A life-saving kidney transplant. A $1-million thank you

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A Southwestern Ontario man who received a kidney transplant has donated $1 million to the London hospital that performed the life-saving procedure.

The London Health Sciences Centre has announced that Keith Lavergne and his wife, Leanne, made the donation to the hospital’s Division of Urology. The donation will be used to establish the Keith and Leanne Lavergne and Family Chair in Urology to bolster research and development in the department.

“Hope is a powerful motivator and it gives you the ability to fight on,” said Keith Lavergne of Lasalle, near Windsor, who received a kidney transplant in August 2018 from his cousin, Dave Lavergne. “Over the next 10 years, you are going to see some remarkable strides being made from the research being done through the Lavergne Chair.

“We just hope our gift can help save more people that are living with kidney disease now and in the future.”

The Lavergne Chair will support annual catalyst research grants and sustainable fellowship programs in the division for specialty areas like transplant, oncology, men’s health, functional urology, endourology and minimally invasive surgery.

The funding will also go toward faculty development and for Masters of Surgery fellowship research projects.

“The Lavergne Chair will enable us to carry out cutting edge research, including moonshot projects in areas including fundamental sciences, clinical trials, quality improvement and in surgical education,” said Dr. Alp Sener, chief of urology and the inaugural Lavergne Chair. “Ultimately, these research projects have the potential to make a great impact on patient care in the future, but without funding, they are not possible.”