Barbara Brown was working in New York City when the Sept. 11 attacks occurred. Exposure to toxins led to years of struggling to breathe and searching for answers.

Barbara's journey led her to Mayo Clinic and, ultimately, a life-changing double-lung transplant. With renewed strength, Barbara shares what drives her to educate others about transplants.

Watch: Double-lung transplant inspires mom to educate and support others

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"I was meeting my girlfriends for breakfast," Barbara says. "She actually worked in the World Trade Center. When the actual plane hit the tower, I wasn't right up on the towers, but I was where you could see it."

What followed that day would change Barbara's health and life forever.

"All of this stuff that was in your lungs," Barbara recalls.

Over time, Brown started to notice changes in her health. Then, a pivotal moment in 2006 while being a mom to an active 2-year-old girl.

"(My daughter) jumped up in my arms, and I kind of fell backward. And I fell down, and I couldn't hold her," Barbara says. "That was the first big thing with my lungs."

Barbara was diagnosed with interstitial lung disease, where inflammation and scarring make it difficult to breathe. Doctors explained that someday she would need a lung transplant.

"I looked at this little girl that I had, and I said, 'You know, if I'm going to fight, I'm going to fight for her, you know,'" Barbara says. "And so that's what I chose to do."

Barbara spent much of the next decade searching for a transplant program that would be the right fit. She traveled across the country speaking with care teams and taking evaluations — all while her lungs grew weaker. Then, Mayo Clinic entered her life.

"Barbara came through our doors, referred to us from an outside provider, with a disease that was fairly advanced," Dr. Tathagat Narula, a Mayo Clinic transplant pulmonologist, says. "She was on a lot of oxygen, very, very sick."

After qualifying for a double-lung transplant and spending time on the waiting list, Barbara got the call in April 2017.

"It's the scariest thing in the world because now you're looking at everybody and you're like, 'This is it!'" Barbara says. "'This is really it!'"

Recovery would be long, but after physical therapy to regain her strength, Barbara was breathing without assistance and ready to pick up where her life had paused. The journey has also inspired her to share her story and dispel misconceptions about transplant.

"I decided that I was going to really write about my experience," Barbara says. "If I can do something to get the information out there, and I said, 'I'm going to maybe attempt at it this way.'"

"In Barbara's case, she has had this opportunity to see her daughter grow up, go to college," Dr. Narula says. " Barbara is writing a book to share her journey, to share her story with the wider audience. What more can you ask for?"

Eight and a half years after transplant, she's happy and excited for her next chapter.

"Do I look like someone who's been through a double-lung transplant? No, but what does someone look like? If someone says I look like a happy person, then that's what I would prefer looking like," Barbara says.

Related stories:

• Mayo Clinic’s transplant center in Florida performs 10,000th
• Expert alert: 5 reasons more diverse organ donors are needed

The post (VIDEO) Double-lung transplant inspires mom to educate and support others appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

November is Diabetes Awareness Month

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Diabetes affects how the body uses glucose, also known as blood sugar. It can mean that there is too much sugar in the blood. This can harm people in several ways. One serious complication is chronic kidney disease. Ivan Porter II, M.D., a nephrologist at Mayo Clinic in Florida, explains the connection between diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

Up to 40% of people with diabetes develop chronic kidney disease, also called chronic kidney failure, global statistics show. Their kidneys cannot effectively do their most important job, which is regulating the composition of the blood by filtering out waste and maintaining the balance and amount of salt and water in the body.

Chronic kidney disease may be advanced before symptoms appear and a person is diagnosed. It can progress to end-stage kidney failure, which can be fatal without dialysis or a kidney transplant.

Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can lead to chronic kidney disease. Type 2 diabetes is a far more common cause. With either type, the body can't produce enough insulin. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas that helps the body convert sugar into energy. Because one of the kidneys' most important jobs is cleaning the blood, they help regulate blood glucose levels, Dr. Porter explains.

"The high levels of circulating glucose in the blood are poisonous to nerves and blood vessels, and the kidneys are a big ball of blood vessels," Dr. Porter says. "The presence of high glucose leads to chemical changes that cause protein in urine, and the presence of protein in urine directly activates factors that cause scarring and fibrosis within the kidney, leading to worsening of kidney disease."

How diabetes and chronic kidney disease overlap and interact with each other is complex. Too much glucose in the blood can damage the kidneys and lead to chronic kidney disease. At the same time, declining kidney function related to chronic kidney disease can lead to insulin resistance, which can cause type 2 diabetes. In addition, declining kidney function can worsen preexisting diabetes.

The longer you have diabetes — and the less controlled your blood sugar — the higher the risk of complications such as chronic kidney disease. 

There are five stages of kidney disease, based on the glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The GFR measures how well the kidneys filter waste from the blood. The stages are:

• Stage 1. At this stage, the GFR is 90 or higher, which is considered a healthy level. However, there is also another indicator of kidney disease present, such as blood or protein in the urine.

• Stage 2. At this stage, the GFR is 60 to 89.

• Stage 3. This stage is broken down into two subtypes — stage 3a and stage 3b. With 3a, the GFR is 45 to 59, and there is mild to moderate decline in kidney function. With 3b, the GFR is 30 to 44, and there is a more severe decline in kidney function.

• Stage 4. The GFR is 15 to 29, and kidney decline is severe.

• Stage 5. This stage is considered end-stage renal disease, also called kidney failure. The GFR is under 15. At this point, dialysis or a kidney transplant is needed.

Most often, chronic kidney disease is diagnosed in stage 3 or later.

"The presence of other comorbidities, such as uncontrolled blood pressure, uncontrolled diabetes or the presence of protein in the urine, can make what might seem like an earlier stage worse for someone," Dr. Porter says.

Not everyone living with diabetes will develop chronic kidney disease. Dr. Porter says it is critical to manage your diabetes, monitor your kidney function regularly and take steps to protect your kidney health to help lower risk.

Controlling diabetes includes managing medication, developing a healthy eating routine, exercising and planning for factors that can affect blood sugar levels, such as illness, stress, and changes in hormone levels due to menstrual cycles, perimenopause and menopause.

Type 2 diabetes has risk factors that people can try to avoid. These include preventing or treating overweight or obesity; being active; maintaining healthy levels of HDL cholesterol, also known as good cholesterol; and avoiding alcohol or limiting consumption to a moderate level. 

For more information, visit Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Press.

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About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.

Media contact:

• Sharon Theimer, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu
   
  
  

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PHOENIX — Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a pioneering method to mend damaged hearts without open-heart surgery, an advance that could one day transform the treatment of heart failure. 

The new approach uses lab-grown heart tissue made from reprogrammed adult stem cells, delivered through a tiny incision rather than a surgically opened chest cavity. In preclinical testing, the stem cell patch restored heart function and improved healing.

"For patients with severe heart failure, there are very few options beyond mechanical pumps or transplants. We hope this approach will offer a new way to repair their own hearts," says Wuqiang Zhu, Ph.D., senior author of the study published in Acta Biomaterialia and a cardiovascular researcher at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

Reversing the irreversible

Heart attacks remain one of the leading causes of death worldwide. When blood flow to the heart is blocked, oxygen-starved cells die and are replaced by scar tissue that cannot contract or conduct electrical signals — weakening the heart’s ability to pump blood.

"The adult human heart doesn't regenerate once those cells are lost," Dr. Zhu explains. "That's why heart failure, especially chronic heart failure due to the loss of functional cardiac muscle, is often difficult to treat; the muscle simply can't repair itself."

For years, scientists have been working on ways to replace damaged tissue with healthy heart cells derived from stem cells. Early efforts showed promise, but most required open-heart surgery — a procedure too risky for many patients already struggling with severe heart failure.

Scientists have long hoped that stem cells could provide a way to rebuild what the body cannot. By reprogramming ordinary adult cells such as skin or blood cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), researchers can coax them into becoming replacement heart cells.

But safely and effectively delivering engineered heart tissues made from these cells has remained a major challenge.

Innovation at heart

In collaboration with engineers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Mayo researchers developed a flexible, paper-thin patch made of nano- and microfibers coated with gelatin. This hybrid scaffold supports a blend of human heart muscle cells, blood vessel cells and fibroblasts—cells that form the tissue’s structural framework—to create a living, beating piece of heart tissue. Before transplantation, the tissue is infused with bioactive factors such as fibroblast growth factor 1 and CHIR99021 that encourage the growth of new blood vessels and help the cells survive once they are in place.

"The beauty of this design," says Dr. Zhu, "is that it can be folded like a piece of paper, loaded into a slender tube, and delivered precisely where it's needed through a small incision in the chest. Once in place, it unfolds and adheres naturally to the heart's surface."

Instead of using stitches, the team used a biocompatible surgical adhesive that holds the patch in place while minimizing additional trauma to the surrounding tissue.

Testing in preclinical models showed that the minimally invasive method improved heart function, reduced scarring, enhanced vascular growth and lessened inflammation compared with conventional approaches.

"Our results show that these engineered tissues not only survive but actually help the heart heal itself," says Dr. Zhu. "That's the ultimate goal: to replace what's lost and restore function."

A step toward regeneration

The research aligns closely with Mayo Clinic's Genesis Initiative, which aims to accelerate discoveries that restore or regenerate human organs and tissues.

"Genesis is about pioneering new ways to repair and rebuild the human body," Dr. Zhu says. "What we're doing here is exactly that — using regenerative science and minimally invasive delivery to give the heart a chance to recover."

Currently, more than 4,000 heart transplants are performed in the United States each year, while thousands more patients die waiting for a donor organ. Dr. Zhu hopes this technology could eventually offer another option.

"Our vision," he says, "is that patients could one day receive engineered heart tissue made from their own reprogrammed cells, delivered through a minimally invasive procedure — no donor organ, no long recovery, just a repaired heart."

Next steps

The Mayo Clinic team plans to advance this work through larger-scale preclinical testing to ensure the therapy's safety and effectiveness before moving to human clinical trials, a process that Dr. Zhu estimates could take five years or more.

"Heart failure remains a devastating condition," he says. "If we can make stem cell treatment accessible to more patients, especially those too fragile for open-heart surgery, we could save lives."

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About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news. 

Media contact:

• Terri Malloy, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

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On October 29, the Transplant Center at Mayo Clinic in Florida performed its 10,000th transplant since the program launched in 1998. The milestone is a reflection of the lives transformed through the gift of organ donation.

"Every transplant represents the work of an extraordinary team dedicated to restoring hope and health," says Dr. Burcin Taner, chair of the Department of Transplantation at Mayo Clinic in Florida. "Reaching this milestone reflects our clinical excellence and the trust our patients place in Mayo Clinic. Together, we're shaping the next era of transplantation — one defined by innovation, collaboration and compassion."

The Florida Transplant Program began as a liver transplant program. Kidney transplant was added in 2000, followed by heart and lung transplants in 2001. The transplant program reports some of the highest survival rates, the lowest median wait times and the highest volumes in the country, according to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients.

The 10,000th transplant places the program among the top transplant centers nationwide for overall transplant volume. Additionally, the transplant center is on track for a record volume year, having performed more than 465 procedures by Oct. 29.

Nationally, Mayo Clinic's Transplant Center, which offers transplant services at its campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota, is a leader in treating patients with heart disease. Combined volumes rank Mayo Clinic first among all adult transplant centers in the nation.

Mayo Clinic physicians have experience treating patients with complex conditions who may need multiorgan transplants, including heart-lung, kidney-pancreas, heart-lung-liver transplants and more.

"Every transplant tells a story of teamwork, trust and commitment," Dr. Taner says. "The growing volume of transplants at Mayo Clinic is the ultimate testament that our patients value our expertise and sense the dedication behind our care."

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When a person's lungs are damaged, that organ's survival depends on a small but powerful set of cells that must choose whether to repair the tissue or fight infection. A new Mayo Clinic study has uncovered the molecular "switch" that directs these cells down one path or the other, a discovery that could inform regenerative therapies for chronic lung diseases.

"We were surprised to find that these specialized cells cannot do both jobs at once," says Douglas Brownfield, Ph.D., senior author of the study, which was published in Nature Communications. "Some commit to rebuilding, while others focus on defense. That division of labor is essential — and by uncovering the switch that controls it, we can start thinking about how to restore balance when it breaks down in disease."

It takes two

The new research centers on alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells, which play a dual role in the lung. These cube-shaped cells secrete surfactant proteins that keep air sacs open, but they also act as reserve stem cells capable of regenerating alveolar type 1 (AT1) cells — the paper-thin cells that form the surface for gas exchange. This regenerative capacity makes AT2 cells essential for lung repair after injury.

For decades, scientists have known that these cells often fail to regenerate properly in lung diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and severe viral infections like COVID-19. What remained unclear was how AT2 cells lose their stem cell capacity.

Using single-cell sequencing, imaging and preclinical injury models, the team mapped the developmental "life history" of AT2 cells. They found that newly formed AT2 cells stay flexible for about one to two weeks after birth before "locking in" to their specialized identity.

That timing is controlled by a molecular circuit involving three key regulators called PRC2, C/EBPα, and DLK1. The researchers showed that one of them, C/EBPα, acts like a clamp that suppresses stem cell activity. In adult lungs, AT2 cells must release this clamp after injury to regenerate.

The same molecular switch also directs whether AT2 cells repair lung tissue or defend against infection. That helps explain why infections often slow recovery from lung disease.

"When we think about lung repair, it's not just about turning things on — it's about removing the clamps that normally keep these cells from acting like stem cells," says Dr. Brownfield. "We discovered one of those clamps and how it times the ability of these cells to repair."

Preventing organ failure

The discoveries could guide the development of therapies to fix AT2 cells that are broken in disease. Drugs that target C/EBPα, for example, may restore repair programs or reduce scarring in pulmonary fibrosis.

"This research brings us closer to being able to boost the lung's natural repair mechanisms, offering hope for preventing or reversing conditions where currently we can only slow progression," says Dr. Brownfield.

The findings may also guide earlier detection, helping clinicians identify when AT2 cells are stuck in one state and unable to regenerate. Such insights could lead to new biomarkers for lung disease. This work aligns with Mayo Clinic's Precure initiative, which focuses on detecting disease at its earliest stages — when interventions are most effective — and preventing progression before organ failure occurs.

At the same time, the research advances Mayo Clinic's Genesis initiative, which aims to prevent organ failure and restore function through regenerative medicine. The team is now testing strategies to remove the repressive clamp on human AT2 cells, expand them in culture and potentially use them for cell replacement therapy.

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For the first time at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, surgeons have performed a robotic kidney transplant — a minimally invasive procedure designed to ease recovery with smaller incisions, less pain and reduced risk of wound complications.

That innovation came at a critical moment for 74-year-old Joe Harris. His daughter-in-law, Brooke, made the extraordinary decision to donate her kidney, and together with this new surgical approach, it gave Joe not just better health, but a renewed future.

Watch: Robotic kidney transplant, when innovation meets family

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"You're a match."

The words Brooke Harris was waiting for. Now, to share the news with her father-in-law.

Joe Harris had been on a kidney transplant waiting list since 2016. Worried about his age and ability to care for his wife, he was eager to find a match.

"I just was afraid that things were going to run out and I would get to a point that I could only be on dialysis, and then I wouldn't be, wouldn't be able to take care of her," says Joe.

Multiple setbacks in finding a kidney donor deeply affected Brooke.

"As soon as we found out and they told us that that second person didn't work, it was just this deep knowing in me that I need to test and find out. I didn't know why," she says.

And that test was a match. Dr. Michelle Nguyen, a Mayo Clinic transplant surgeon, explains how direct donation works.

"If you have a friend or a loved one who wants to donate a kidney to you, and you match them by blood type and by tissue typing, they can donate their kidney directly to you," says Dr. Nguyen.

Not only would Joe get the organ he had been hoping for, but he'd also be the first patient at Mayo Clinic in Arizona to undergo robotic kidney transplantation.

"I went, 'Good, let's do it.' I had no hesitancy about the robotic thing. The more I learned about it, the more I thought this is going to be kind of cool," Joe says.

"In patients who meet criteria to receive robotic kidney transplant, the goal is that it will provide improved outcomes for the patient — so smaller incisions, less pain, faster recovery, faster return to work or faster return to their day-to-day life," says Dr. Nguyen.

Robotic kidney surgery doesn't replace the surgeon. Instead, it gives surgeons advanced tools to operate, as Dr. Nitin Katariya, a Mayo Clinic transplant surgeon, explains.

"It is a console that has four arms that can be placed near the bed and then a separate sort of console where you sit apart from the patient, where you can control the arms. And these arms articulate in ways you can control the camera, and you have multiple different instruments that you can switch out to navigate the anatomy and perform your operation," he says.

Dr. Nguyen adds, "One important thing to note about robotic surgery, using this platform, is that at no point in time is the robot making any movements without the surgeons maneuvering the instruments."

For Brooke, she says the experience was easier than she thought.

"Honestly, even going back to the surgery, I have to say it's definitely not as scary as it seems. And recovery was a lot easier than I had anticipated," says Brooke.

And for Joe, his gratitude for his daughter-in-law's selfless donation is hard to put into words.

"How do you thank somebody for that? I don't know. It's so humbling. That's been hard for me, in a way, but I'm grateful. And she knows how I care about her," says Joe.

Related posts:

• Mayo Clinic Minute: What to expect as a living kidney donor
• A living legacy: Donors who give hope and healing

The post (VIDEO) Robotic kidney transplant, when innovation meets family appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

When Charnel Golis-Tabag picked up her sister from the airport in her home state of Hawaii, she didn't expect to hear that her sister's kidney function had dropped below 11%. That moment changed everything. "She told me she was on the transplant list," Charnel recalls. "Two days later, I called Mayo Clinic to start the living kidney donation process."

Charnel had seen too many family members endure the exhausting cycle of dialysis — three times a week, hours at a time. "They were tired, their veins were shot, they couldn't carry their grandchildren," she says. "I didn't want that for my sister."   

The power of living donation

"Living donor kidneys are great options for people waiting for a transplant," says Dr. Carrie Jadlowiec, surgical director of Kidney Transplant at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. "They have a shorter waiting period, fewer complications, and the kidneys function longer than deceased donor kidneys."

For Charnel, knowing that her sister could live a longer, healthier life with a living kidney solidified her decision to donate. Despite her family's concerns for her own health, she was committed. "I believe we need to start with educating young Native Hawaiian people about living a healthier lifestyle," she says. "In our ohana community, we can reclaim our health," she says.  

A donor chain of hope

For Michelle Gabriel, her younger sister's diagnosis was a turning point. "We asked each other, 'Can we do this? Will I be a match? What will it cost?' There were lots of questions and no answers at first," Michelle says.

She turned to Mayo Clinic, the National Kidney Foundation and the National Donate Life Registry. "These resources are fantastic and easily available online. Beyond online, our transplant coordinators walk patients through every step of the process," explains Dr. Ty Diwan, transplant surgeon at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "We connect with patients from anywhere in the world via the portal and virtual appointments."

Michelle wasn't a match to her sister, but that didn't stop her. She joined a paired exchange program, creating a donor chain that benefited multiple families. No longer a question but a statement, "We can do this," became the sisters' ongoing mantra. "From that moment, we were all in. I saw the bigger picture: three people received kidneys that day," says Michelle.  

A husband's promise

For Albert Harris, June 20, 2024, is a date he'll never forget — it's the day he donated his kidney to his wife, making her "officially his other half," he jokes. "When she got sick, we got sick. I understood the marital vows, in sickness and in health. She's my partner in everything, and I look forward to having her around for a very long time."

Though friends and family worried about his health, Mayo Clinic's transplant team provided the reassurance he needed. He learned he could return to his normal life within weeks and give his wife the chance at a healthier, longer life.

Watch video: Donors who give hope and healing

Bridging the gap

Nearly 60% of people on transplant waiting lists come from minority communities, while about 30% of donors are people of color. This gap makes awareness and education critical — especially during Minority Living Donor Awareness Month, which highlights the need for diverse donors to help reduce disparities in transplant access. 

"Blood types and certain HLA, or antibodies, tend to correlate with various ethnic groups," says Dr. Shennen Mao, transplant surgeon at Mayo Clinic in Florida. "It is not directly related to a particular minority group; however, organs will end up with someone of a similar background because the better matched an organ is, the more longevity that organ has."

A shared legacy of hope

For Albert, Charnel and Michelle, living kidney donation was about more than surgery; it was about love, family and community. "It wasn't just a gift to my sister," Charnel says. "It was a gift to our entire family."

"You become someone's miracle," Michelle adds. "That person is someone's parent, sibling, friend. You give hope to everyone who loves them."

In most states, signing up to be a donor after death can be done online or when registering for a driver's license or identification card. For information on living donation, view Mayo Clinic's Living Donor Toolkit, contact the recipient's care team, or a transplant center. 

Comprehensive care at Mayo Clinic

Living kidney donation is a safe, medically supported procedure, with most donors resuming their lives within weeks. Mayo Clinic provides end-to-end care, including:

• Expert evaluation and surgery from leading transplant specialists.
• Financial coordinators to assist with travel, lodging and lost wages.
• Virtual consultations and access to resources anywhere in the world.
• Support and follow-up care for living donors.

Related posts:

• Mayo Clinic Minute: Why diverse organ donors are needed
• Mayo Clinic Minute: Become an organ donor and save lives

The post A living legacy: Donors who give hope and healing appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

August is National Minority Donor Awareness Month

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Organ donation is a powerful act of generosity and compassion. It is one that can save lives, restore health and offer hope to those facing critical illness. While donation rates vary across different communities, there is a meaningful opportunity in underrepresented communities where donation rates remain disproportionately low. This presents an opportunity for people to help raise awareness and inspire others to consider this vital choice.

More than 106,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). Many come from diverse backgrounds, yet donor representation from these communities remains low. By learning about organ donation and choosing to register, whether as a living or deceased donor, individuals can help strengthen awareness and directly support the health and well-being of their communities.

"Increasing diversity among organ donors is essential to improving equity in transplantation," says Pooja Budhiraja, M.B.B.S., a Mayo Clinic nephrologist. "Minority communities often face a higher risk of organ failure and longer wait times, yet they remain underrepresented among donors. Greater donor diversity can improve compatibility, shorten wait times and lead to better outcomes."

Mayo Clinic experts share five reasons why expanding organ donor participation across all communities can make a life-saving difference.

1. One donor can save up to eight lives.
A single organ donor can save up to eight lives by donating organs such as kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, pancreas and intestines. In addition, donors can improve many more lives through tissue and eye donation, helping others regain mobility, sight, and healing after trauma or illness.

2. Living donation is a safe and viable option.
Living donation, such as donating one kidney or a portion of the liver, is a life-changing gift and a faster route to transplant for many. Kidney donation is the most common type of living-donor transplant. A healthy person can donate one of their two kidneys and continue living a full, active life.

"Living donors undergo comprehensive health screens to ensure that donation is safe and will not negatively impact their long-term health," says Shennen Mao, M.D., a Mayo Clinic transplant surgeon. "Following donation, our living-donor heroes have gone on to bear children, climb mountains and complete marathons."

3. Age isn't a barrier to organ donation.
There is no upper age limit for organ, eye or tissue donation. While you must be at least 18 to register in most states, eligibility is based on medical condition at the time of donation, not age alone. Older adults — including those in their 70s or beyond — have successfully donated organs and tissues.

4. Underrepresented populations are more likely to need a transplant.
Conditions that can lead to organ failure — such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease — are more common in African American, Latino, Asian American and Native American communities. According to the National Kidney Foundation, kidney disease disproportionately affects underrepresented communities.

"Patients in minority groups face many challenges in accessing transplantation, either for donation or as a potential transplant recipient," says Ty Diwan, M.D., a Mayo Clinic transplant surgeon. "Bringing awareness of the prospect of donation to specific groups will not only help save lives overall, but continue to foster conversations on how to improve access for patients in these specific populations."

5. A better match can lead to better outcomes.
Organs aren't matched by race or ethnicity, but blood types and tissue markers tend to be more compatible among people with shared ancestry. That means recipients may have better outcomes when the donor comes from a similar background.

"Registering as a donor is a simple, powerful act that can change — and even save — multiple lives. I encourage everyone to learn about donation, talk with their families, and take that step to offer hope and healing," says Dr. Budhiraja.

To register as an organ donor, visit Donate Life America.

Experts available

These Mayo Clinic transplant experts can discuss the importance of expanding the diversity of organ donors:

• Ty Diwan, M.D., is a transplant surgeon at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
• Shennen Mao, M.D., is a transplant surgeon at Mayo Clinic in Florida.
• Pooja Budhiraja, M.B.B.S., is a nephrologist at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

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About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and to providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.

Media contact:

• Kelley Luckstein, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post Expert alert: 5 reasons more diverse organ donors are needed appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Dr. Shennen Mao, a Mayo Clinic transplant surgeon, says having a diverse pool of organ donors will help serve a growing wait list of those in need.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

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In the U.S., about 17 people die every day while waiting for an organ transplant.

Nearly 60% of people on transplant waiting lists come from minority communities, while about 30% of donors are people of color.

"Blood types and certain HLA, or antibodies, tend to correlate with various ethnic groups," says Dr. Mao. "So it is not directly related to a particular minority group; however, organs will end up with someone of a similar background because the better matched an organ is, the more longevity that organ has."

Higher rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes are present in minority communities, contributing to more organ failures.

"The more people we can help the sooner through transplant, the better," says Dr. Mao.

She says living donors do not experience a change in their quality of life after surgery, but a recipient's life can change for the better almost immediately.

"If somebody is approved to be a living donor, we expect they will live a full and normal life following their donation process," says Dr. Mao.

In most states, signing up to be a donor after death can be done online or when registering for a driver's license or identification card. For a living donation, contact the recipient's care team or a transplant center for more information.

The post Mayo Clinic Minute: Why diverse organ donors are needed appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

After more than 22 months at Mayo Clinic Children's, 13-year-old Ava Weitl went home to Iowa. She and her family were met with tears and cheers as dozens of members from her care team, who are now considered friends of the family, said goodbye and wished her well. 

This was a day Ava had been looking forward to after a long journey with heart failure, two lifesaving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapies, a heart transplant, kidney failure and a kidney transplant. 

Watch: 13-year old Ava Weitl leaves Mayo Clinic Children's after a 22-month hospital stay

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Born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a life-threatening condition where the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped, Ava faced three open-heart surgeries before she would reach her 5th birthday. Within 90 minutes of her birth, her first surgery was performed. Her second surgery was completed months later, but the third, typically required for HLHS patients between the ages of 3 and 4, was not possible due to other medical concerns. 

For a handful of years, Ava's care team monitored her to see what her body would do. During that time, Ava felt good and was "defying the odds," as her mom, Christina DeShaw, would say. 

It was in 2021, during third grade, when Ava began to show signs of her heart and lungs struggling. While cardiac catheterization improved the blood flow to her lungs, it was a temporary improvement, and by early 2023, doctors determined a heart transplant was her only option.

Officially listed for a heart transplant in February 2023, Ava's condition worsened, leading to hospitalization at Mayo Clinic in September 2023. That hospital stay was the start of her long journey of constant monitoring and tests, and it wasn’t easy on her family as they navigated life split between Minnesota and Iowa. 

In December 2023, Ava's condition took a critical turn. Ava was placed on life-sustaining ECMO, which provides heart and lung support when those organs are failing. Then, Feb. 26, 2024, the call came: a donor heart became available. The surgery was successful, but postoperative challenges arose.

Weeks later, complications with her lungs led to a return to ECMO for three months. She also needed a tracheostomy placed. While trying to save her lungs, her kidney function began to fail, leading to another gift of life — a kidney transplant on Jan. 25, 2025, thanks to a donation from her uncle through a kidney exchange with the National Kidney Registry. 

"She's a walking miracle," her mother says. "We can't even wrap our heads around what she's been through."

Ava is excited to be home with her parents, Christina and Brad, her twin brother, Aiden, and her younger brother, Miles. She says she looks forward to hanging out with friends, going back to school and having a barbecue with her family. 

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