Pediatric Kidney Transplant Program Expanding

Program set to perform record number of transplants in 2022

The Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health kidney transplant program is expanding, and that’s good news. This increased size of the program has a number of benefits for patients, families, and referring physicians.

In 2021, 11 transplants were performed on pediatric patients. Now, in 2022, the center will be set to perform a record number of transplants. The pediatric kidney transplant program is among the few in the nation that provide kidney transplants for children as young as one year of age.

Patients from our children’s hospitals undergo surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center, which is home to a successful adult transplant program as well. Our adult kidney transplant program affiliate has one of the shortest wait times and best outcomes nationally.

The team relies on the LifePort Kidney Transporter, a hypothermic preservation technology, to help increase a kidney’s viability and life span. Certified clinical transplant coordinators arrange appointments, address financial issues and connect patients with resources. The team’s Reducing Avoidable Readmissions Effectively (RARE) program monitors post-transplant patients after discharge to identify those who are at increased risk of readmission.

The head of the pediatric transplant program was recently named to a prestigious appointment. Namrata G. Jain, M.D., medical director of Pediatric Kidney Transplant at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital and an associate professor of Pediatrics at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, has been appointed to a prestigious three-year term on the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Pediatric Transplantation Committee for UNOS, a private nonprofit that serves as the organ transplant system in the United States. This committee oversees policies for multiple organ transplant specialties.

Learn more about our advancements in pediatric nephrology.