Not only will this help prevent and treat conditions in transplant recipients – it will also help us find ways to save people from devastating diseases such as cancer and autoimmune disease.

UHN is a global magnet for emerging talent in every aspect of transplantation. Our competitive and internationally prominent fellowship and training program enables the best physicians, surgeons and researchers from around the world to come to UHN to receive mentorship from the brightest minds. Our fellows and trainees contribute to excellence in patient care and research at UHN and achieve global impact through the creation and dissemination of new knowledge.

Contact information:

Josh Lai, CFRE
Associate Vice President, Major Gifts
416-618-9355
[email protected]

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