Kidney Transplant

UCSF Medical Center has performed more kidney transplants than any other institution in the world — more than 8,000 since 1964 — and is the second-largest center for living-donor kidney transplants in the country. Each year, the transplant team evaluates about 1,200 patients and performs more than 350 kidney transplants. Its one-year success rate is one of the highest in Northern California and its pediatric kidney transplant program is one of the largest of its kind in the United States.

In the western United States, UCSF is a major kidney transplant referral center, known for treating complex cases, including patients with diabetes and those referred from other centers after post-transplant complications.

Our many contributions to the field include:

• Evaluation of new immunosuppressive drugs that offer the promise of safer and more successful transplants.
• Advanced surgical techniques such as laparoscopic donor kidney removal or nephrectomy, using tiny incisions, and managing vascular and urological complications after transplant.

We also offer several special living donor programs including a waiting list exchange program that allows donors to help relatives or friends who need kidney transplants even if their blood types don't match. (See our living donor FAQs.)

In addition, patients have the opportunity to participate in the research of new drugs and treatments, such as studies of the drug belatacept, which has been effective in preventing kidney rejection after transplant. For more information about enrolling in these studies, contact Dr. Flavio Vincenti at (415) 476-4496.

Print a Wait Time Transfer Form from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).

Read the personal experiences of our kidney transplant patients.

For information or to make an appointment, please call:
Kidney Transplant Service (415) 353-1551

See our videos for doctors, nurses and others who care for kidney transplant patients
Part 1 — Outcomes, Risks and Clinical Trials
Part 2 — Hepatitis C and Steroids
Part 3— Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated March 7, 2008