A great weekend of celebrating what transplant makes possible and launching the Living Donor Storytelling Project nationally at the 2022 Transplant Games in San Diego – special thanks to our amazing collaborators at Sanofi!

Researchers from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients including Drs. David Axelrod, Amy Waterman, and Krista Lentine. plan how to advance a national Living Donor Collective to track the long-term health outcomes of living donors.  Let’s keep living donors safe, always.

Drs. Osama Gaber and Amy Waterman of Houston Methodist Transplant Center and Mr. Kevin Myer, CEO of LifeGift stand together to celebrate how Nora’s Home supports people awaiting transplants.

Ms. Lorrinda Gray-Davis, President of Transplant Recipients’ International Organization (TRIO) and Dr. Amy Waterman (both in the first row), along with other Working Group members, proudly share important metrics prioritized at the People Driven Transplant Metrics Conference hosted by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients in 2022.

Dr. Waterman & Parsa Rajabi, one of the high school scholars interested in becoming a surgeon from the Houston Methodist Rising Stars Summer Enrichment Program.

Drs. Waterman & Davis mentor 10 bright scholars from different high schools across Houston as part of the Department of Surgery’s Rising Stars Summer Enrichment Program.

Dr. Waterman partners with the University of California Irvine Kidney/Pancreas Transplant & Nephrology Team on the Living Donor Storytelling Project in October 2022.

Dr. Waterman was the Keynote Speaker for the University of California Irvine (UCI) School of Medicine 2022 Kidney/Pancreas Transplant & Nephrology Symposium. Dr. Waterman is pictured here with Dr. Uttam Reddy, Medical Director, Division of Transplantation. UCI.

The entire Houston Methodist family, including CEO Mark Boom, at the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) – ATC Meeting 2022.

Dr. Waterman and a favorite mentee, Dr. Macey Levan, who is busy changing the transplant world and NYU Langone Health.

Dr. LaShara Davis presenting her poster at ATC 2022, titled, “Do Videos Work Better Than Digital Ads at Reaching Audiences? Examining Which Message Types Engage and Encourage Further Exploration of Living Donation.

Proud to be sitting by Two Editors in Chief of important Kidney and Transplant Journals, Drs. Linda Ohler and Linda Moore.

National Kidney Registry investigators, Dr. Amy Waterman and Katya Kaplow, meet in person for the first time at the 2022 American Transplant Congress. Our paper about the public’s national attitudes about living donation is being submitted soon!

Dinner with Canadian Transplant Leaders at the 2022 American Transplant Congress Meeting.

The Patient Engagement Research Group and collaborator, Dr. Wendy Balliet, celebrate being back in person at the 2022 American Transplant Congress Meeting!

Dr, Waterman’s first mentor, Dr. Daniel Brennan, Head of Nephrology at Johns Hopkins reunite in person in Boston, MA at the American Transplant Congress 2022.

Dr. LaShara Davis presenting on her abstract at ASN Kidney Week 2022, titled, “Linked by Love: Relatability and cultural appropriateness of an Edutainment series about CKD in an African American family.”

Bethany Cruz presenting her poster at ASN Kidney Week 2022, titled, “Assessing the Value of “A Family Journey” Community Program for Supporting Pursuit of Preemptive Living Kidney Transplantation.”

Dr. Andrea Meinders presenting her poster at ASN Kidney Week 2022, titled, “Increasing Conversion Rates and Reducing Disparities: Determining Modifiable Predictors Associated with Donating a Kidney.”

Grateful for a great team! #gratitudeweek

A team dinner for the Patient Engagement Research Lab to celebrate grants won and research in progress.

We love our Living Donor & Explore Transplant Fellow, Martha Gershun (being hugged by her kidney recipient).

Our team attended the Living Kidney Donor Retreat on Friday, September 9th held by The Houston Methodist J.C. Walter Jr. Transplant Center to highlight the progress and achievements made by the Living Kidney Donation Program.

Dr. Andrea Meinders discussing intervention strategies at the Living Donor Retreat at Houston Methodist Hospital.

Drs. Gaber and Waterman hear the story of how this transplant recipient returned to health after getting transplanted at Houston Methodist Transplant Center.

LaShara Davis, PhD and Amy Waterman, PhD, participated in at The Future of Transplant Conference: Increasing Awareness in Diversity at Houston Methodist Hospital. Dr. Waterman Moderated the first session on Transplantation and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at Houston Methodist Hospital. Dr. Davis introduced Ms. Ashlyn Holmes, a living donor kidney transplant recipient, and her family as part of the second plenary focused on Diversity in Transplantation Population, Health Care and Religion. At the conference, we were able to showcase the stories of Ms. Holmes, her mother, and her grandmother as they recalled her transplant journey. Ms. Holmes and her family shared their experiences as part of The Living Donation Storytelling Project, our growing digital library of stories about living donation.

Amy Waterman, PhD, Bethany Cruz, and Andrea Meinders, MD, at The Future of Transplant Conference: Increasing Awareness in Diversity at Houston Methodist Hospital.

Celebrating Dr. Andrea Meinders’s first national oral presentation “Are More Knowledgeable Living Donors More Likely to Donate Kidneys?” at the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) Winter Symposium 2023 with Drs. Waterman and Gaber. Congratulations!