As the grateful recipient of one of her brother's kidneys, Debbie Faiman knows firsthand that transplantation medicine can change lives. In the 14 years since her successful surgery, she has become a staunch advocate for Transplant Service at UCSF and an inspiration to many patients and their families.

Debbie is a generous supporter of the Transplant Service at UCSF because she wants to give back to the faculty and staff that continue to deliver excellent medical care.

Most recently, Debbie created the Deborah L. Faiman Kidney Transplant Research Young Investigator's Travel Award which provides financial support for the travel costs of a resident or fellow attending a scientific conference in the field of kidney transplantation. As a tribute to her nephrologists, Dr. William Amend and Dr. Flavio Vincenti, as well as the Transplant Service at UCSF, Debbie has also established the Deborah Faiman Endowed Chair in Kidney Transplant. Dr. Flavio Vincenti will serve as the inaugural holder of this Chair.

Education is of particular concern for Debbie, who sees the sharing of knowledge and new breakthroughs at medical conferences and meetings as a benefit both to the surgeons in attendance, as well as the patients who will then receive care from more highly trained and informed professionals.

Debbie has been a witness to the tremendous advances in transplantation over the last decade. When she was a transplant recipient, it was highly uncommon to receive an organ donation if a family member was not a match. Today, living donor transplants are widely known as an effective treatment option for a variety of diseases. Debbie helps spread the word about paired donor exchange, whereby a donor and recipient pair with incompatible blood types are matched with another donor-recipient pair, enabling two recipients to receive organs with perfectly matched blood types. Paired donor exchange is an important program within the Transplant Service at UCSF.

In the 14 years since her successful surgery many new techniques have been developed to make the procedures more effective and less invasive. After his surgery, Debbie's brother was left with a large scar running across his abdomen. Today, many surgeries are done laparoscopically, which means shorter hospital stays and a quicker recovery for both living donors and recipients- as well as smaller incisions. Debbie is confident that with the right investment in research and education, many future innovations are on the horizon. Debbie has also touched the lives of many medical professionals at UCSF. In the words of Dr. Flavio Vincenti: