Since 2020, the Vanderbilt Lung institute has been able to rehabilitate and successfully transplant lungs that would not be accepted at most transplant centers using ex vivo lung perfusion, organs donated after cardiac death and hepatitis C-infected donors. The internationally recognized extracorporeal membrane oxygenation team provides care to keep severely ill patients alive until they can receive a transplant.

The lung transplant team also performs complex multi-organ transplants, including heart-lung, lung-liver, coronary artery bypass and lung transplant, as well as minimally invasive lung transplantation. These approaches have made Vanderbilt University Medical Center one of the leading lung transplant centers in the world.