Brandon and Kyle Simonsen Chair in Transplant Surgery

The Brandon and Kyle Simonsen Chair in Transplant Surgery was established through a significant donation by Joy Miller, a grateful patient of Dr. Joshua Miller. Joy was one of the first patients to receive a kidney transplant at the University of Miami, in 1983. In order to express her gratitude to Dr. Miller, the founder of the university's transplant program, Joy made a substantial donation and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars more to establish an endowed chair in transplant surgery. As the primary donor, Joy was asked to name the chair. As a result of her successful transplant she would be able to see her two young grandsons, Brandon and Kyle Simonsen, grow up. With this in mind, she named the chair after them. The Simonsen Chair is a permanent source of funds for use in the Division of Kidney and Kidney/Pancreas Transplantation.

Since that time, and due in no small part to her generosity, the kidney transplant program at the University of Miami has consistently ranked among the top in the nation in long-term successful transplant survival. As the beneficiary of this endowment, the Kidney and Kidney/Pancreas Transplantation program has conducted research applying the newest cellular and molecular technology to patient care. The program has thus been able to continue to play a world-wide leadership role in introducing innovative therapy and continuously improving on this record.