DCN Center News

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.

Heavy rain and wind didn’t deter a group of Mayo Clinic Transplant Center staff on Monday, June 17 who joined a group of bicyclists raising awareness about the need for living organ donation.

Inspired by her work and her mother, Stephanie Donelan, a post-liver transplant coordinator at Mayo Clinic in Florida, gave her role as a transplant nurse new meaning by becoming an altruistic living kidney donor.

Nearly 90,000 people in the U.S. are on the waiting list for kidney transplant, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.

Over 100,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for an organ transplant. Unfortunately, many may never get the call saying that a suitable donor organ — and a second chance at life — has been found.

There are more than 90,000 people on the waiting list for a kidney transplant in the U.S. Unfortunately, the demand for kidneys exceeds the supply. However, so-called living donor chains are giving hope to those in need of vital organs.

The Black community faces a higher risk of chronic kidney disease. This can be due to genetics, higher rates of hypertension and diabetes, and socioeconomic issues such as access to healthcare and structural racism. Dr. Ivan Porter II, a Mayo Clinic nephrologist, discusses ways to help reduce the risk of chronic kidney disease.

Dr. Naim Issa, a Mayo Clinic transplant nephrologist, says, until recently, patients with Type 2 diabetes have been ruled out as potential living kidney donors. Now, following strict criteria, some patients may be eligible to help close the gap on this ever-growing need for living kidney donors. 

Lisa Brown, 53, of Jacksonville, suffered from severe pelvis and back pain for years. She later learned that her bladder wasn’t working due to follicular cystitis, a rare and non-specific inflammatory disease of the bladder, and inflammatory pseudotumor of the bladder. In 2017, her bladder was removed using robotic-assisted surgery and replaced with a “neobladder”…

More than 103,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for an organ transplant, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Nearly 60% of people on transplant waiting lists come from minority communities.