Lahey Hospital & Medical Center Liver Transplant Program Reaches Key Milestone

For Immediate Release

Burlington, MA (February 14, 2018) –Lahey Hospital & Medical Center performed 101 liver transplants in 2017, making it the largest liver transplant program in New England for the second year in a row. The hospital’s Department of Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery reached this milestone and expanded its team of surgeons under the leadership of department chair Mohamed Akoad, MD, vice-chair Fredric Gordon, MD and chairman emeritus Roger L. Jenkins, MD.

“This milestone demonstrates Lahey Hospital & Medical Center’s leadership in transplant medicine and surgery and is a testament to the tremendous work of our highly experienced and specialized team,” said Mohamed Akoad, MD, Chair of the Department of Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center. “Most importantly, we recognize the generosity of donors, their families and the patients and families who entrust us with their care.”

Fewer than 10% of liver transplant programs in the U.S. performed more than 100 adult liver transplants in 2017 and this is the first time a transplant program in New England has achieved this volume in a single calendar year. A renowned leader in transplant medicine and surgery, the Lahey transplant program is comprised of surgeons, hepatologists, nephrologists, transplant nurse coordinators, dietitians, pharmacists, social workers, and colleagues in radiology, anesthesia, perioperative and inpatient nursing.

Three new surgeons joined Lahey Hospital & Medical Center’s Department of Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery in 2017. David Axelrod, MD is nationally recognized in the transplant community and has practiced in New England for more than a decade. After training at Lahey under renowned transplant pioneer Dr. Roger Jenkins, Yee Lee Cheah, MD and Caroline Simon, MD returned after practicing internationally for several years. Drs. Cheah and Simon started a robotics program for hepatobiliary surgery and recently performed the hospital’s first robotic Whipple procedure, one of the most complex abdominal surgical procedures. In an effort to meet the growing demand for hepatology and transplant services, two hepatologists will join the Department of Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery in early 2018.

Lahey Hospital & Medical Center performed the first successful liver transplant in New England in 1983 and the first successful living donor liver transplant in New England in 1998. It is one of the largest living donor liver transplant programs in the United States. For more information regarding the transplant program at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center visit www.lahey.org.