AdventHealth Expands Living Donor Liver Transplant Program

New capabilities allow for more pediatric and complex liver disease patients to receive life-saving transplants.

Published on Mar. 6, 2026

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AdventHealth Orlando has launched a Living Donor Liver Transplant (LDLT) program, expanding access to life-saving transplants for both pediatric and adult patients. The program aims to perform 10-12 LDLT procedures per year, helping to address the growing need for liver transplants in the U.S. LDLT provides greater flexibility in transplant timing and expands options for patients who may not receive timely access through the deceased donor system.

Why it matters

Liver transplantation in the U.S. continues to be constrained by limited donor organ availability, particularly for pediatric patients. The new LDLT program at AdventHealth will help address this issue by allowing patients to receive a transplant before reaching critical illness, regardless of their MELD or PELD score. This can substantially reduce wait times and improve outcomes.

The details

AdventHealth Orlando performed its first LDLT surgery with a pediatric recipient on January 14, 2026, and the first LDLT for an adult recipient was performed on February 18, 2026. LDLT is a complex procedure in which a segment of a healthy individual's liver is surgically removed and transplanted into a patient with end-stage liver disease or cancer. The program required extensive planning to assemble the surgical and care teams, develop protocols, and secure advanced imaging equipment.

  • AdventHealth received its provisional approval from UNOS in 2025.
  • The program aims to perform 10 to 12 living donor liver transplants per year within the next couple of years.

The players

Ryan W. Day, MD

Transplant surgeon and surgical oncologist who is the director of AdventHealth's new Living Donor Liver Transplant program.

Thomas Chin, MD

AdventHealth transplant surgeon who notes the increasing difficulty in finding livers for patients, making living donor transplants a critical option.

Dellys Soler Rodriguez, MD

Medical Director of Pediatric Advanced Hepatology and Liver Transplantation at AdventHealth for Children, who states the living liver program allows them to transplant patients before significant clinical deterioration.

Sophie Byroade

A 23-year-old law student who donated a portion of her liver to 4-year-old Nolan Smith, who was suffering from biliary atresia.

Nolan Smith

A 4-year-old who received a portion of Sophie Byroade's liver in AdventHealth's first pediatric living donor liver transplant.

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What they’re saying

“I'm happy to report that in both cases, the donor and recipient are doing well. Living donor liver transplant is one of the most complicated operations performed anywhere in the world, and we safely completed it. Having this new capability is going to save additional lives, allowing us to transplant more children as well as adults with difficult diseases who are underrepresented in the deceased donor system such as cancer patients with colorectal liver metastases, hepatocellular carcinoma, and cholangiocarcinoma.”

— Ryan W. Day, MD, Transplant surgeon and surgical oncologist (adventhealth.com)

“We've noticed over the past few years, that it has been more difficult to find livers for our patients. The people who are getting the good quality livers the quickest are the very sick patients, putting medium to high MELD and PELD patients at a disadvantage. Living donor is a way of getting them a liver before they get too sick. It really is the final piece of offering everything possible to get our patients transplanted.”

— Thomas Chin, MD, AdventHealth transplant surgeon (adventhealth.com)

“Now, with our living liver program, we can transplant patients before they have any significant clinical deterioration. This is a huge win in terms of improving outcomes. Plus, families no longer need to leave the state to be offered this opportunity.”

— Dellys Soler Rodriguez, MD, Medical Director of Pediatric Advanced Hepatology and Liver Transplantation at AdventHealth for Children (adventhealth.com)

What’s next

The judge in the case will decide on Tuesday whether or not to allow Walker Reed Quinn out on bail.

The takeaway

This new living donor liver transplant program at AdventHealth will help address the growing need for liver transplants, particularly for pediatric and complex liver disease patients, by expanding access and improving outcomes through planned, elective procedures using high-quality donor livers.