New CU Anschutz Division of Transplant Medicine is First of Its Kind Nationally

Unlike traditional models, the new division brings together transplant experts with a singular focus on organ transplantation, making it easier for physicians, scientists and educators across disciplines to collaborate

AURORA, Colo. , Aug. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the University of Colorado Anschutz announced the creation of the Division of Transplant Medicine within the Department of Medicine, the first of its kind in the nation. The new division brings transplant specialists together in a new academic model designed to strengthen patient care, accelerate discovery and train the next generation of transplant leaders.

Transplant medicine encompasses multidisciplinary care and expertise before, during and after organ transplantation, as well as research aimed at improving transplantation and the long-term health of transplant recipients.

Based in the CU Anschutz Department of Medicine and working in close partnership with UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, the division will bring together leading experts in kidney, liver, heart and lung transplantation with specialists in infectious diseases, endocrinology, psychiatry and other fields.

"CU Anschutz is creating a new model for transplant medicine that brings specialists together around the patient rather than organizing them primarily by organ or traditional medical specialty," said Vineet Chopra, MBBS, MD, MSc, executive vice dean and chair of the CU Anschutz Department of Medicine in the CU Anschutz School of Medicine. 

Traditionally, transplant specialists in academic medicine have been based in separate fields, such as nephrology for kidney transplantation, gastroenterology or hepatology for liver transplantation and pulmonology for lung transplantation. The new division creates a shared academic home where experts can collaborate across transplant programs, apply insights from one area to another and address challenges that affect transplant patients regardless of the organ involved.

CU Anschutz is positioned to pioneer this academic model because of the scale and breadth of its transplant expertise. CU Anschutz surgeons have performed more than 10,000 transplant procedures at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children's Hospital Colorado and have led several major milestones in the field, including the world's first human liver transplant, Colorado's first kidney transplant and the nation's first adult-to-adult living-donor liver transplant.

"Transplant medicine is entering a new era and we are creating an academic structure designed to help lead it," adds Chopra. "By breaking down traditional academic silos, we can better coordinate care across specialties and bring clinicians and experts together to solve some of the most complex challenges in transplantation."

Transplant patients have complex needs that cross specialties

A successful transplant involves much more than the transplanted organ. Patients often have complex needs that require expertise across multiple specialties, from preventing and treating infections to managing the effects of immunosuppression and supporting long-term physical and mental health. By bringing together transplant physicians with experts in areas such as infectious diseases, endocrinology and psychiatry, the division will enable specialists to collaborate more closely on the complex, long-term needs of transplant patients.

"Transplant medicine is inherently multidisciplinary," said Edward Stenehjem, MD, executive vice chair in the Department of Medicine and interim division head of the new Transplant Medicine Division at CU Anschutz. "By bringing this expertise together, we can look beyond the individual organ to care for the whole patient, collaborating across specialties to address challenges throughout their lives."

Answering the most pressing challenges in transplant medicine

CU Anschutz is creating an academic structure that will allow transplant research and innovation to grow as a field, rather than as separate efforts within individual medical specialties.

The division comes at a time of rapid advances in transplant medicine. Experts are exploring new ways to prevent rejection with fewer treatment-related complications, better preserve donor organs and develop technologies and therapies that could expand the possibilities of transplantation.

CU Anschutz is already leading in some of these areas, including in robotics and machine perfusion, a technology used to preserve and assess donor organs outside the body before transplantation.

"Some of the most important questions in transplantation aren't unique to a kidney, liver, heart or lung," said Trevor Nydam, MD, chief of the CU Anschutz Division of Transplant Surgery and executive director of the UCHealth Transplant Center. "When clinicians and scientists across transplant programs work together, we have an opportunity to approach those shared challenges in new ways, learn from one another and accelerate discoveries that can benefit transplant patients."

Training the next generation of transplant physicians

The same multidisciplinary approach shaping patient care and research will extend to education. By bringing transplant training programs together, the division can create more opportunities for trainees to learn across traditional specialty boundaries and prepare future physicians to care for the complex needs of transplant patients.

For more information about the CU Anschutz Division of Transplant Medicine, visit medschool.cuanschutz.edu/transplant-medicine.

About the University of Colorado Anschutz
The University of Colorado Anschutz is a world-class academic medical campus leading transformative advances in science, medicine, education and patient care. The campus includes the University of Colorado's health professional schools, more than 60 centers and institutes, and two nationally ranked independent hospitals - UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children's Hospital Colorado - which see nearly three million adult and pediatric patient visits each year. Innovative, interconnected and highly collaborative, CU Anschutz delivers life-changing treatments, exceptional patient care and top-tier professional training. The campus conducts world-renowned research supported by $890 million in funding, including $762 million in sponsored awards and $128 million in philanthropic gifts for research.

Find the latest CU Anschutz news here.

SOURCE University of Colorado Anschutz