(Nathan Watson / Bham Now)On January 15, UAB Medicine performed its first-ever robotic kidney transplant surgery—a major milestone in the world of organ transplantation. UAB is the first center in the Southeast to offer robotic surgical proceduresMichael Hanaway, M.D., surgical director of the Kidney Transplant Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Muhammad Rabbani, M.D., assistant professor in the Division of Transplantation, performed the procedure using robotic-assisted surgical equipment. ( Ian Logue / UAB Medicine)On Jan. 15, 2026, Michael Hanaway, M.D., surgical director of the Kidney Transplant Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Muhammad Rabbani, M.D., assistant professor in the Division of Transplantation, made history by performing the first kidney transplant procedure at UAB using robotic-assisted surgical equipment. During a robot-assisted kidney transplant, the surgeon sits at a console and uses controls to guide robotic instruments rather than working directly with their hands. “The advance of robotic surgical procedures over the last 10 years would suggest that robotic procedures in kidney transplantation represent its future.