October 3, 2008

The UAB Transplant Dinner will feature legendary football coach Gene Stallings. Stallings will deliver the keynote address honoring UAB transplant pioneer Dr. Arnold G. Diethelm, M.D., professor emeritus and UAB transplant surgeon.

There will be a media availability with Stallings at 5:15 p.m., sharp on Monday, October 6 at the Harbert Center, Dunn/French Library, second floor, 2019 4th Ave. North.

The dinner, hosted by Dr. Devin Eckhoff, M.D., director of transplantation surgery at UAB, and Dr. Robert S. Gaston, M.D., medical director of kidney and pancreas transplantation at UAB, will honor Diethelm's tireless efforts that enabled UAB's transplant program to flourish.

On May 8, 1968, Dr. Diethelm performed the first kidney transplant, and first ever transplant of any kind, in the state of Alabama. Today, UAB has one of the most technologically advanced surgical facilities in the world and the program Diethelm founded has grown enormously into one of the leading programs in the world.

UAB's renal transplant program is now the second largest and busiest in the nation, doing more than 300 procedures each year. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, UAB has performed more kidney transplants than any other kidney program in the country since 1987. UAB's liver transplant program is ranked 16th in the nation with respect to volume, has patient outcomes that are among the best in the South and has among the shortest waiting times in the South for patients to receive their liver transplant.

The dinner also will be the kickoff for the program's largest-ever fundraising drive and is the first step in our efforts to establish a formal comprehensive transplant center at UAB, an entity that will be committed to promoting knowledge of and access to transplantation for the people of Alabama, cutting edge research to make transplantation more successful, and training of physicians, surgeons, and nurses to deliver better transplant-related care to patients in Alabama, the nation, and the world.  . The proceeds will benefit kidney, liver and pancreas transplantation at UAB and the patients they serve.