UR Medicine / Transplant Institute / Kidney

Kidney Transplant at UR Medicine

Going through the kidney transplant process can be overwhelming, but we’re here to help.

At UR Medicine, we support you during the entire kidney transplant journey. At your first appointment, our providers will sit down with you and discuss your needs. They’ll listen to your concerns, answer questions, and do their best to put your mind at ease.

When you have your kidney transplant at UR Medicine, we will put you and your family above all else. We have a multidisciplinary team of specialists who care for you medically, surgically, mentally and emotionally. We care for the whole patient, not just your illness. That’s why our outcomes are among the best in the nation.

Meet With Us to Learn More

Preparing for a kidney transplant can be difficult, but the team at UR Medicine is here to help you. We can help you learn more about this process and get you on the path to the treatment that is right for you

For more information regarding transplant, please call (585) 275-7753

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Living Donor Kidney Transplant

UR Medicine offers living donor kidney transplants. Because you only need one kidney to live a healthy life, a living person can donate one of their healthy kidneys to a person whose kidneys no longer work.

Living donor transplantation is a lifesaving opportunity because it can drastically shorten the time a patient spends waiting for an organ to become available.

The donor is usually a family member or someone very close to the recipient. In order to donate your kidney to a loved one, you will need to be a good match for them. Our team will evaluate you to determine if you are able to donate.

Learn more about living donor transplant.

Kidney-pancreas Transplants at UR Medicine.

At UR Medicine, we offer kidney-pancreas transplants to patients, in which the patient receives both a new kidney as well as a new pancreas.

A kidney-pancreas transplant is offered to people who have severe type 1 diabetes. If you have type 1 diabetes, a pancreas transplant can be a potential cure for your condition. However, kidney-pancreas transplants are more successful than a pancreas transplant alone. That’s why the combination kidney-pancreas transplant is the most common type of pancreas transplant.

Robotic Kidney Surgery

First in Northeast to offer Robotic Surgery for Kidney Transplant Recipients

UR Medicine is the 1st and only kidney transplant center in the Northeast offering robotic surgery for kidney transplant recipients. With robotic surgery, the surgeon performs the operation, but uses the robot and the instruments as additional tools to do a more precise surgery. Benefits of this state-of-art surgery include:

Smaller incisions.
Reduced complications, especially in diabetics.
Shorter hospital stays.
Lower risk of wound infection.
Less pain and reduced need for pain medications.
Increased eligibility for patients previously excluded for transplant (BMI > 40).
Increased precision and better optics compared to standard laparoscopic surgery.

In addition, we currently perform robotic surgery for live donors who are donating their kidney. We use the robotic technique to perform a procedure called a nephrectomy, which is the removal of the donor’s kidney.

Let Us Guide You On Your Kidney Transplant Journey

Going through the transplant process is not easy. But you’re not alone. At UR Medicine, we’re here to help. We invite you to meet with our team. We can give you advice, answer questions and tell you more about our transplant programs.

Odesi Junor's Brighter Tomorrow

Kidney recipient Odesi Junor was born with polycystic kidney disease, passed down from her father, who died in 2000 in part as a result of the hereditary condition. Odesi went undiagnosed until she began to have health issues.

She suffered quietly with the condition for several years, telling few friends and family members about her struggles. “I didn’t want it to define me,” she said.

But in early 2019, her health worsened and she began preparing for peritoneal dialysis, a grueling daily treatment performed at night while a patient sleeps, which would allow Odesi to work during the day but would inevitably take a toll on her body.

At that time she considered opening up about her situation, possibly seeking a living donor, but she was reluctant to ask anyone for such a gift.

And that is when an altruistic living donor, who after months of testing had just been approved for donation by the UR Medicine Transplant team, offered a kidney that was a perfect match.

“I was shocked,” Odesi said of the generous individual who she still has not met, who wished to remain anonymous even to the recipient. “I was prepared to be on dialysis for at least five years. My donor was God-sent, risking their life for a total stranger.”

The fact that robotic-assisted transplantation was being introduced at UR Medicine was another miracle, said Odesi, who as a Jehovah’s Witness cannot accept blood transfusions during surgery. The robotic technique eliminated the need for that.

Odesi now sees her future as bright and is excited to get back to her position in the operating room, and to experience life with a different perspective. “I now have a brighter and healthier tomorrow,” she said.