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Support the Major General A.K. Singh Transplant Transportation Fund

Transforming Transplant Travel

The abiding love and support of a father for his daughter has inspired two life-changing gifts for Jefferson transplant patients.

For Jefferson’s Pooja Singh, MD, the Beatrice F. Nicoletti Endowed Professor of Transplant Nephrology and division director of Nephrology, Hypertension, and Kidney Transplantation, it was the flights to and from Philadelphia and her native India that galvanized her beloved father to ensure her safe and comfortable travel and inspired her generosity in his memory and on behalf of her patients.

This image shows Major General A.K. Singh in uniform.

“My father was a major general in the Indian Army, and was from the Corps of Engineers,” Singh shares. “He wanted to make sure I traveled comfortably. Every time I would go back to India, he would upgrade me.” 

Singh, who completed her residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center, now Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital, and her fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, lost her father during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and was unable to travel to India. “I wanted to do something to honor his legacy,” she says.

“He was so particular about how my family and I traveled back and forth on those long flights,” she recalls. Singh celebrated his memory, reflecting his generous spirit through the creation of the Major General A.K. Singh Transplant Transportation Fund at Jefferson.

This image shows Dr. Pooja Singh with her parents.

“For patients who come here for transplants and must travel back and forth afterward, how can we support their journey and help them keep up with all of their appointments?” she says. “Transportation — how they will actually get to every visit — really weighs on their minds. I thought, ‘Why not do something in my father’s memory allowing me to give back to my community and my patients?’”

Many of Singh’s colleagues in transplantation have also donated to the fund, which for the last five years has served all solid organ transplant patients, including kidney, pancreas, cardiac, and liver.

“It’s very rewarding to see these patients when I’m rounding in the hospital or in the clinic, and they’re getting their ambulance or Uber rides arranged and their parking tickets validated,” Singh says. “We are making it seamless for our patients to have all of their healthcare needs met.”

This image shows Dr. Pooja Singh's son in front of a plaque for the Honickman Center exam room dedicated to her father.

Singh has also generously named an exam room at the Honickman Center after both of her parents. “In my journey of giving, I also wanted to honor my mother, who is well and living in India,” she says. “When I go in and out of that room and see my parents’ names on the plaque outside, I am a proud daughter, serving the mission of what they wanted me to do, which is become a physician, and have the world benefit from my craft.”

Singh says there is a power in giving. “I am a better human being after this experience,” she shares. “When you give back and your philanthropy is being put to good use by your organization, the feelings you experience cannot be described. I truly believe that you can buy happiness when you spend it in the service of others.”

Support the Major General A.K. Singh Transplant Transportation Fund