Jacqueline Garonzik Wang, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UAB Division of Transplantation and co-director of the Comprehensive Transplant Institute, has been named the Arnold G. Diethelm Endowed Chair in Transplantation Surgery, recognizing excellence in academic surgery and leadership in the division.
Garonzik Wang specializes in liver, kidney, and pancreas transplantation, as well as living donor transplantation. She is a nationally recognized leader in transplant surgery, and she brings a distinguished record of innovation, research, and clinical excellence to this prestigious role.
“It is an incredible privilege to be named the Arnold G. Diethelm Endowed Chair,” said Garonzik Wang. “Dr. Diethelm’s legacy is foundational to transplantation at UAB, and I am deeply committed to advancing that legacy. Everything we do in transplantation is about increasing access and improving outcomes for our patients.
Since joining UAB, Garonzik Wang has led the division through notable transplantation milestones, including the first adult living-liver donor transplant in Alabama, the first robotic kidney transplant in the Southeast, the implementation of normothermic machine perfusion at UAB, and the first Alabama transplant through the National Kidney Registry. She also leads a mulit-center trial that is pioneering kidney preservation and transplantation technology in the U.S.
“Dr. Garonzik Wang is an exceptional surgeon-scientist and leader whose vision and dedication have already made a profound impact on transplantation at UAB,” said Herbert Chen, M.D., the Fay Fletcher Kerner Endowed Chair of the UAB Department of Surgery. “Her commitment to innovation, expanding access to transplantation, and improving patient outcomes embodies the very spirit of Dr. Arnold G. Diethelm’s legacy. We are thrilled to have her serve as the Diethelm Endowed Chair and to continue advancing our shared mission of excellence in surgical care, research, and education.”
Garonzik Wang’s clinical and research interests include kidney and liver transplantation, living donation, machine perfusion, and health services research. An internationally respected investigator, Garonzik Wang has authored more than 240 peer-reviewed publications and is widely recognized for her work to expand access to kidney transplantation. Her research has focused on developing innovative strategies to increase both deceased and living donor transplantation, including the use of normothermic and hypothermic machine perfusion, expansion of donor acceptance criteria, and programs such as kidney paired exchange and desensitization.
Garonzik Wang has also made a lasting national impact through the creation of the Incompatible Live Donor Kidney Transplant (ILDKT) registry and her leadership in advancing the Live Donor Champion Program initiatives that have significantly broadened access to transplantation across the United States. During her tenure at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she led the development of a pioneering robotic transplant surgery program and advanced the clinical use of machine perfusion technologies to expand the donor pool.
Throughout her career, she has received numerous merits recognizing her leadership, research, and dedication to education, including the Vanguard Prize from the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the AWS Rising Star Award. She is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, and the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association.
About the Arnold G. Diethelm, M.D., Endowed Chair
The Arnold G. Diethelm, M.D., Endowed Chair honors the legacy of Arnold Diethelm, M.D., a pioneer in transplantation whose work helped establish UAB as a leader in the field. Diethelm built a nationally recognized transplantation program from the ground up, with noteable milestones including the first kidney transplant in Alabama in 1968, followed by the first heart transplant in the Southeast in 1981, and the first liver transplant in the state in 1983. Under Diethelm’s leadership, UAB’s renal transplant program became one of the largest and busiest in the nation. Additionally, Diethelm helped develop the Alabama Organ and Tissue Procurement Centers (now Legacy of Hope), expanding supply of critical tissues for bone allograft transplantation