CU Transplant Center

06/26/2026

3 things you probably didn’t know about Ozempic or GLP1s! Dr. Wieland, our amazing liver doctor shares more!

06/19/2026

Will we see you at the 2026 Transplant Games? Stop by and say hi! Visit our booth for some fun games and a warm welcome.

06/18/2026

The University of Colorado Anschutz was recently ranked among the Best Global Universities by US News & World Report! The award indicates excellence in research and a stellar academic reputation.

In addition to being named one of the top universities, we were recognized specifically for our Department of Surgery, ranking #36 globally.

06/18/2026

Denver hosts the Transplant Games of America for the first time, bringing together organ donors and recipients from across the country. It's the community's own version of the Olympics, with everything from 20K bike rides to bowling, pickleball, and trivia.

Read more:

Organ donors and recipients from all over the country will be coming to the Mile High City this week.

06/10/2026

Q&A with a transplant surgeon! Dr. Adams, our amazing transplant surgeon talks about how she manages stress and what she does on her rest day.

What other questions would you like answered?

06/09/2026

As a transplant surgeon, dialysis hates to see me scrub in!

06/03/2026

Dr. Adams, our amazing transplant surgeon explains how the kidney works in this sparkly demo!✨

05/29/2026

Milestone Alert: We’re proud to announce our 50th Robotic Hepatectomy, a robotic-assisted surgery performed on living donors to remove a portion of the liver for transplant.

We are one of only a handful of centers in the country offering living donors this minimally invasive option, which means faster recovery times and shorter hospital stays.

This milestone is a testament to our team’s dedication to pushing the boundaries of surgical innovation and patient care. Here’s to many more! 🙌

05/20/2026

To be a living donor is extraordinary. To do it twice, for two people you have never met, is a level of generosity that is almost too hard to put into words.

Laura became a living donor in 2023 when she altruistically donated one of her kidneys to a stranger. After that experience went well, she felt inspired to explore living liver donation too.

At first, liver donation felt intimidating. Laura thought it would mean a bigger surgery, a longer recovery and more pain. But after learning about robotic liver donation, she was drawn to the possibility of a smaller incision, less pain and a faster recovery. Earlier this year, Laura donated a piece of her liver to another stranger at CU.

The experience ended up surprising her. “I probably recovered quicker after donating my liver with the robot than I did with my kidney which is surprising, the team at CU was just great through the whole process ” Laura shared.

Just over 11 weeks after her liver donation, Laura completed the Lake Monona 20K in Madison, one of her favorite local races.

“I never could have imagined, lying in that hospital bed the day after surgery, that I’d be running 12 miles just a couple months later,” she said.

For Laura, living donation is proof that one person can make an extraordinary difference and still return to a full, active life.

“Knowing that you can save a life and get back to your own life is pretty incredible,” she said.

Thank you, Laura, for your generosity, courage and commitment to giving others a second chance!

05/19/2026

We are thrilled to welcome Michael D. Rizzari, MD, FACS to the Transplant Division as an Associate Professor of Surgery. He joins us from Vanderbilt University, where he served as Associate Professor of Surgery and Surgical Director of Living Donor Liver Transplantation.

Dr. Rizzari brings deep expertise in abdominal transplant surgery, with a particular focus on living donor liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery. Before Vanderbilt, he spent nearly eight years at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, where he rose to Surgical Director of Living Donor Liver Transplantation.
Dr. Rizzari earned his medical degree from New York Medical College, completed his general surgery residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and finished his multi-organ transplant surgery fellowship at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

His research centers on expanding the donor organ pool through novel preservation strategies, with a particular emphasis on machine perfusion technologies that have the potential to transform organ viability and access. He has also published extensively on living donor liver transplantation and organ allocation policy.

Dr. Rizzari's breadth of experience and clinical excellence will be a tremendous asset to our patients, trainees, and faculty. Please join us in giving him a warm welcome to the team!