Northwell to launch Long Island's first adult pancreas transplant program
Northwell Transplant Institute leadership, from left: Drs. Vinay Nair, Niraj Desai and Nabil Dagher. Credit: Northwell Health/Lee S. Weissman
The Northwell Transplant Institute at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset has received the go-ahead to become the first adult pancreas transplant center on Long Island, it was announced this week.
The approval from the New York State Department of Health, which Northwell called “the final hurdle” to opening the program to patients, means the institute will become one of 59 adult transplant centers in the nation offering multi-transplant programs — for heart, kidney, liver, lung and pancreas — under one roof, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
A Northwell spokesperson said it expects to start listing patients on the national pancreas transplant waiting list by April.
Dr. Nabil Dagher, senior vice president and director of the institute, said in a statement: “The goal has always been to bring pancreas transplantation to Long Island and marry these similar disciplines. We’ve attracted some of the best nephrologists and surgeons in the world, true experts in kidney disease and diabetes. Adding pancreas transplantation to the Northwell Transplant Institute’s already robust programs will further strengthen the care we deliver to all patients.”
Northwell performs an average of 200 kidney transplants each year, Dagher said.
More than 800 patients await a pancreas transplant in the United States, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Another 2,500 are in need of both a kidney and pancreas transplant.
Statistics from the network show there have been more than 45,000 organ transplants this year in the United States.
Pancreas transplants, Northwell said, provide life-changing benefits for patients with advanced diabetes and, along with a kidney transplant, can “restore natural blood sugar control” and even reduce or eliminate the need for insulin injections — the result being “a better quality of life.”
Northwell said its teams began performing adult kidney transplants at North Shore in 2007. It established its pediatric kidney transplant program in 2017 at Cohen Children's Medical Center in nearby New Hyde Park. It also said Dr. Niraj Desai, director of its Center for Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation, was brought to Northwell in 2024 to oversee kidney transplants and with the intent of launching the pancreas transplant program.
Desai previously directed pancreas and kidney transplants at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.
The medical director of the Northwell Center for Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation, Dr. Vinay Nair, said in a statement the number of kidney transplants has risen in recent years due not only to greater awareness of the need, but also because of an increase in organ donations.
“Unlike kidney transplantation, pancreas transplantation has remained stagnant, largely due to a lack of public knowledge and an insufficient number of centers offering the procedure,” Nair said, adding: “Our new program seeks to mitigate these challenges by both enhancing awareness and establishing local availability for pancreas transplantation.”
John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.
Blakeman's bid and Dem races ... Pancreas transplant center ... Wyandanch industrial park ... 50 years since Bruce brought Santa to LI
Blakeman's bid and Dem races ... Pancreas transplant center ... Wyandanch industrial park ... 50 years since Bruce brought Santa to LI
