NYP Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital's Pediatric Transplant Program 40th Anniversary
Gianna Paniagua received her first transplant at 14 months old. Today she is a Master's student at Columbia University.
It has been an incredible 40 years since NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital began its life-saving children’s heart transplant program.
Since then, more than 600 procedures have been performed.
The Program for Pediatric Cardiomyopathy, Heart Failure, and Transplantation, founded in 1984 by Dr. Linda Addonizio, offers our youngest patients a state-of-the-art multidisciplinary approach to complex cardiac issues. NewYork-Presbyterian performs more pediatric heart transplants than any other hospital in the United States.
“I'm now 33 and have had my two transplants for almost 33 years now. What makes this team and place special is that they treat every patient as part of their family," said Gianna Paniagua, a patient who began her transplant journey at 14 months old in 1992. "The opportunity to have a transplant has shifted my life. I think we are born with our personalities and talents, but thanks to transplant it gave me drive and a place to utilize what I was born with in order to help other people. It's my entire motivation and central passion both in my career and personal life."
To learn more about how to support the program so that more patients and their families can thrive, visit the pediatric heart transplantation site.