Through transplant, Duke seeks to improve the health and longevity of patients with advanced chronic lung disease and other serious pulmonary disorders.

Lung transplantation is a relatively recent therapeutic innovation, available at only a few specialized centers in the world.

Transplant can benefit patients with advanced lung diseases for which medical therapies are not effective.

Duke has rapidly grown into one of the largest and most successful lung transplant programs in the US, and many patients have already benefited from our program’s expertise.

Duke became one of the first programs to receive Medicare approval in 1995, and has consistently been one of the largest volume lung transplant programs in the US since 1997. We have performed more adult lung transplant operations over the past five years than any center in the US.

Duke is transplanting more complicated cases, including patients who had been turned down for transplant by centers across the country.

This is particularly true for cystic fibrosis patients who have lung infections that are resistant to known antibiotics. Duke works with drug companies and other institutions to find combinations of experimental and existing antibiotics that might work synergistically to treat the infection and keep it from affecting the new lungs.

Despite pursuing transplant in increasingly sick patients, Duke has achieved post-transplant survival rates consistently better than national averages. Duke is one of only a few centers in the world to have reached this level of success.

Most lung patients -- both pre- and post-transplant -- engage in supervised physical activity at the Duke Center for Living. Through such therapy and transplant, we can give patients back not only quantity of life, but an improved quality of life.

Clinical Trials

Patients can often benefit from clinical trials by gaining access to treatments before they are widely available.

Visit DukeHealth.org's Clinical Trials section to see clinical trial participation opportunities.

Transplant Coordinators

Cindy Lawrence, RN, MSN
Chantae Bohannon-Mangum, RN, MHA
Jean Rea, RN, MN, CCTC
Jennifer Moretz, RN, BSN, CCRN
Katrina Greeley, RN, BSN, CCRN-CSC
Khara Brodrick, RN, BSN

Transplant Pharmacist

Diane Wolfe, Pharm. D.

Transplant Social Worker

Amy Royals, MSW, LCSW

Physicians

Physicians offering this service include:

• Davis, R. Duane
  • Surgery / Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery
• Eu, Jerry
  • Medicine / Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine
• Lin, Shu S.
  • Surgery / Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery
• Palmer, Scott M.
  • Medicine / Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine
• Steele, Mark P.
  • Medicine / Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine
• Zaas, David W.
  • Medicine / Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine