For patients waiting for a lifesaving kidney or liver transplant, time is everything. A transformative $1.5 million gift from The Bingham Trust will help change that equation. Tufts Medical Center is proud to announce the establishment of The Bingham Trust Living Donor Initiative, a three-year partnership dedicated to expanding access to living donor transplants across New England.
Tufts Medical Center is grateful for the generous support of The Bingham Trust, whose philanthropy makes this initiative possible. At its heart is a commitment to growing Tufts Medical Center's living donor liver and kidney transplant programs, with the goal of shortening wait times, improving long-term outcomes and expanding access so that more patients and families get the lifesaving care they need.
Expanding the program's surgical capabilities is a priority. “The funds will provide resources needed to immediately expand our robotic transplant program,” said James Pomposelli, MD, PhD, FACS, Chief of Abdominal Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery at Tufts Medical Center and Professor of Surgery at Tufts University School of Medicine. They will help with the purchase of an additional surgical robot, significantly increasing capacity for minimally invasive procedures.
The benefits of robot-assisted procedures are profound, for donors and recipients alike. "It's minimally invasive for both the donor and the recipient, so it gets you back to your new normal more quickly," Dr. Pomposelli explained. Smaller incisions, less pain and faster recovery mean that most living kidney donors can return home the following day.
Equally important is who this expanded capacity will reach. Robotic surgery makes transplantation possible for patients who were previously excluded from consideration, including those living with morbid obesity, whose complexity often places them outside traditional eligibility criteria. “This will help us serve a population that has historically been marginalized and denied access,” said Dr. Pomposelli.
Made possible through this landmark investment, The Bingham Trust Living Donor Initiative builds on a foundation of deep clinical expertise and positions Tufts Medical Center to become a regional leader in living donor liver and kidney transplantation. "Philanthropy accelerates and supports our ability to move beyond the idea," Dr. Pomposelli said. "Everyone has good ideas, but without funding and resources, you can't operationalize them." With this investment, Tufts Medical Center can do exactly that—expanding access, advancing techniques and offering new hope to patients and families across the region.
Behind every living donation is a story of generosity, hope and lives forever changed.
