Transplantation department

The Division of Transplantation is nationally and internationally recognized for being on the leading edge of innovative teaching, research and technology related to transplant. We are committed to continuously improving our expertise so that we can offer patients with organ failure an opportunity to pursue a higher quality of life.

Our Department of Organ Transplantation is unique in Israel, performing organ transplants including kidney, liver and pancreas. The department is the only one in Israel that performs multi-organ and live donor liver transplantations, putting it on a level with a limited number of hospitals worldwide. The number of liver and kidney transplants performed is steadily increasing, with our medical center performing over half of the transplants in Israel.

Academic and Research Activity
Our research is aimed at important challenges in transplantation surgery, such as prevention of chronic rejection, optimization of immunosuppression, and facilitation of acceptance of the transplanted organ. Specifically, we have developed expertise in evaluating graft function and identifying rejection by cytology. Our immunosuppression strategy has been refined to achieve maximal efficacy with minimum toxicity. We have participated in studies evaluating new immunosuppressive agents, and organized and chaired international meeting on new immunosuppressive agents.

Research Activity:
Our ongoing research is aimed at identification of patients who develop tolerance to their grafts after transplantation and can thus be freed from immunosuppression. Another field of interest of our current research is the evaluation of function of so called “suboptimal organs” by studying the mechanisms of liver and kidney tissue regeneration. Progress in this field would allow the expansion of organ pool by optimal utilization of older and living related donors.