A NASA engineer and mother of two became the first known patient from Houston to receive an innovative double-lung transplant for terminal lung cancer, according to a May 10 announcement from Northwestern Medicine. Jodi Graf traveled to Chicago to participate in the DREAM clinical trial, which offers select patients with advanced lung cancers a chance at life through double-lung transplants when other treatments have failed.
The procedure is significant because most transplant centers do not offer transplants to patients with active cancer. The technique used involves placing the patient on full heart and lung bypass, removing both diseased lungs and lymph nodes simultaneously, washing the airways and chest cavity to eliminate cancer cells, and then implanting new lungs. "These patients can have billions of cancer cells in the lungs, so we must be extremely meticulous to not let a single cell spill into the patient’s chest cavity or blood stream. We believe this technique can help reduce the risk of recurrence, which we learned through our experience with pioneering COVID-19 lung transplants in 2020," said Ankit Bharat, MD, chief of thoracic surgery and executive director of the Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute.
Graf's journey began in 1997 when she experienced unexplained shortness of breath that was initially misdiagnosed as asthma. In 2005 she was diagnosed with interstitial lung disease (ILD), which eventually led her health to decline rapidly. During a transplant evaluation in Houston in December 2023, doctors discovered advanced lung cancer despite her never having smoked. After being denied a transplant locally due to her diagnosis, Graf found hope through news about Northwestern Medicine’s DREAM Program online. She arrived at Northwestern Memorial Hospital last November; less than 24 hours after being listed for new lungs she received her match and underwent surgery on Thanksgiving Day.
Following surgery Graf walked on a treadmill without oxygen for the first time in years and now hopes to travel without restrictions alongside her family. "As best we can tell, Jodi is now cancer free and we are hopeful that it stays that way," said Catherine Myers, MD, Graf’s pulmonologist at Canning Thoracic Institute. "Jodi is doing wonderfully and our hope is that she will be able to live with these new lungs for many years to come." Graf added: "I’m so glad that I’ll be there for them a while longer... They’re grown up but they still need their mom." Myers said: "So many patients don’t get a lung transplant for themselves – they get it for their loved ones... Having the opportunity to help Jodi stay longer with her children is what this is all about – it’s why I love what I do."
Lung cancers remain the leading cause of U.S. cancer deaths; researchers note an increase among women and never-smokers like Graf—groups often excluded from current screening guidelines based on age or smoking history alone. A study by Northwestern Medicine found only one-third of nearly 1,000 treated patients would qualify under existing criteria; expanding age-based screening could detect more cases early.
Northwestern Medicine has performed over 50 such transplants as part of its DREAM Program since launching its Lung Transplant Program in 2014—with more than 700 procedures completed overall—and reports one of America’s shortest median wait times at three days.
Northwestern Medicine operates under parent organization Northwestern Memorial HealthCare and aims for world-class care focused on patient care, education and research; it also recognizes community contributions through humanitarian awards reflecting compassion according to its official website.
