2017 board members and committee leadership named

Published on: Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Richmond, Va.  -- Members of the national organ donation and transplantation community have elected 17 members to the OPTN/UNOS board of directors, including a new president, vice-president/president-elect and treasurer.  United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) serves as the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) under federal contract. 

All board members are volunteers and serve terms ranging from one to three years, depending on the office to which they are elected. Their terms of service begin on July 1, 2017.

Yolanda Becker, M.D., currently the Vice President/President-Elect, will assume the presidency. She is a professor of surgery and director of kidney and pancreas transplantation at University of Chicago Medicine.

Sue Dunn, RN, B.S.N., M.B.A., will become the Vice President/President-Elect. She is president and chief executive officer of Donor Alliance in Denver.

David Reich, M.D., FACS, will become the Treasurer. He is professor and chief of the division of multiorgan transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery at Drexel University College of Medicine and Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia.

Other newly elected members are as follows:

Immediate Past President – Stuart Sweet, M.D., Ph.D., St. Louis Children’s Hospital

Region 1 Councillor – Stefan Tullius, M.D., Ph.D., Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Region 2 Councillor – Matthew Cooper, M.D., Georgetown University Medical Center

Region 7 Councillor – Srinath Chinnakotla, M.D., University of Minnesota Medical Center

Region 8 Councillor – Timothy Schmitt, M.D., FACS, University of Kansas Hospital

Region 10 Councillor – Todd Pesavento, M.D., Ohio State University Medical Center

Region 11 Councillor – Kenneth Brayman, M.D., Ph.D., University of Virginia Health System

Minority Transplant Professional Representative – Akinlolu Ojo, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., M.B.A., University of Arizona Health

At Large OPO Representative - Charles Alexander, RN, M.B.A., The Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland

Histocompatibility Representative – John Schmitz, Ph.D., Histocompatibility Laboratory at UNC Hospitals

Transplant Coordinator Representative – F. Danyel Gooch, M.S.N., RN, CCTC, Indiana University Health

Patient and Donor Affairs Representatives:

• William Freeman, M.D., M.P.H.
• Macey Henderson, J.D., Ph.D.
• Tara Storch

In addition, appointments have been completed for new chair and vice chair positions on OPTN/UNOS committees, effective July 1, 2017.  Committee chairs and vice chairs are volunteers, appointed by the incoming Board President. Their terms last two to three years, depending on the committee on which they serve.  The following individuals will either continue their appointment or begin their new term in July 2017:

Ad Hoc Disease Transmission Advisory Committee

• Cameron Wolfe, M.D., M.B.B.S., M.P.H., FIDSA (Chair), Duke University Medical Center
• Marian Michaels, M.D., M.P.H. (Vice Chair), Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

Ad Hoc International Relations Committee

• Susan Gunderson, M.H.A. (Chair), LifeSource
• Kishore Iyer, M.B.B.S., FRCS, FACS (Vice Chair), Mount Sinai Medical Center

Data Advisory Committee

• Maryl Johnson, M.D. (Chair), University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics
• Sandy Feng, M.D. (Vice Chair), UCSF Medical Center
• S. Joseph Kim, M.D. (Vice Chair), Toronto General Hospital

Ethics Committee

• Elisa Gordon, Ph.D., M.P.H. (Chair), Northwestern Memorial Hospital
• Keren Ladin, Ph.D., M.S. (Vice Chair), Tufts University

Histocompatibility Committee

• Robert Bray, Ph.D., D(ABHI) (Chair), Emory University Hospital
• Cathi Murphey, Ph.D., HCLD/CC(ABB) (Vice Chair), Southwest Immunodiagnostics

Kidney Transplantation Committee

• Nicole Turgeon, M.D. (Chair), Emory University Hospital
• Vincent Casingal M.D. (Vice Chair), Carolinas Medical Center

Liver and Intestinal Organ Transplantation Committee

• Julie Heimbach, M.D. (Chair), Mayo Clinic, Rochester
• James Trotter, M.D. (Vice Chair), Baylor University Medical Center

Living Donor Committee

• Krista Lentine, M.D., Ph.D. (Chair), St. Louis University Hospital
• Randolph Schaffer III, M.D. (Vice Chair), Scripps Green Hospital

Membership and Professional Standards Committee

• Jeffrey Orlowski, M.S., CPTC (Chair), LifeShare Transplant Donor Services
• John Friedewald, M.D. (Vice Chair), Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Minority Affairs Committee

• Sylvia Rosas, M.D., MSCE (Chair), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• Irene Kim, M.D. (Vice Chair), Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Operations and Safety Committee

• David Marshman, B.S., CPTC (Chair), LifeLink of Georgia
• Michael Marvin, M.D., FACS (Vice Chair), Geisinger Medical Center

Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) Committee

• Jennifer Prinz, RN, B.S.N., M.P.H., CPTC (Chair), Donor Alliance
• Diane Brockmeier, RN, B.S.N., M.A. (Vice Chair), Mid-America Transplant Services

Pancreas Transplantation Committee

• Jon Odorico, M.D. (Chair), University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics
• Silke Niederhaus, M.D. (Vice Chair), University of Maryland Medical System

Patient Affairs Committee

• Kristie Lemmon, M.B.A. (Chair), General Public
• Darnell Waun, RN, M.S.N. (Vice Chair), University Health System

Pediatric Transplantation Committee

• William Mahle, M.D. (Chair), Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
• George Mazariegos, M.D. (Vice Chair), Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

Policy Oversight Committee

• Jennifer Milton, B.S.N., CCTC, M.B.A. (Chair), University Hospital
• Elizabeth Pomfret, M.D., Ph.D. (Vice Chair), University of Colorado Hospital

Thoracic Organ Transplantation Committee

• Kevin Chan, M.D. (Chair), University of Michigan Health System
• Ryan Davies, M.D. (Vice Chair), Alfred I. duPont Hosp for Children 

Transplant Administrators Committee

• James Pittman, RN, M.S.N. (Chair), HCA
• Nancy Metzler (Vice Chair), Strong Memorial Hospital

Transplant Coordinators Committee

• Sarah Nicholas, B.S.N., RN, CCTC (Chair), Methodist Dallas Medical Center
• Sharon Klarman, RN-BC, B.S.N., CCTC (Vice Chair), Yale New Haven Hospital

Vascularized Composite Allograft Transplantation Committee

• L. Scott Levin, M.D., FACS (Chair), Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
• Linda Cendales, M.D. (Vice Chair), Duke University Hospital

United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) serves as the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) by contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Division of Transplantation. The OPTN brings together medical professionals, transplant recipients and donor families to develop national organ transplantation policy.