Department of Cardiac Surgery

In August 2022 Lisa Kimbrell was involved in a near-fatal wreck. A year later two dogs attacked her and sent her back to the hospital.

Bill Jackson received a heart and double lung transplant, an unusual procedure performed only a handful of times each year at VUMC and one that can occur at only the most specialized transplant centers.

Under Bichell’s leadership, the pediatric heart transplant program has consistently had among the highest transplant volumes in the United States, ranking eighth in 2023 for pediatric heart transplant center volumes with 15 transplants performed.

Melissia Boynton got the call about 3 a.m. on Mother’s Day that her new heart was available. Immediately, her plans changed from a barbecue around the family pool to a middle-of-the-night drive to Nashville to get her new heart.

Mike Boston was turned down by eight hospitals for a double lung transplant, which would be his second, because none believed he would survive the surgery. Finally, doctors at one medical center — VUMC — thought he might.

In the first such procedure, Vanderbilt University Medical Center has transplanted a DCD (donation after cardiac death) heart using XVIVO Heart Assist Transport (XHAT), a novel cold organ perfusion device.

Connie Rankin of Memphis, Tennessee, received Vanderbilt's first combined lung and liver transplant, which involved dozens of specialists, including transplant teams for both organs.