Experimenting with animals
In 1902, the first successful experimental kidney transplants were performed at the Vienna Medical School in Austria with animals.
Immunosuppression advancements
Powerful immunosuppressives to fight infection became available in 1961 and, in combination, helped decrease the chance for kidney rejection.
A routine procedure
In the 1980s and 1990s, new techniques, new medications and new patient information have helped make kidney transplants a safer, more effective and more routine procedure.
The perfect match
Dr Joseph Murray and his colleagues at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, USA performed the first successful kidney transplant from one twin to another in 1954. This was done without any immunosuppressive medication.
Singapore’s first kidney transplant
The first kidney transplant done on a young housewife in 1970, marked the start of kidney transplants to allow kidney patients to live a life free of dialysis.
