New institute aims to make Northwestern Medicine a transplant destination

CHICAGO - Northwestern Medicine on Tuesday established the Northwestern Medicine Transplant Institute, bringing its transplant programs together to speed up discovery and expand access to transplants. A five-year fundraising campaign made it possible.

Transplant programs see record growth

What we know:

The institute comes as Northwestern says its transplant programs are growing at a record pace. The health system performed 691 transplants in 2025, the most in its history, and says it ranks among the nation's top 10 transplant centers by number of transplants.

In September, Northwestern's liver transplant team completed its 3,000th liver transplant. The health system says that made it the first program in Illinois to reach that number. Northwestern also says it runs the largest liver, kidney and living donor transplant programs in the state.

Dr. Satish Nadig, a transplant surgeon and the institute's executive director, says the goal is to become "the destination for transplant innovation." He describes it as a place patients turn to "when options have run out elsewhere."

Nadig calls the institute "a deliberate, bold commitment to lead transplantation into its next great era," which he says is the era of technology. Northwestern says the institute grew out of a vision that took shape over the five years since Nadig joined the team.

Institute to house four centers

Big picture view:

The institute will house several centers:

• Organ Transplant Centers: For abdominal organs, including kidney, liver, pancreas, islet cell, intestinal and pediatric transplantation.
• Center for Transplant Innovation: Focused on the next generation of transplant therapies.
• Center for Transplant Research and Education: Focused on scientific discovery.
• Center for Transplant Access: Focused on making transplantation safer, faster and more accessible for patients and living donors.

Northwestern lists AI-powered donor matching, AWAKE kidney transplantation, liver transplants for terminal colon cancer, robotic surgery, xenotransplantation and regenerative medicine among the work it is advancing.

Advancing transplant care

Why you should care:

Nadig says the institute makes teamwork more formal. He says a saying in the transplant world calls transplantation "the ultimate team sport." He also says the health of a health system shows in its transplant program.

Howard Chrisman, president and CEO of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, said in a statement that the health system has helped shape transplant care for more than six decades. He said donor support will help create a future "where even more patients have the opportunity to thrive after transplant."

More information about the institute is available at nm.org.

Lifesaving kidney donation

Local perspective:

For Michigan resident Art Nichols, a kidney transplant at Northwestern Medicine in September came with an unexpected surprise.

Nichols, who has blood cancer and had been undergoing dialysis three days a week, traveled to Chicago for a new kidney without knowing who his donor was.

When the time came to meet his donor, he discovered it was his daughter, Natalie, who had secretly undergone testing and learned she was a match.

Natalie kept the news from her father despite speaking with him several times a day. Her husband, Rich, helped the family find Northwestern Medicine after researching transplant options.

Natalie says her own life has improved since donating her kidney and hopes their story encourages others to consider becoming living organ donors.