Steven W. Farber Transplant Award Fund
American Transplant Foundation Co-Founder Steve Farber believed that no one should die while waiting for a lifesaving transplant. Through his own struggle of trying to find a living donor due to kidney failure, he realized how much needed to be done to help save lives here in America. This inspired him to establish the American Transplant Foundation together with Heidi Heltzel and Dr. Laurence Chan. The American Transplant Foundation goes beyond donor awareness and provides real help to transplant patients and their loved ones.
Steve passed away on March 4, 2020, but his legacy and vision of improving the transplant system continues.
Brad Farber, American Transplant Foundation Chairman and son of Steve Farber, stated “My Dad wanted to ensure that no one dies while waiting to receive a transplant. We honor his legacy by continuing to fight for the lives of women, men, and kids who are waiting for a transplant.”
The American Transplant Foundation is excited to announce the establishment of the “Steven W. Farber Transplant Award Fund” in Steve’s honor.
This fund has been developed and brought to fruition by our Board of Directors and will be used to provide scholarship awards for students who are interested in pursuing a career in transplant and are enrolled in the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Our Board Member and Founding Director of the Transplant Nephrology Program at University of Colorado, Dr. Larry Chan, added “Since the first organ transplant in 1954, transplantation has come a long way. The rapid breakthroughs within the science of transplantation have saved hundreds of thousands of lives, but the field still has a long road ahead. It is our hope that this scholarship award will inspire more students, with leadership potential and intellectual curiosity, to enter this exciting field of medicine and to promote diversity in transplant-related research and quality patient care.”
We would like to sincerely thank all the individuals who have donated in memory of Steve Farber for making this possible.
If you would like to contribute to our work and carry on Steve’s legacy, please click here to donate. If you would like to dedicate your donation to the Steven W. Farber Transplant Award Fund, please make note of it in the comment box.
American Transplant Foundation Co-Founder Steve Farber believed that no one should die while waiting for a lifesaving transplant. Through his own struggle of trying to find a living donor due to kidney failure, he realized how much needed to be done to help save lives here in America. This inspired him to establish the American Transplant Foundation together with Heidi Heltzel and Dr. Laurence Chan. The American Transplant Foundation goes beyond donor awareness and provides real help to transplant patients and their loved ones.
Steve passed away on March 4, 2020, but his legacy and vision of improving the transplant system continues.
Brad Farber, American Transplant Foundation Chairman and son of Steve Farber, stated “My Dad wanted to ensure that no one dies while waiting to receive a transplant. We honor his legacy by continuing to fight for the lives of women, men, and kids who are waiting for a transplant.”
The American Transplant Foundation is excited to announce the establishment of the “Steven W. Farber Transplant Award Fund” in Steve’s honor.
This fund has been developed and brought to fruition by our Board of Directors and will be used to provide scholarship awards for students who are interested in pursuing a career in transplant and are enrolled in the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Our Board Member and Founding Director of the Transplant Nephrology Program at University of Colorado, Dr. Larry Chan, added “Since the first organ transplant in 1954, transplantation has come a long way. The rapid breakthroughs within the science of transplantation have saved hundreds of thousands of lives, but the field still has a long road ahead. It is our hope that this scholarship award will inspire more students, with leadership potential and intellectual curiosity, to enter this exciting field of medicine and to promote diversity in transplant-related research and quality patient care.”
We would like to sincerely thank all the individuals who have donated in memory of Steve Farber for making this possible.
If you would like to contribute to our work and carry on Steve’s legacy, please click here to donate. If you would like to dedicate your donation to the Steven W. Farber Transplant Award Fund, please make note of it in the comment box.
Announcing the Steven W. Farber Transplant Award Fund 2022-2023 Recipients
Wells’ passion for giving back to the transplant community started when he received the Gift of Life through a kidney donation from his father.
He is now pursuing a career in transplant surgery, starting with working towards completing the University of Colorado MD-PhD program.
Ivana Vasic
Ivana is a first-generation college graduate. Her passion for transplant started when she joined the surgery research department during her first year of medical school to focus on challenges in organ transplant. Soon she realized that the scarcity of organ donations is only part of the battle.
Ivana is now studying to become a transplant surgeon at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Inaugural Steven W. Farber Transplant Award Fund Recipients
Ellie Rhoades
Ellie is a third-year medical student at the University of Colorado. She has had first-hand experience with the transplant process when her stepmother received a stem-cell transplant after being diagnosed with leukemia.
During her third-year surgery rotation, she spent time with the transplant team at the University of Colorado Hospital and got experience with living donor transplants and other complex surgeries.
Ronald Truong
Ronald spends his summers as a camp counselor for children who are experiencing kidney failure. Working with these children has motivated him to further explore transplantation as his career path.
After completing an internship with Tennessee Donor Services, he was accepted into the University of Colorado school of medicine and has been working closely with the Director for Transplant Research.
