Post by Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Two Vanderbilt Health lung transplant patients joined an international expedition to attempt the climb of Aconcagua — the highest peak in the Southern Hemisphere — as part of a first-of-its-kind effort to push the limits of what life after transplant can look like. The expedition, organized by the Medical University of Vienna, brought together eight lung transplant recipients from Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany and the United States. Dr. Konrad Hoetzenecker, professor of Thoracic Surgery and surgical director of the Vanderbilt Lung Transplant Program, and Dr. Christina Jelly, associate professor of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology and Critical Care, represented our transplant center. "Our trip showed the resilience of lung transplant patients, that they can achieve remarkable things," Jelly said. The Vanderbilt Transplant Center is the second largest lung transplant program in the United States, performing 149 transplants in 2025, a local record, and recently marked 1,000 lung transplants since 1990. Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/gRi7Q5ig