On Sept. 2, 2020, less than three weeks after getting on an organ transplant list for HIV-positive patients, John Welch got the call. A liver was available from a deceased donor, and it was an excellent match.

On July 1, the 53-year-old Dallas man became the first recipient of an HIV-positive-to-HIV-positive organ transplant in Texas at UT Southwestern’s William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital.

A team of transplant doctors, surgeons, and infectious disease specialists completed the surgery without complications. UT Southwestern physicians have performed more than 3,000 solid organ transplants.

His condition is a happily stark contrast from where he was in 2016 when he learned on the same day that he was HIV-positive and had cirrhosis of the liver. He quit drinking alcohol for good and started taking antiviral medication to keep HIV at bay

Before the transplant, Welch was in the early stages of liver failure, suffering from mild confusion and memory loss. Now, except for medication and follow-up appointments, doctors expect a near-normal life for Welch, in part because nearly all of the other 115 organ recipients in the HOPE program nationwide have enjoyed strong recoveries.