Since its inception, the lung transplant program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital has performed organ transplants on more than 1,600 patients. But as one of the oldest and most experienced centers in the world, it hasn't been without some challenges. In the late 1980s, access to donor lungs was extremely limited, making transplants difficult for patients. When Dr. Selim Alkasoy and his team joined the program in 2001, they had a vision to change that. For two decades, the lung transplant team has been dedicated to building a robust program that leverages years of experience and the latest tools to ensure that even the most critically ill patients have a chance at receiving a lung transplant.
The field of lung transplantation is relatively new, with lung transplants becoming widely available in the early 1980s. Over the past 40 years, the field has rapidly evolved with significant changes to lung allocation, or how we determine who gets the next available lungs for transplant. Dr. Selim Alkasoy has led the NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia Lung Transplant Program through these changes since 2001. His dedication to improving lung allocation and basic research has helped the program change how lung allocation works in New York and beyond. These policies, coupled with Dr. Alkasoy's talented team, clinical research, and cutting-edge tools, have led to more patients receiving life-saving transplants.
