Gift of Life Sets National Record for Most Organs Transplanted in U.S. History

• Most Kidneys Transplanted in U.S. (10^th Year in a Row)
• Most Livers Transplanted in U.S. History
• Most Hearts Transplanted in U.S.
• Most Organ Donor Heroes in Program's History

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2025, Gift of Life Donor Program achieved a new national record coordinating the most life-saving organs transplanted of any organ procurement organization (OPO) in U.S. history and the most organ donor heroes in the organization's history. Powered by a unique alliance of scientific innovation and human compassion, Gift of Life's dedicated staff and hospital partners embraced ground-breaking technologies that advance the legacies of the donor heroes and families who make it all possible.

Headquartered in Philadelphia, Gift of Life is the federally designated OPO serving the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware. Gift of Life consistently ranks in the highest-performing tier of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for key donation and transplantation metrics.

In 2025, Gift of Life:

• Coordinated 1,955 organ transplants, the most in U.S. history.
• Coordinated 984 kidney transplants, the most in the U.S. for the tenth consecutive year — bringing its cumulative total to 22,756, the highest number of kidney transplants facilitated by any OPO in U.S. history.
  • This work aligns with CMS and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) initiatives to improve kidney utilization and access.
  • More than a half million people in the U.S. are suffering from End-Stage Renal Disease, with more than 90,000 awaiting a kidney transplant. Vada Conant, an Air Force and Army veteran, waited for years until receiving a healthy kidney that allows her to continue her life of service. Watch her uplifting story.
• Coordinated 508 liver transplants, the most in U.S. history.
• Coordinated 180 heart transplants, the most in the U.S.
• Coordinated 725 organ donor heroes, the most in Gift of Life's 51-year history.

Since the start of the U.S. national system in 1988, Gift of Life has coordinated 43,108 organ transplants overall, the most of any OPO.

A global leader since the early days of transplant, Gift of Life continues to advance the field, championing organ recovery and preservation technologies that have greatly increased the possibility of donation for families who want to create a legacy of hope for their loved one. Donation After Circulatory Death (DCD) and Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP) make life-saving organ donations possible in cases where timing, logistics, donor age, health issues or other factors would have previously prevented it. In 2025:

• Gift of Life's rapid adoption of NRP in its DCD practice had an especially dramatic impact on liver donation with liver transplants increasing 35 percent in one year to 508 in 2025 — the most in U.S. history and one of the largest increases nationwide.
• DCD continued to expand life-saving opportunities for older donor heroes, including the:
  • Oldest DCD liver transplanted in U.S. history from an 83-year-old donor.
  • Oldest DCD heart transplanted in Gift of Life's history from a 63-year-old donor.

"Transplants that would not have been possible just a few years ago are now taking place daily, thanks to the extraordinary dedication and expertise of our staff and commitment of our hospital partners," said Richard D. Hasz, Jr., MFS, CPTC, President and CEO of Gift of Life Donor Program, Gift of Life Transplant Foundation and Gift of Life Howie's House. "As we innovate and lead, we never forget that the true power of donation lies in the humanity of families who choose compassion in their hardest moments. Their courage creates heroes and life-saving legacies, fueling our team's determination to end the transplant waitlist."

This past year marked the 30^th anniversary of Gift of Life's first DCD donor, 14-year-old Michael McVey, who saved three lives at a time when donation after brain death was the norm. His mother, Susan McVey-Dillon, became a leading advocate, working with Gift of Life to make DCD a national standard.

In the three decades since, 3,025 families in Gift of Life's region have chosen DCD, resulting in 5,588 transplants. A powerful testament to the courage and compassion of one young hero and his family, 30 years later, Michael is still saving lives. Read more about Michael's extraordinary legacy.

"Donation after Circulatory Death, supported by advances such as Normothermic Regional Perfusion, has significantly expanded the opportunity for families to save lives through donation," said Jennifer Axelband, DO, Director of Neuro Critical Care, St. Luke's University Health Network. "Gift of Life is working with its partner hospitals to offer hope to patients who might otherwise not receive a transplant, while ensuring that donors and their families receive compassionate, excellent care." Discover how NRP made it possible for Ashlen Moss to receive Jared Kerr's heart.

Gift of Life Board Chair Linda Barrasse, MD, added, "As both a cardiologist and the mother of an organ donor hero, I've witnessed firsthand the profound impact that Gift of Life has on families during their most difficult moments. Our organization's commitment to implementing new organ preservation technologies effectively and rapidly is opening doors for more families to save lives. Every innovation we embrace brings us closer to our ultimate goal: ending the waitlist and ensuring that no family loses a loved one who needs a transplant to survive." Watch the inspiring story of 13-year-old C.J. Adams, who received a heart transplant in early 2025.

This work depends on an extensive, world-renowned clinical training program. Each year, the organization invests deeply in its world-class team through rigorous, ongoing education that strengthens donor management and communication with families and healthcare partners. In 2025 alone, staff completed more than 10,000 hours of structured training, including advanced simulation-based education and actor-supported role-playing that prepares coordinators for the most complex clinical situations and emotionally sensitive donation conversations. Fully aligned with HRSA and CMS expectations, this unmatched commitment to training ensures the highest standards of professionalism, ethics, and care for donor families while supporting every step of the organ donation process.

In addition, Gift of Life has expanded its team of organ recovery surgeons to five, strengthening clinical capacity and ensuring timely, high-quality recovery of organs in support of hospital partners and transplant centers across the region.

Gift of Life's highly skilled donation professionals partner with 123 acute care hospitals. "Providing families with the opportunity to give the gift of donation is a vital part of compassionate end-of-life care," said Christine Radolovic, MS, BSN, RN, Gift of Life Chief Clinical Officer. "Our transplant coordinators and hospital critical care teams stand together to honor each donor and guide families through a meaningful decision that can save lives."

Gift of Life recognizes hospitals for championing donation within their facilities and throughout the community with its annual Gift of Life Award. In this video, our 2025 award winner, Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, reflects on caring for families and their collaboration with Gift of Life.

Through its Advocates in Action program, Gift of Life honors individuals at hospitals across its region whose extraordinary support and commitment help advance a culture of donation. Meet the nearly 40 champions who have been recognized.

In 2025, donor heroes also transformed lives through tissue donation. Gift of Life recovered precious tissues from 2,704 donors, including 1,319 musculoskeletal donors and the most cornea donors, 2,406, in the program's history. A record 461 of those cornea donors were coordinated at its Hershey, Pa. facilities, providing the gift of sight through a record 664 transplants. These life-changing donations can benefit more than 130,000 people, with bone for orthopedic and sports injuries, heart valves to repair life-threatening defects and skin for burn patients and reconstructive surgery for breast cancer patients.

Comprehensive Clinical, Research and Community Programs

Across every facet of its mission, Gift of Life continued to lead national progress in donation and transplantation in 2025.

Gift of Life successfully implemented Copernicus data integration at Temple Health, Bayhealth and Wellspan Health, allowing the secure, automatic import of key donor information from a hospital's system directly into Gift of Life's electronic record. This innovation improves efficiency and ensures accuracy, creating a faster, smoother organ donation process that leads to more lives saved.

Fulfilling its commitment to advancing scientific breakthroughs and donor family goals of improving the lives of others, Gift of Life also coordinated 789 organs for research in 2025, the most in the program's history.

Gift of Life's research partnerships include working with the National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI) on the pediatric Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health to support critical research on disease processes and progression. By studying how genes are turned on and off in different tissues during childhood, this research provides critical insight into how diseases begin, progress, and affect growing bodies. That knowledge can lead to earlier diagnoses, more precise treatments, and therapies tailored specifically to children. This important project is possible because of the generosity of donor families, transforming donated tissue into lasting knowledge that may one day prevent illness, improve outcomes and save lives.

Across its community, Gift of Life commemorated its 50th anniversary with mobilization, adding more than 50,000 people to the national donor registry through a year-long effort that concluded in April. The program's award-winning community engagement campaign focused a call to action on donor registration as both a personal act of generosity and a collective civic duty rooted in empathy and hope. The family of Ronald Shousky, a Navy Master of Arms 2nd Class Petty Officer, urges others to sign up to become a donor in honor of their son, who saved four lives through organ donation. Watch their story of strength and hope.

Community programs are only possible thanks to Gift of Life's more than 600 dedicated volunteers, who play a vital role in advancing the program's mission. Serving as passionate ambassadors in local communities, they support hundreds of events, outreach efforts, and educational programs — sharing personal stories, answering questions, and inspiring meaningful conversations about donation.

"Registering as an organ and tissue donor is a profound expression of generosity and shared responsibility," said Jan L. Weinstock, Esq., Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel. "With more than 50,000 people stepping forward during our 50^th anniversary year, our community has shown what's possible when we unite to help those urgently waiting for a life-saving transplant. One donor can save eight lives and transform up to 100 others — and every new registrant brings hope to our community."

Gift of Life Institute, an affiliate of Gift of Life Donor Program, announced it is the new home of the national Community Partnership for Transplant Growth, assuming stewardship of a national grassroots movement dedicated to inspiring and enabling bold action to increase donation and transplantation. As host organization, the Institute provides the structure, coordination and educational expertise needed to sustain and expand this work. Building on its 20-year history as an international training center, the Institute will also launch a donation-focused initiative applying proven methodologies to increase authorization, strengthen donor management and deepen hospital engagement. Learn more about this initiative.

The Institute also introduced DonorPedia^™, a mobile reference tool that provides real-time, practical guidance for organ and tissue donation professionals. Available on smartphones and tablets, the app centralizes more than 50 concise, expert-developed guides covering the full donation process — streamlining access to critical information and eliminating the inefficiencies of navigating multiple resources. Learn more about this innovation. Designed by experienced educators and practitioners, DonorPedia reflects the Institute's commitment to equipping frontline teams with the clarity, confidence and support needed to improve donation outcomes.

Since 2004, the Institute has served as an international training center for organ and tissue donation professionals. The Institute's comprehensive, interdisciplinary resources designed to increase donation outcomes include skills-based learning, continuing education, collaborative research and consulting services. The Institute has facilitated more than 680 workshops with all U.S. OPOs and multiple tissue banks, training over 14,800 professionals from across the U.S. and 33 countries around the world.

Transplant Pregnancy Registry International (TPRI) is the only research study in the world tracking the effects of pregnancy on transplant recipients and the effects of immunosuppressive medications on fertility and pregnancy outcomes. Many transplant recipients were warned not to attempt pregnancy in years past. TPRI has helped give organ recipients science-based information to achieve post-transplant parenthood through more than 35 years of expert research.

Since 1991, the TPRI team and its collaborators have tracked 3,338 parents and 5,695 pregnancies; celebrated more than 4,587 children and 396 grandchildren; presented information at 606 academic forums; and written 345 publications including 99 peer-reviewed publications. Their work informs treatment guidelines, education to providers and guidance to recipients worldwide.

Transplant Foundation, the supporting affiliate of Gift of Life Donor Program, leads research and education to advance donation and transplantation around the world. It also provides grants to fund innovation, quality and safety through scientific research, social and behavioral interventions or alternate approaches to existing processes and protocols. Transplant Foundation:

• Approved 30 research initiatives for funding in recent years.
• Supports Team Philadelphia, consisting of transplant recipients, living donors and donor families who will participate in the 2026 Transplant Games of America in Denver, Colo. in June. See Team Philly in action in this highlights video.
• Supports Camp Jeremy, a summer day camp filled with fun and friendship for young transplant recipients and their siblings.
• Receives critical funding for community programming and services from Gift of Life's annual Donor Dash. The 28th Annual Donor Dash in April 2025 drew nearly 16,000 participants, raised more than $720,000 and increased awareness about the critical need for organ donors. Experience the excitement of the Dash in this highlights video.

Commitment to Supporting Families

Gift of Life's commitment to providing a compassionate, comprehensive circle of care supports countless donor and transplant families through an array of services, programs and millions of dollars in subsidized care.

After supporting families in the hospital, Gift of Life's continuing care includes grief counseling and special programs such as annual Life and Legacy Celebrations that honor donor heroes and their families. The organization's 2025 Life & Legacy Celebrations were the largest ever, honoring 321 donor heroes represented by more than 1,100 family members and friends in attendance. View the 2025 virtual ceremony.

For families traveling to Philadelphia for a transplant, Gift of Life Howie's House offers more than affordable temporary lodging — it offers comfort, stability, and a caring environment. This 32-room home away from home has been a lifeline for thousands of transplant families. In 2026, the House will celebrate its 15^th anniversary thanks to the support of hospitals, volunteers, contributors, and community partners who make its work possible. In 2025, the House provided:

• 10,657 nights of lodging
• 36,108 meals
• 1,464 free shuttle rides to local hospitals

This anniversary year will be a celebration of the people who sustain this mission and help families on a transplant journey far from home focus on what matters most: healing.

The House's Caregiver Lifeline Program, which provides education and support through programs such as webinars and virtual support groups for transplant patients, caregivers and professionals expanded its reach in 2025. More than 4,500 participants from most U.S. states and multiple countries attended these programs.

Gift of Life's commitment to support transplant patients and their families throughout their journey extends beyond the House and includes grants to help those receiving care at transplant centers across its entire service area. Gift of Life has provided more than $17 million in subsidized care during the past 14 years through various initiatives supporting transplant patients and their families.

About Gift of Life Donor Program

Gift of Life Donor Program, founded in 1974 and headquartered in Philadelphia, is the federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) for the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware serving 11.3 million people. It works with 123 acute care hospitals and 12 transplant centers in its region, as well as hundreds of transplant centers throughout the country, to provide the most comprehensive array of services available in the U.S. to the donation and transplantation community. Thanks to the generosity of its community, Gift of Life has coordinated 15,586 donors and 43,108 organs for transplants, the most of any OPO in the country since the start of our national donation system in 1988. In addition, Gift of Life has coordinated more than two million tissue transplants. One organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people and a tissue donor can improve the lives of 100 others. Learn more and sign up at donors1.org.

SOURCE Gift of Life Donor Program