David Shaffer, MD, professor of Surgery and surgical director of the Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program, will retire June 30.
Shaffer came to the Vanderbilt Transplant Center in 2001 as chief of the Division of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation, a role in which he served until 2020, when he was succeeded by his mentee, Rachel Forbes, MD, MBA, associate professor of Surgery.
Shaffer led the Vanderbilt kidney transplant program to become one of the largest in the nation and made significant contributions to clinical care, research, teaching and service. He initiated clinical programs to expand kidney transplant access, especially to underserved populations.
During Shaffer’s tenure, the number of kidneys transplanted at VUMC increased rapidly. In 2000, the year before he arrived, VUMC transplanted 58 kidneys. That grew to 100 kidney transplants in 2003, and in 2024, there were a record 374 adult kidney transplants, five kidney-pancreas transplants and 17 pediatric kidney transplants.
“When I reflect back on my 24 years at Vanderbilt,” Shaffer said, “I think the two things I’m most proud of are: one, expanding kidney transplant access and opportunities for our patients through the many new programs we instituted — type A2 to B transplants, desensitization, hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive donors, laparoscopic donor nephrectomy, paired kidney donation/National Kidney Registry; and two, teaching surgical residents, many of whom went on to pursue careers in transplantation.”
In recognition of his clinical contributions, Shaffer won the 2025 Noel B. Tulipan Award for extraordinary performance of clinical service from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He previously received both of Vanderbilt’s major surgical teaching awards, the John L. Sawyers Award in 2008 and the Robert S. McCleary Master Teacher Award in 2013. He has been named to the Chairman’s List for Faculty Excellence in Teaching numerous times.
Nationally, he has served on the American Society of Transplant Surgeons’ Standards on Organ Transplantation Committee, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) Membership and Professional Standards Committee, as UNOS Region 11 councillor, and on the UNOS/Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network board of directors.
His research has included multicentered clinical trials of novel immunosuppressive drugs as well as novel uses of approved drugs. Most recently he served as Vanderbilt’s principal investigator on a National Institutes of Health-funded trial evaluating HCV-positive donor organs in kidney transplantation. Additional research interests and publications include surgical outcomes, posttransplant quality of life, access to kidney transplants, surgical education, and dialysis access.
Shaffer said all this was made possible by the Medical Center devoting considerable resources to the transplant program, which grew from a regional center to a national destination and the No. 3 largest center for all organs by volume in the country.
“You are only as good as your team, and your program is only as good as the people on the team,” he said. “And we have been fortunate to have a great team and create an environment where people stay, grow, contribute and participate in the growth of this program.”
Shaffer received his undergraduate degree at Yale University and his medical degree at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his surgical internship at Yale-New Haven Medical Center and then his residency in general surgery, followed by a Clinical and Research Fellowship in Transplantation at the New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston.
After completing his transplant fellowship in 1988, Shaffer remained at the New England Deaconess Hospital (now Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) as surgical director of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation and associate professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School until 2001, when he assumed his position at Vanderbilt. Shaffer is certified by the American Board of Surgery and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Members of Shaffer’s Vanderbilt team gathered at a recent reception to honor his contributions, which included thousands of kidney transplants.
“He is the main reason I am a kidney and pancreas transplant surgeon,” Forbes said. “Dr. Shaffer elevated the kidney, pancreas and certification programs at Vanderbilt to a place where rigor and excellence became the norm. Where the bar was not set just high, but precisely and unapologetically high. And then he showed us how to reach it.”
Heidi Schaefer, MD, professor of Medicine and medical director of Adult Solid Organ Transplant, told Shaffer, “You are a wonderful mentor and educator to so many students, residents, fellows, nurses and staff. I often recall residents and fellows telling me how you became alive in the OR. That was your happy place, and they learned so much from you.”
Seth Karp, MD, the H. William Scott Jr. Professor of Surgery, chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences and longtime former director of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center, said Shaffer set an expectation of excellence that his team understood and internalized.
“If the measure of success is that you leave a program better than you found it, I can’t think of anyone who exemplifies that better than David,” he said.
“Congratulations to David Shaffer, on a spectacular run, taking care of so many, training and mentoring so many, and contributing so much. Thank you for your 24 years of service to the patients and your colleagues of Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Please know how much you are admired and appreciated,” said C. Wright Pinson, MBA, MD, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Health System Officer for VUMC.
