In 1954, the kidney was the first human organ to be transplanted successfully. Liver, heart and pancreas transplants were successfully performed by the late 1960s, while lung and intestinal organ transplant procedures were begun in the 1980s.

Who started transplants?

Progress in solid organ transplantation began in the 1950s. Dr. Joseph E. Murray (who received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1990) achieved the first successful kidney transplant between identical twins in Boston in 1954.

When did Tissue Donation start?

1983 — The first National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week declared by Congress. 1981 — First combined heart/lung transplant performed.