Vaidehi Kaza, M.D.

Meet Dr. Kaza

Medical Director, Lung Transplant Program

By the time patients with advanced lung disease come to see pulmonologist Vaidehi Kaza, M.D., they're often so sick that they show a dramatic decrease in their ability to perform daily activities.

As a lung transplant specialist at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dr. Kaza guides patients through the lung transplant process – before, during, and after surgery – and helps them breathe freely again. 

"Transplantation can offer a second wind when there are no other options – another chance at life," Dr. Kaza says.

The transformation she sees in patients motivates her. Within weeks, many patients are off breathing machines and out of the hospital. She loves watching her patients use their second chance to renew their lives and live more normally again.

Dr. Kaza credits UT Southwestern's entire lung transplantation team for making the difference in their patient's lives – and for enabling the UTSW Lung Transplantation Program to have the best success rates of any program in Texas. 

Dr. Kaza says it takes many people to make a lung transplant happen: In addition to physicians and nurses, each patient also needs a transplant coordinator, dietitian, social worker, and other people to make the experience as successful as possible.  

"When patients come to UT Southwestern, it's like becoming part of another family," she says.

In addition to patient care, Dr. Kaza is also active in research to improve lung transplantation outcomes. For example, she investigates new methods to improve immune system tolerance to help prevent rejection of new lungs. Another project studies mechanisms to delay progression of chronic rejection and improve post transplant survival.