UPMC is one of the best-known medical centers in the world. It is the largest and busiest organ transplant center in the world, transplanting an organ about every 10 hours. Dr. Thomas Starzl is the director of the Transplantation Institute. Dr. Starzl was the world's first to perform a liver transplant in 1963 and since has made many valuable contributions to the advancement of transplantation. He recently placed 213 out 1,000 in a ranking of individuals who have had the greatest impact on in the world in the last 1,000 years.
Students participate in internships and research, and many also do volunteer work here.