Pediatric Kidney Transplantation

Our pediatric kidney transplant outcome results are among the best in the nation with 100% three-year survival of pediatric live and deceased donor kidney transplant recipients. We specialize in multi-organ transplant procedures with 100% one-year survival of pediatric Kidney-Liver transplant recipients, among the highest in the nation. We are number one in New York State to get a deceased donor pediatric kidney transplant faster.

The Ira Greifer Children's Kidney Center at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Einstein is one of the nation’s largest, most experienced and innovative facilities dedicated to caring for children with kidney conditions including kidney failure. The first to treat children with kidney failure in New York State, our Kidney Center has one of the largest hemodialysis and transplant programs in the nation and the only hemodialysis center in the New York metro area dedicated to pediatrics. Since the inception of the hemodialysis facility nearly 60 years ago, the unit has been a global resource for diagnosing and treating all types of kidney disorders and offers all forms of dialysis for infants, children and adolescents, including home peritoneal dialysis. It was also the first facility in the world to provide a hemodialysis overnight camp experience through the Ruth Carol Gottscho dialysis unit of the Frost Valley YMCA, and Montefiore Einstein continues to run this internationally famous summer kidney and dialysis program for children with transplants and end-stage kidney disease. We also participate in various other community outreach efforts including the launch of a regional support group for families and patients with the Pediatric Kidney and Urology Foundation of New York. Patients and families can take advantage of our special social programs, support groups, and our after-hours services to accommodate family members' schedules.

Our world-renowned specialists use advanced diagnostic imaging technology for evaluation of potential living donors and recipients, including ultrasonography, computerized tomography (CT), CT angiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and digital subtraction angiography, for preoperative and postoperative evaluation.

We are among the few hospitals in the United States to have an Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network (OPTN) member transplant histocompatibility laboratory. Our in-house American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI) accredited immunology lab provides state-of-the-art histocompatibility, immunology and immunogenetics testing including HLA typing, antibody, and crossmatch testing.

Our transplant experts utilize the most advanced surgical approaches available today, including minimally invasive and robotically-assisted surgery for faster recovery as well as bloodless kidney transplant for those with religious or medical restrictions. Our continued work in the development of newly-emerging techniques and technologies allows us to provide the latest leading-edge surgical techniques.

To ensure successful transplantation, we optimize graft survival with advanced immunosuppressive therapies and novel immune tolerance protocols. In addition, we use specialized monitoring techniques to assess transplant rejection and other complications. These techniques include tissue biopsy, non-invasive and minimally-invasive liquid biopsy, and immunological tests to help optimize immunosuppressive therapy.

Our robust living donor program offers a way for individuals to get a lifesaving transplant sooner. Family, friends and anonymous living donors participate in the program, reducing the wait time for transplantation in matched recipients. Live donor transplant success rates have been shown to be superior to deceased donor transplant success rates.

For our patients in need of a kidney or liver transplant, we created the first-of-its-kind revolutionary I Want to Live Digital Tool which uses artificial intelligence (AI) and video to tell their story of why they want to live. This proprietary tool offers a completely novel and unique approach to helping those who need a transplant overcome the hurdle of asking for help and reaching potential donors.

See stories of some of our patients in need of a life-saving liver or kidney.

The Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation provides a number of resources to help, educate and support you and your family through the entire transplant process, including a dedicated transplant coordinator to help you navigate each step of your journey before, during and after surgery.

Our Helping Hands Program, a resource network of doctors, nurses, nutritionists, social workers and administrators, helps people navigate and better manage their health and lives as they go through the transplantation process, and complements state-of-the-art medicine with holistic approaches to improve quality of life for patients, families, and caregivers.

The Pediatric Kidney Transplant Program at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Einstein (CHAM) is an internationally recognized leader in kidney transplantation research, dedicated to improving diagnosis and treatment. One of the fathers of pediatric nephrology, Dr. Ira Greifer established the International Pediatric Nephrology Association (IPNA) to disseminate knowledge and findings about childhood kidney diseases throughout the world.

Our active research programs provide access to the latest treatments and surgical protocols. For more than five decades, our transplant researchers have made substantial contributions to the field of pediatric kidney transplantation since performing one of the world’s first pediatric kidney transplants.

Our physician-scientists have contributed scholarly work in countless textbooks and medical journals, and we receive substantial funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to analyze the genesis of various kidney diseases and develop advancements in the field. Our pediatric nephrology training program, funded for more than 40 years through a grant from the NIH, treats children with kidney disease as part of Montefiore Einstein and the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Einstein (CHAM), and many of our trainees have become leaders in the field of pediatric nephrology.

We are also spearheading clinical trials, including NIH-funded clinical trials, to better understand chronic kidney disease, and its prevention, in children.