The Massachusetts General Hospital Transplant Center is an advocate for organ and tissue donation and is finding new ways to share available organs among patients on transplant wait lists—giving these patients a second chance at life.
Stories from our patients and donor families
Richard Luskin, NEOB president and CEO, presents Mass General President Peter Slavin, MD, with two national awards for outstanding organ donation rates and for Kidney Program outcomes.
Become an Organ and tissue donor
More than 103,000 people in the United States are currently waiting for a lifesaving transplant. Follow these steps to become an organ donor.
- Register to become an organ and tissue donor
- Identify yourself as an organ donor on your driver’s license
- Share your wishes with your family
Organ Donation Saves Lives
The demand for organ and tissue donations has never been greater. Although the latest advances in transplant medicine have created more options for patients on the transplant wait list, approximately 18 people die every day waiting for a lifesaving donation.
How Mass General Helps Through research, advocacy and education the Mass General Transplant Center is finding new ways to overcome organ shortages, improve transplantation outcomes, and offer transplant patients every opportunity to benefit from transplantation.
Innovative Research
The Transplant Center’s research discoveries continue to revolutionize transplant medicine around the globe. Some of our recent milestones include:
- Groundbreaking work to overcome organ rejection
- Engineering new tissues for transplantation and repairing damaged tissues
- Developing new protocols that reduce organ wait times and shorten hospital stays
Our research focuses on finding new ways to:
- Develop interventions for patients who are not candidates for whole organ transplant
- Reduce or prevent organ rejection
- Overcome organ incompatibility
- Use a patient’s own cells to create tissues
Live Donation
Live donation allows patients to receive a transplant without waiting for an organ from a deceased donor. Mass General has one of the most active and experienced live donor liver transplant programs in the region.
Our kidney transplant program also matches patients with related, unrelated or ABO incompatible live donors.
Outreach
Mass General is a founding member of two nonprofit organizations that help match compatible donors, the New England Organ Bank and the New England Program for Kidney Exchange.
The New England Organ Bank uses a national registry to connect donors and patients both regionally and nationally with lifesaving organs and tissues.
The New England Program for Kidney Exchange (NEPKE) maximizes live kidney donation options for patients who have willing, but incompatible, live donors. Using a computerized matching program, NEPKE matches one incompatible donor and recipient pair with another so that both patients receive healthy, compatible kidneys. Learn about our comprehensive Kidney Transplant Program
Education and Support for Organ Donors & Families
Organ and tissue donation is a sensitive and personal decision. Through an initiative called Take 5, Mass General nurses offer families support and information as they explore offering life to others through organ donation.
Discover the Transplant Center patient experience 
Our approach to patient care brings together a team of transplant specialists who create a personalized treatment plan for each patient.
Support the Transplant Center
When you support the Transplant Center, you are making a significant contribution to advancing care at the hospital.
