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Jefferson Surgical Solutions

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In 2004, Pennye Goodman received a living donor kidney transplant thanks to her donor and brother, Gregory Tettemer, and their care team at Jefferson. On December 14, Pennye and her husband, Phil, cut the ribbon on their Exam Room named for Gregory in the Nicoletti Kidney Transplant Center located at the corner of 9th and Chestnut Streets in Center City.

December 14, 2017 was a landmark day at Jefferson: the ribbon cutting ceremony of the Nicoletti Kidney Transplant Center at Jefferson. This milestone venture – bringing together research, education and clinical care in one space – came to fruition thanks to a $2.5 million lead gift from the Robert V. Nicoletti Family Trust. The Center emphasizes living donor transplantation, something that is very personal to the Nicoletti family.

In early 2006, Jefferson doctors determined that the patriarch of the family, businessman and philanthropist Robert (Bob) V. Nicoletti, needed a kidney transplant. Seven members of his family immediately volunteered to donate a kidney. Ultimately, only one was deemed compatible: Bob’s youngest daughter, Lori Nicoletti Peruto, Esq. This life-saving kidney gave Bob – who passed away in February 2016 at 85 years-old – another 10 loving years with his children and grandchildren.

Inspired by the care they received at Jefferson, the Nicolettis became steadfast and generous supporters of the Jefferson Transplant Institute. In late 2015, Bob and his three children, Mark R. Nicoletti, Sr., Lori Nicoletti Peruto, Esq., and Donna Nicoletti Ferrier, along with their spouses, provided the leadership gift to name the new Center. This kicked off a campaign supported by other grateful patients, Jefferson leadership and community partners to build a more robust living donor kidney transplant program.

Pennye Goodman was also inspired to give back after receiving a life-saving kidney in 2004 from her brother, Gregory Tettemer. “Through the generosity of my brother, the skills of the Jefferson team and the grace of God, I have been blessed with many years of excellent health. We are proud to support this new Center that will ease the burden of the transplant journey for patients and their families.”

Living donor transplants generally work better and last almost twice as long as deceased donor transplants. With more than 600 patients on Jefferson’s organ transplant wait list, this campaign and the resources provided to patients and families in the Nicoletti Kidney Transplant Center come at a critical time. The Center not only simplifies the patient journey, but it also expands our dedicated multidisciplinary team and supports clinical research.

To learn about supporting the Nicoletti Kidney Transplant Center at Jefferson, visit Jefferson.edu/GiveJTI or contact Kelly Austin in the Office of Institutional Advancement at 215-955-6383.

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