Ranked among the busiest solid organ transplant programs in the country, the division of transplantation specializes in liver, kidney, kidney/pancreas and islet transplantation for adult and pediatric patients and is responsible for a variety of firsts in Georgia: the state's first kidney transplant in 1966, first liver transplant in 1987, first simultaneous kidney/pancreas operation in 1989, first living-related pediatric liver transplant in 1997, first laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy in 1999 and first islet transplant to treat Type 1 diabetes in 2003. In 2001 the division became part of the Emory Transplant Center, an umbrella organization that oversees and integrates all of Emory's academic, clinical and research resources in organ transplantation.

The Transplant Immunology Lab is the research component of the division and is investigating innovative strategies to stop rejection of transplanted organs and free patients from the toxic side effects of daily immunosuppressant medicines. Under the co-direction of Dr. Christian Larsen and Dr. Thomas Pearson, the lab has done seminal work in the establishment of co-stimulation blockade as a viable treatment for achieving long-term survival of organ allografts for recipients of solid organ transplants.

In 2002, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons accredited the division's two-year liver, renal and pancreas transplantation fellowship. General surgery residents that rotate through the transplant service participate in such activities as organ retrieval surgery.