Last time we talked about kidney xenotransplantation, we were joined by Towana Loony and Tim Andrews, who shared their personal experiences with receiving a xenotransplant. Today, two doctors who helped propel xenotransplantation forward, Dr. Vineeta Kumar and Dr. Leonardo Riella, are here to explain the science and what comes next.

This episode is supported by eGenesis and United Therapeutics

In this episode we heard from: 

Vineeta Kumar is the lead nephrologist for UAB's Living Kidney Donor and Incompatible Kidney Transplant programs. She is an expert in kidney transplantation, living kidney donation, incompatible kidney transplant, kidney paired donation and cardiovascular outcomes after kidney transplantation. Kumar also engages in research in the prevention, treatment and prognosis of antibody mediated rejection. She has been named a "Top Doctor" by U.S. News & World Report each year since 2012.

She has been lead facilitator of the UAB Schwartz Rounds since 2009, a program that brings together nurses, physicians, social workers, and other providers to discuss delivery of compassionate care. She was awarded the Brewer-Heslin Endowed Award for Professionalism in Medicine for the highly skilled and compassionate medical care she provides to her patients. Kumar was recently named "Best Educator" by the 2018, 2019 and 2020 UAB Medical School classes. She has previously served on the Education Committee for the American Society of Transplantation.

Leonardo V. Riella, M.D., Ph.D. is the Harold and Ellen Danser Endowed Chair in Transplant Surgery at Harvard Medical School and the Medical Director of Kidney Transplantation at Massachusetts General Hospital. His research focuses on mechanisms of immune regulation and the development of novel therapies to promote transplant tolerance. In addressing kidney disease recurrence post-transplantation, he founded and leads the TANGO Consortium, the largest global effort dedicated to studying glomerular disease recurrence. In March 2024, Dr. Riella led the world’s first successful kidney xenotransplant from a gene-edited pig into a living human. He now leads the first FDA-approved pilot study in kidney xenotransplantation and is conducting high-dimensional immune profiling studies to characterize the human xeno-immune response and guide immunosuppressive strategies. Find out more about Dr. Riella's research here.  

Xenotransplantation Information