/prod01/channel_2/media/mccms/content-assets/about/news/2025-july-dec/512X512_Sahar-Saddoughi-Alumni-Saddoughi_WF6816800_0092_rt.jpg)
November 14, 2025
- Share:
-
-
-
-
As a surgeon, researcher, and Mayo Clinic alumna, Sahar Saddoughi, M.D., Ph.D., is transforming lung transplantation by working to expand the donor pool, turning lungs once considered unusable into life-saving organs.
Sahar Saddoughi, M.D., Ph.D. (S ’19, TS ’21), Mayo Clinic alumna, is working with donor lung assessment and normothermic regional perfusion (NRP), which gives surgeons confidence to use more lungs and save more lives.
As of June 2025, there were over 900 people waiting for a lung transplant in the U.S. Because only about 20 percent to 30 percent of donor lungs meet the standard for transplant, there are never enough lungs to go around. This means that every year, patients die waiting for donor lungs or become too sick to receive a transplant — outcomes Dr. Saddoughi finds unacceptable.
So in addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Saddoughi researches ways to expand the donor pool and increase the number of lung transplants. She tests novel transplant therapies and procedures in large animal models, and her lab explores extended-criteria donors, lung rehabilitation, and next-generation lungs.
One patient, Bill Peterson, spent years limited by idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Multiple potential transplants didn’t work out.
In 2023, Dr. Saddoughi used her porcine lab to help clarify some of the controversy surrounding the use of normothermic regional perfusion for lungs — a contribution that would have direct relevance for Bill and could help many others like him.
"I’m excited about the type of research we do because we are able to translate from bench to bedside and directly change patients’ lives," says Dr. Saddoughi.
Thanks to Dr. Saddoughi’s research, Bill received a successful NRP lung transplant in December 2024. Today, he’s rebuilding strength, walking independently, and regaining the freedom he hadn’t felt in years.
My goal as a lung transplant surgeon is to continue to find ways to open up the donor pool for patients. I was really comforted by the result. Because I believe in it, and now I can feel confident about that, as both a researcher and a surgeon.
Sahar Saddoughi, M.D., Ph.D.
/0x0:512x512/prod01/channel_2/media/mccms/content-assets/about/news/2025-july-dec/512X512_Alumni-Sahar-Saddoughi-WF6816800_0236-(1).jpg)
Looking ahead
As Dr. Saddoughi looks forward, there are more research questions she wants to help answer, such as whether lung-derived exosomes can help mitigate ischemia-reperfusion injury in DCD transplant. She also wants to explore other areas of donor expansion like xenotransplantation, 3D-printed organs, and decellularized and recellularized lungs.
“I feel extremely fortunate to be part of the Mayo Clinic lung transplant team. The program has transformed significantly over the last several years due to the incredible teamwork and leadership. In 2024 alone, we were able to help 84 patients through the amazing gift of lung transplantation,” says Dr. Saddoughi. “My hope is to continue my research to ask important questions like: Can we take lungs that are not transplantable and find a way to make them transplantable?"
As for Bill, he exercises every day and takes regular walks, extending the distance bit by bit. It’s hard for Bill to express what the transplant means to him — a challenge he faced directly when he wrote a letter to the donor family.
“Words can’t describe the gratitude I have, and how I feel about this generous gift, really a gift of life,” Bill shared.
A full version of this story originally appeared in issue 3 of the 2025 Mayo Clinic Alumni Association Magazine.