CU Transplant Center

CU Transplant Center The University of Colorado Transplant Center. Spreading awareness about organ donation & transplants!

06/03/2026

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

Milestone Alert: We’re proud to announce our 50th Robotic Hepatectomy, a robotic-assisted surgery performed on living do...
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! 🙌

To be a living donor is extraordinary. To do it twice, for two people you have never met, is a level of generosity that ...
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!

We are thrilled to welcome Michael D. Rizzari, MD, FACS to the Transplant Division as an Associate Professor of Surgery....
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!

05/14/2026

Dr. Pshak, our amazing robotic transplant surgeon tells us the benefits of donating an organ robotically!

05/13/2026

Teena Zadeh, our amazing robotic transplant coordinator shares more about what does it take to be a robotic transplant coordinator!

05/06/2026

What do movies get wrong about transplant surgery? Dr.Adams explains more!

Yesterday, Mark Scotch, a double donor and founder of the Organ Trail, rolled out of UCHealth in Denver on his latest lo...
04/30/2026

Yesterday, Mark Scotch, a double donor and founder of the Organ Trail, rolled out of UCHealth in Denver on his latest long-distance ride to raise awareness for living donation. From here, he'll pedal to Plover, Wisconsin, with stops along the way in Kansas City, St. Louis, and Rochester, Minnesota. Cheering him on at the start was his three-year-old liver recipient, now thriving thanks to Mark's altruistic gift. With this trip underway, Mark has already covered more than 10,000 miles across twenty-three states.

The Organ Trail is so much more than a bike ride. It's a powerful testament to what living organ donation can do, a mission Mark has carried for the past five years as both a living kidney and liver donor. Every mile he rides sends the same message: living donation saves lives, and donors can keep living theirs to the fullest.

We were honored to host Mark in Denver and send him off on the next leg of his inspiring journey!

The Organ Trail

04/22/2026

3 things you probably didn’t know about transplant surgeons! Dr. Adams, our incredible transplant surgeon shares more!

04/22/2026

The Division of Transplant Surgery hit a milestone — 10,000 transplant surgeries performed since the 1980s, when the division began tracking its numbers.

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1635 Aurora Court, C-318
Aurora, CO
80045

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 8am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8am - 4:30pm
Friday 8am - 4:30pm

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+17208480833

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