A team at NYU Langone Health just performed the world’s first HIV-positive-to-HIV-positive lung transplant. This is a significant milestone for patients living with HIV who need new organs. The groundbreaking transplant means that these can now receive donations from people who used to be ruled out as donors.

Right now, about 1.2 million people in the U.S. live with HIV. Because of modern antiretroviral therapies (ART), most people taking these medications cannot pass the virus on and can live long, healthy lives. However, when they need an organ transplant, finding a match is still extremely difficult.

“This is a watershed moment for the HIV-positive community and represents real progress in creating equity in organ transplantation,” said Sapna Mehta, MD, clinical director of NYU Langone Transplant Institute. “While these transplants are still only allowable under certain research protocols, this marks an expansion of options for people in need of a lifesaving organ.”

World’s First HIV-to-HIV Lung Transplant

lung transplant
Photo: HobbitArt/Shutterstock

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The patient, Bertrand Nelson, 56, who received the historic transplant has lived with HIV for nearly 26 years. He also has sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that can damage the lungs. After a severe bout of pneumonia in 2021, his lung condition got worse. By 2024, he needed constant oxygen just to breathe, and his liver was failing too.

That is when his doctors sent him to NYU Langone to see if he could get a dual lung and liver transplant under a special research protocol. While other organs like hearts and kidneys have been transplanted between HIV-positive patients before, lungs never had been.

“Transplantation of HOPE hearts and abdominal organs has been done before, but this has not been done in lung transplantation. It takes a special kind of patient to be willing to do something that hasn’t been done before,” said Mark A. Sonnick, MD, a transplant pulmonologist at the institute.

Nelson received his new lung and liver on March 21, 2026. Today, he is completely off supplemental oxygen for the first time in four years. He is focused on getting his strength back and being there for his 81-year-old mother.

“I want to be well for her,” Nelson said. “I want her to see me thriving. There are so many others who need access to this level of care, and the more organs that become available, the better the odds of finding the right match and living a long life.”