TJU President Robert Barchi, MD, PhD; Cataldo Doria, MD, PhD; Michael Donahue, R. Anthony Carabasi, MD; Hospitals President and CEO Tom Lewis; Victor Navarro, MD; Charles J. Yeo, MD.

On May 31, 1984, the Delaware Valley's first ever liver transplant was performed at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Twenty-five years later, Michael Donahue, the recipient of that transplant remains healthy and active, as does Jefferson's Liver Transplantation Program.

Jefferson Hospitals held a celebration in spring 2009 to commemorate the first liver transplant performed in the region. Michael Donohue, our first transplant patient, and many other transplant recipients also took part in the festivities.

Today, Jefferson's program is not only the longest continuously active liver transplantation program in the area but also one of the fastest growing, having performed transplants in more than half the patients on our waiting list in the last three years. TJUH has developed innovative therapies to imporve the quality of life for our liver transplant patients, including new anti-rejection protocols. Recently, we completed a study determining that steroids are not primarily responsible for recurrent hepatitis C incidence after transplantation. Currently, we are testing immunosuppressive drugs to prolong patient and graft survival even further without significant side effects.

In addition, Jefferson uses a bloodless technique for performing major liver resection that was co-developed by Jefferson surgeon Cataldo Doria, MD, PhD, and former colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center - Italy. This technique is of great benefit to our patients, as blood transfusion is linked to increases in length of hospital stay, infection and death rate.