On Monday, April 2, at 11 a.m. ET, Dallas Wiens—the first person in the United States to undergo a full face transplant—will share his story at a press conference at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Wiens will discuss life after the groundbreaking surgery, his journey as a father, and his efforts to support others through the About Face Foundation, which he founded to help individuals affected by facial disfigurement.

His complex procedure, which took over 15 hours and involved more than 30 surgeons and medical specialists, replaced his facial skin, nose, lips, underlying muscles, and nerves responsible for facial movement and sensation.

This remarkable transplant was made possible thanks to the generosity of a donor’s family. Unlike other organ donations, face transplants require direct consent from the donor’s next of kin—registering as an organ donor alone is not enough.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital is a global leader in transplant medicine. Back in 1954, it made history by performing the first successful human organ transplant—a kidney—and has continued to break new ground ever since. Its long list of achievements includes New England’s first heart transplant (1984), Massachusetts’ first heart-lung transplant (1992), the country’s first triple-organ (1995) and five-organ (2004) transplants, and over 30 lung transplants in a single year (2008). In 2006, the hospital hit a major milestone: 100 kidney transplants in one year.

Today, Brigham and Women’s Hospital remains at the forefront of transplant innovation, supported in part by funding from the U.S. Department of Defense as it continues to seek new candidates for facial transplantation.