Today, more than 107,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for an organ transplant, and nearly 95,000 of them need a kidney. Living donor transplants—including kidney, liver, and even lung—play a crucial role in closing the gap between the need and the available supply.
When actor Jesse Eisenberg first learned about altruistic living organ donation—the decision to give an organ without a designated recipient—he felt compelled to step up and donate one of his kidneys. While traveling recently, a friend offered a simple piece of advice: “She goes, ‘Go across town to NYU. It’s one of the best places on the planet for kidney donation,'” Jesse recalls. After meeting our team, he chose to move forward with his donation here, under the care of Dr. Nicole Ali, medical director of our Kidney Transplant Program. “It’s been a wonderful experience thus far,” he adds.
According to data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, our Kidney Transplant Program is the only one in the nation to perform more than 70 living donor kidney transplants and maintain 100 percent organ and patient survival after one year. The NYU Langone Transplant Institute also has the highest-quality outcomes in transplantation and the largest volume in New York, ranking No. 2 in the U.S.
For Jesse, the impact goes beyond his own donation. He hopes his experience will inspire others to consider becoming living donors as well. “If people see that I’m donating a kidney and I’m very happy to do it and not worried in any way, then maybe it’ll make other people feel like it’s also a possibility,” he says.
Learn more about our Living Kidney Donor Program at the link in bio.
