School of Medicine First in World to Deliver a Human Organ by Drone
August 1, 2019
![A drone in flight](/alumni/highlights/iStock-890004548.jpg)
In a worldwide first, the School of Medicine delivered a kidney by drone to a patient in need of life-saving transplantation. (Patient and kidney are doing well.) Team leader Dr. Joseph Scalea says drone delivery could cut organ transit time by 70 percent, dramatically improving organ health and patient outcomes. Every day, 18 people in the U.S. die awaiting a transplant.