That's what Dr. Steven Rudich, the program's surgical director, told a crowd of about 100 liver transplant patients and hospital personnel who attended University Hospital's first liver transplant symposium Saturday. The half-day seminar was at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.

Since Rudich came here as surgical director nearly two years ago, he has turned the hospital's liver transplant program into the most productive in the state. Doctors performed 84 liver transplants on 83 patients last year (one patient needed two transplants) - four times the number done in 2002 and the most since the program started in 1986.

But if the department hopes to achieve its goal of ranking among the top five in the country, Rudich says the hospital must invest more in its clinical research programs.

The biggest limitation for liver transplants is that the overall number of organ donors essentially "remains flat," Rudich said.

Doctors at UC increased the number of transplants here mostly by using organs that other centers reject because they were older or had higher percentages of fat.

Providing liver transplants to even more people depends in part on research to prevent organ rejections. Such research could help avoid situations faced by patients such as Ken Sheehan of Hamilton.

The 55-year-old father of four waited two years before he got a new liver, to replace his, which was damaged by hepatitis C. But just months after that October 2003 surgery, his body rejected the new organ and Sheehan needed another transplant.

He received another liver in July that has been functioning well.

E-mail esolvig@enquirer.com