Redefining Excellence in Lung Transplantation

As the recipient of INTERLINK’s 2025 Chairman’s Award for Transplant Excellence, UCSF Health’s Lung Transplant Program was recognized as the top-performing lung transplant program in the nation for the third consecutive year. The program is also the only one in the U.S. to achieve significantly higher-than-expected one- and three-year survival rates for 14 consecutive years, according to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR).

With 89 transplants performed in 2025, the UCSF team has given nearly 1,000 patients with advanced lung disease the chance for a longer, more active life since the program was founded in 1991.

The Lung Transplant Program received the 2025 UCSF Health Patient Experience Pinnacle Award, given to the team achieving the highest patient experience ratings over a three-year period. This recognizes the program’s long-standing commitment to delivering high-quality, team-based, patient-centered care. 

Why refer to UCSF

Through leading-edge research and innovation, the UCSF team continually accelerates significant advances in lung transplant medicine. These achievements, along with collaborative partnerships with referring providers, lead to improved patient outcomes. Lung transplant patients referred to UCSF benefit from:

• Expert, personalized care, from initial evaluation through surgery and beyond
• Extensive expertise in treating high-acuity patients
• Ability to accept previously ineligible patients through aggressive transplant management plans
• Continually increasing donor pool and viable transport times through:
  • Paragonix LUNGguard Transport System and TransMedics Organ Care System: OCS Lung
  • Donation after circulatory death (DCD) donor organ utilization
  • Expanded hepatitis C-positive donor program
• Specialists highly skilled in stabilizing patients using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), including mobile ECMO
• Access to groundbreaking clinical trials
• Advanced x-ray reduction protocols that minimize radiation exposure
• Virtual visits and home spirometry program

Experienced lung transplant team 

Unique for its continuity and many years of experience working together, UCSF’s dedicated, multidisciplinary lung transplant team includes a pulmonologist, surgeon, nurse coordinator, social worker, nutritionist, psychiatrist, pharmacist and physical therapist. The team collaboratively assesses each patient’s needs and provides personalized treatment and support throughout the care journey.

When to refer

Candidates for lung transplantation include patients with advanced-stage lung diseases, such as:

• Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
• Acute and chronic COVID-19 pneumonia-related lung disease
• Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency
• Bronchiectasis
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• COVID-19-related lung failure
• Cystic fibrosis (CF)
• Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)
• Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)
• Interstitial lung disease (ILD)
• Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM)
• Pulmonary hypertension
• Sarcoidosis
• Scleroderma

How to refer a patient 

• Visit the program’s referral page
• Call us at: (415) 353-4145
• Download and complete a referral form, and fax it to: (415) 353-4166

To learn more

UCSF Lung Transplant Program

Phone: (415) 353-4145 | Fax: (415) 353-4166

Refer a patient

Clinical trials