About Us

UCLA's liver transplantation program is one of the oldest and most active in the U.S. Since the program's inception in 1984, our team has performed liver transplants for infants, children and adults, focusing on innovative surgical techniques, advances in immunosuppressive drugs and quality patient care.

Our experts are responsible for developing some of today's leading techniques and are spearheading research efforts to improve care, expand donor pools, and better manage and treat advanced liver disease.

Why Choose UCLA Liver Transplant?

Patients choose UCLA primarily because of our physicians' experience and skill. But we also offer services other programs can't provide:

• Some of the nation's best outcomes: Our outcomes are reliably high for our liver transplant recipients, especially considering that we take on patients with highly complex needs. As the most experienced liver transplantation program in the western United States, UCLA serves patients from California, Oregon, Washington and throughout the Southwest, and acts as a tertiary referral center for other transplant programs faced with particularly challenging cases.
• Care for all aspects of liver disease: The Pfleger Liver Institute cares for patients with all types of liver disease. We evaluate patients for potential liver transplantation or other care via an interdisciplinary clinic. Patients who do not require transplant may be treated by the Dumont-UCLA Liver Cancer Center.
• Pediatric-to-adult care in one hospital: We are one of only a few programs that offer pediatric care and adult care in the same facility. At UCLA, the living donor and recipient stay in the same hospital and are cared for by the same team. And when a pediatric liver transplant recipient is ready, we have a special program to help you transition to adult care.
• Personalized medicine: Our care isn't one-size-fits-all. We provide highly personalized patient care, with teams to meet all your needs and all aspects of care. We also offer support groups for patients before and after transplant.
• Multi-organ transplant expertise: Our physicians and researchers are pioneers in transplanting the liver and other organs, including heart transplant, kidney transplant and intestine transplant.

Learn more about:

• Adult liver transplant
• Pediatric liver transplant

Innovative Care to Expand Transplant Opportunities

Our groundbreaking liver transplant program has developed and improved practices that are now standard in programs around the world:

• Minimizing rejection: We've developed new treatments to minimize the risk of organ rejection.
• Expanding the liver donor pool: Our experience in living donor liver transplant (also known as partial-liver transplant) means our program is focused on expanding the pool of potential liver donors. We are one of a handful of programs that perform "domino" transplant in patients with amyloidosis. This procedure brings liver donation to more patients by transplanting the amyloid liver into another patient.
• Hepatitis C: We are pioneers in treating viral hepatitis C and in managing pre- and post-transplant hepatitis C.
• Research and trials: Because UCLA combines an academic campus and a hospital, we can offer you breakthroughs and clinical trials quickly. Our scientific work has expanded knowledge in the field and improved clinical results for all patients.

Learn more about our research and trials.