Who We Are
UT Southwestern’s Transplant Services Center is a unique full-service eye and tissue bank.
We support hospitals and physicians across Texas, throughout the United States, and around the world. As a key clinical and academic service of UT Southwestern Medical Center, we complete the “Circle of Care” by managing every step of the donation-to-transplantation process through our full-service eye and tissue bank. We provide corneal, scleral, skin, musculoskeletal, and cardiovascular allografts that restore function, improve quality of life, and, in some cases, save lives.
We are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which oversees tissue banking to ensure safety and quality. Eye and tissue donation follows strict FDA regulations and differs from organ donation, which can affect donor suitability criteria.
Accreditation and Excellence
Our accreditations reflect our dedication to going above and beyond for donor families and transplant recipients.
- The Transplant Services Center was one of the first three eye and tissue banks in the country to be accredited by the Association for Advancing Tissue and Biologics (AATB). Today, we remain one of the longest continuously accredited eye and tissue banks.
- We are also accredited by the Eye Bank Association of America, demonstrating our commitment to the highest standards in eye banking.
Our Team
Sharlene Rupp, M.P.A., CEBT, CTBS, Director, Eye and Tissue
Adam A. James, M.B.A., CPHQ, CTBS, Associate Director
Medical Directors
Associate Professor
- Distinguished Teaching Professor
- Director, Solid Organ Transplant Infectious Diseases
- Program Director, Transplant Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program
- Medical Director, Transplant Services Center
Clinical Assistant Professor
Contact Us
Transplant Services Center
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75390-9074
Phone:
800-433-6667
214-648-2609
214-645-8361
Our History
Our story began with a vision to improve care for burn patients. Charles Baxter practiced emergency medicine, surgery, and burn rehabilitation at Parkland Memorial Hospital. During his work treating severe burn injuries, he focused on research and advancements in burn care and developed what is now known as the Baxter burn formula.
Working closely with him was nurse and founding director Ellen Heck. Together, they recognized that access to donor skin could significantly reduce mortality for burn victims.
When Ellen first began reaching out to families about skin donation, the first three people she contacted said yes. With their generosity, the foundation for our organization was formed, and the Transplant Services Center began as a skin bank.
Our earliest office was humble – just a small linen closet with a desk and a phone – but it marked the beginning of something impactful.
In the early 1970s, there were no civilian skin banks in the United States; the only known skin bank was operated by the military in Florida. The Transplant Services Center was established in 1972 as one of the country’s first civilian skin banks. We proudly consider ourselves among the pioneers who helped establish civilian tissue banking in the U.S. In 1978, it expanded through a merger with the Lions Eye Bank, initiating its eye banking operations.