Sign up to receive Peter's email newsletter: https://bit.ly/4c602k2 Chris Sonnenday is the Transplant Center Director for Michigan Medicine. As Peter’s senior resident while at Johns Hopkins, Chris made a lasting impression on him with his remarkable leadership and ability to maintain his humanity through the stressors of that challenging environment. In this episode, Chris tells the incredible backstory of the history of transplant medicine, focusing on the kidney and the liver. He discusses the surgical and immunologic developments that launched the field forward, but also lays out the challenges ahead for the field, such as the rising prevalence of chronic kidney and liver failure. Chris also tells many stories of tragedy and triumph that comes with working in organ transplantation, but ultimately explains the rewarding nature of being a witness to the gift of organ donation. We discuss: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:15 - What attracted Chris to medicine, and his leadership in residency 00:07:30 - How Chris maintained his empathy and humanity through the stresses of med school and residency 00:25:15 - Why Chris chose a complicated field like transplant medicine 00:31:10 - Explaining kidney transplantation to showcase the challenge of organ transplantation surgery 00:41:15 - Overcoming the immune-based challenges of transplant surgery 00:54:30 - How the discovery of cyclosporine transformed the field of organ transplantation 01:00:10 - Rising chronic kidney failure due to the prevalence of pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome 01:06:45 - Why living kidney donations are superior, and the possibility of a market for kidney donation 01:26:50 - Designing a fair system of organ distribution 01:31:15 - The debate on what constitutes “death” when deciding when to take organs from a registered organ donor 01:44:20 - Reflections on the gift of organ donation 01:51:15 - The history of liver transplantation and why it’s so complex 01:58:45 - Addressing acute liver failure and the amazing baboon experiment 02:08:25 - The potential for the rising prevalence of NAFLD and NASH to overwhelm the liver transplant infrastructure in the US 02:20:40 - The importance of teamwork in successful organ transplantations, and the most tragic event Chris has ever witnessed Show notes page: https://peterattiamd.com/chrissonnenday/ About: The Peter Attia Drive is a weekly, ultra-deep-dive podcast focusing on maximizing health, longevity, critical thinking…and a few other things. With over 25 million episodes downloaded, it features topics including fasting, ketosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, mental health, and much more. Peter is a physician focusing on the applied science of longevity. His practice deals extensively with nutritional interventions, exercise physiology, sleep physiology, emotional and mental health, and pharmacology to increase lifespan (delay the onset of chronic disease), while simultaneously improving healthspan (quality of life). Learn more: https://peterattiamd.com/​​​​ Subscribe to receive exclusive subscriber-only content: https://peterattiamd.com/subscribe/​​​​ Sign up to receive Peter's email newsletter: https://peterattiamd.com/newsletter/​​​​ Connect with Peter on: Facebook: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDFB​​​​ Twitter: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDTW​​​​ Instagram: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDIG​​​​ Subscribe to The Drive: Apple Podcast: http://bit.ly/TheDriveApplePodcasts​​​​ Overcast: http://bit.ly/TheDriveOvercast​​​​ Spotify: http://bit.ly/TheDriveSpotify​​​​ Google Play: http://bit.ly/TheDriveGooglePlay