The recipient of a bilateral lung transplant developed signs of coma and then proceeded to go into a deep coma and became septic days after transplant. Upon further discovery, the recipient's blood culture came back showing a rare germ, Mycoplasma hominis. When determining the source, Mark E. Wylam, M.D., and Richard C. Daly, M.D., discovered that other organ recipients from the same donor were also infected, solidifying the thought that the donor was the source of infection.

Simultaneous to these events, Robin Patel, M.D., and her team were working to develop rapid diagnostic assays for Mycoplasma hominis. With the rapid diagnostic assays from the infectious disease team, the transplant care teams can now preemptively prevent this from occurring in future transplant recipients.

"This discovery wouldn't have occurred without our collaborative opportunities to work with each other on a daily basis." — Mark E. Wylam, M.D.

Thanks to the collaborative team approach and the interdisciplinary culture of Mayo Clinic, different teams are able to communicate with each other on a daily basis and reach these lifesaving discoveries sooner.