
Transplant and Regenerative Medicine Centre
Programs
The Transplant & Regenerative Medicine Centre (TRMC) is recognized as an international leader for complex transplantation and stem cell research and care, leading the world in:
- Clinical care through innovation and evidence-based practice
- Enhancing knowledge through comprehensive and collaborative educational practices
- Disseminating potentially life-changing research discoveries across the hospital and around the globe
Through our programs, we provide unsurpassed, measurable patient experiences in a family-centered environment that integrates efficient, innovative, and practice-changing healthcare, education, research, and advocacy.


Heart Transplant Program

The Heart Transplant Program at SickKids has grown over the last 30 years into Canada’s premier centre for paediatric heart transplantation. Through clinical expertise, volumes, survival rates and research productivity, the heart transplant program has become one of the world’s best and biggest programs. The Heart Transplant Program is comprised of a team of interdisciplinary specialists with a high degree of expertise in managing this complex patient population.
Medical Director: Dr. Anne Dipchand

SickKids VS: Heart in a Box Podcast
Fifty kids in Canada are waitlisted for a new heart each year. Of those, 30 to 35 will get one. Others continue waiting.
But SickKids surgeon Dr. Osami Honjo thinks he has a solution – a way to expand the donor pool by keeping hearts beating outside the body.
He calls it the Heart in a Box.

Kidney Transplant Program
In 1969, SickKids completed the first deceased donor paediatric kidney transplant in Canada. Today, we remain the country’s largest paediatric kidney transplant program. We work closely with our Ontario partners in Hamilton, London, and Ottawa to optimize the renal transplant care for children of all regions in Ontario. Our multidisciplinary team members have continued to focus their clinical and research activities on the adolescent population, and on the quality of life and long-term outcomes of the renal transplant recipients.
Medical Director: Dr. Chia Wei Teoh
Learn more about the Living Kidney Donor Program

SickKids program reaches milestone with 1,000 kidney transplants and counting
The Kidney Transplant Program has reached a significant milestone with its 1,000th paediatric kidney transplant performed at SickKids. Medical Director Dr. Chia Wei Teoh and Surgical Director Dr. Armando Lorenzo share their reflections on the continued medical advances of kidney transplantation over the years.
Liver Transplant Program

The SickKids Liver Transplant program's mission is to provide world-class comprehensive pre- and post-liver transplant care and superior clinical outcomes for infants, children and adolescents with end-stage liver disease. We are a leader in innovative paediatric liver transplant care, research, advocacy, and education. Our position as a leader and pioneer within Canada is evidenced by frequent requests to provide second opinions for complex patient cases that are not considered transplantable by other programs.
Medical Director: Dr. Vicky Ng
Learn more about the Living Liver Donor Program
Lung Transplant Program

SickKids is the largest paediatric lung transplant program in Canada and a world leader in paediatric lung transplantation. We have performed over 50 paediatric lung transplants since the program’s inception in 1995. The world’s first ABO incompatible (mismatch blood type) lung transplant was performed on an infant at SickKids in 2011. With the use of Ex-Vivo Lung Perfusion, ECMO and interventional lung assist (iLA) as a bridge to lung transplantation, our program provides cutting-edge care to paediatric patients from across Canada.
Medical Director: Dr. Melinda Solomon
Intestinal Transplant Program

The intestinal transplant program was established in 1999 and offers life-saving transplants for children with severe complications of intestinal failure. The program works closely with the Hospital’s intestinal failure program, the Group for Improvement of Intestinal Function and Treatment (GIFT) to optimize the treatment of children with this condition. Selection of transplant recipients is done by a multi-disciplinary team following a thorough assessment. Patients can receive isolated, intestine liver-intestine or multivisceral (stomach, intestine, liver, pancreas) transplant based on their medical needs. The intestinal transplant program is leading medical research in the field and is a member of the Intestine Transplant Registry, a world-wide effort to learn more about intestine transplantation.
Medical Director: Dr. Yaron Avitzur
The Group for Improvement of Intestinal Function Treatment (GIFT) Program

The Group for Improvement of Intestinal Function and Treatment (GIFT) at SickKids is the first formal multidisciplinary team in Canada dedicated to the treatment and research of intestinal failure in children. GIFT’s multidisciplinary team features SickKids staff from several areas – including general surgery, gastroenterology, neonatology, nursing, clinical nutrition, social work, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, child life, and transplantation.
Medical Director: Dr. Paul Wales
The Canadian Donation and Transplantaion Research Program

Founded in April 2013, the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program (CDTRP) develops new knowledge and healthcare practices to increase the availability of transplants for Canadians in need and improve long-term outcomes for patients receiving a transplant.
The CDTRP is the first program to bring together and integrate five research themes, overarching from creating a culture of donation to post-transplant long-term health.
Plan your visit to SickKids
Prepare your child for their upcoming appointment or surgery by planning your visit to SickKids.
Staying Overnight at SickKids
Prepare your child for an overnight stay at the hospital.
Refer a patient to TRMC
Do you have a patient to refer to the SickKids Transplant & Regenerative Medicine Centre? Learn more about our referral process by following the link below.
Partnerships

Apply for TRMC fellowship
The paediatric solid organ transplantation fellowship is offered by the Transplant & Regenerative Medicine Centre (TMRC) at SickKids, a fully affiliated teaching hospital of the University of Toronto.
The TRMC fellowship is a one-year term with the opportunity for one-year renewal.
For more information about solid organ transplant programs, email us at transplantandregenerativemedicine.centre@sickkids.ca.
