Find answers to FAQs about the OPTN Board of Directors.
In May, the OPTN held an election for Officers of the Board of Directors. This year’s ballot included candidates for the Secretary and the Vice President of Patient and Donor Affairs, who, per the OPTN Bylaws are elected in even-numbered years. The next election for Treasurer will occur in an odd-numbered year, in Spring 2027.
The Board of Directors ratified the results at the Ad Hoc Board meeting on June 5. Individuals elected as Secretary and Vice President of Patient and Donor Affairs began their terms on July 1, 2026.
| Board Officer Position | Nominees |
|---|---|
| Secretary | Kymberly D. Watt, MD, Medical Director of Living Donor Liver Transplant Program, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, and Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic |
| Vice President of Patient and Donor Affairs | William (Bill) Ryan, MBA, {incumbent} Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Transplant Life Foundation; Family Member of a Deceased Donor |
Please submit any questions to OPTNBoardSupport@air.org.
Members of the public also have the opportunity to provide comments to the OPTN Board of Directors. Email the OPTN for further instructions on how to submit a comment. Submissions will be accepted up to two business days prior to the meeting date.
President
John Magee
Professor of Surgery, Section of Transplantation
Univ of Michigan Med Ctr
Ann Arbor, MI
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
Vice President
Shelley Hall
Chief, Transplant Cardiology, Mechanical Circulatory Support and Advanced Heart Failure
Baylor University Medical Center
Dallas, TX
End Term Date: June 30, 2028
Vice President for Patient/Donor Affairs
William Ryan
President and Chief Executive Officer, Transplant Life Foundation
General Public Region 10
Rockville, MD
End Term Date: June 30, 2028
Secretary
Kymberley Watt
Medical Director, Living Donor Liver Transplant Program, Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic Hospital Minnesota
Rochester, MN
End Term Date: June 30, 2028
Treasurer
Alan Reed
Professor & Chief, Transplant and HPB Surgery; Director, Organ Transplant Center
The University of Iowa Hospitals
Iowa City, IA
End Term Date: June 30, 2028
Region 1 Councillor
Nahel Elias
Surgical Director, Renal Transplantation; Medical Director for Quality, Transplant Surgery
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA
End Term Date June 30, 2027
Region 2 Councillor
Kenneth Chavin
Director, Abdominal Organ Transplant; Professor and Vice Chair of Research, Department of Surgery
Temple Univ Hospital
Philadelphia, PA
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
Region 3 Councillor
Ari Cohen
Director, Transplant Institute
Ochsner Foundation Hospital
New Orleans, LA
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
Region 4 Councillor
Ryan Davies
Clinical Director, Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery; Chief, Pediatric Solid Organ Transplant
Children's Med Ctr of Dallas
Dallas, TX
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
Region 5 Councillor
Andrew Courtwright
Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Medicine
Univ of Utah Medical Center
Salt Lake City, UT
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
Region 6 Councillor
Gina-Marie Barletta
Medical Director, Pediatric Kidney Transplant
Oregon Health and Science University
Portland, OR
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
Region 7 Councillor
Reynold Lopez-Soler
Director, Renal Transplant Program; Professor of Surgery, Section of Intra-Abdominal Transplantation
Loyola Univ Med Center
Maywood, IL
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
Region 8 Councillor
Mark Wakefield
Professor of Surgery/Urology
Univ of Missouri Hosp and Clinic
Columbia, MO
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
Region 9 Councillor
Meelie DebRoy
Chief of Kidney Transplantation
Westchester Medical Center
Valhalla, NY
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
Region 10 Councillor
Austin Schenk
Quality and Patient Safety Officer, Comprehensive Transplant Center; Associate Professor of Surgery
Ohio State Univ Med Ctr
Atlanta, GA
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
Region 11 Councillor
Vincent Casingal
Chief, Division of Abdominal Transplant; Surgical Director, Adult and Pediatric Kidney Transplant
Carolinas Medical Center
Charlotte, NC
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
Histocompatibility Representative
Cathi Murphey
Director, Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory
Southwest Immunodiagnostics
San Antonio, TX
End Term Date: June 30, 2028
Medical/Scientific Organization Representative
Annette Needham
Transplant Quality Manager
UC Davis Medical Center
Sacramento, CA
End Term Date: June 30, 2028
At Large
George Bayliss
Medical Director, Kidney Transplantation, Division of Organ Transplantation
Rhode Island Hospital
Providence, RI
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
At Large
Jen Benson
Chief Executive Officer and Founder, The Transplant Journey
General Public Region 1
Wilton, CT
End Term Date: June 30, 2028
At Large
James Cason
General Public Region 3
Rockville, MD
End Term Date: June 30, 2028
At Large
Samantha Endicott
Senior Director, Organ Optimization
New England Organ Bank
Waltham, MA
End Term Date: June 30, 2028
At Large
Gitthaline Gagne
General Public Region 2
Rockville, MD
End Term Date: June 30, 2029
At Large
Joshua Gossett
Director, Pediatric Transplant Center
Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hosp
Palo Alto, CA
End Term Date: June 30, 2028
At Large
John Hodges
Living Unrelated Kidney Donor; Moderator, Living Donors Online
General Public Region 1
Cambridge, MA
End Term Date: June 30, 2029
At Large
Mary Homan
VP, Theology & Ethics, Commonspirit Health
General Public Region 7
Rockville, MD
End Term Date: June 30, 2029
At Large
Darren Lahrman
Executive Director
LifeLink of Florida
Tampa, FL
End Term Date: June 30, 2028
At Large
Kevin Lee
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mid-America Transplant Svcs
St. Louis, MO
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
At Large
Joseph Magliocca
Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics; Executive Medical Director, Vanderbilt Transplant Center
Vanderbilt Univ Med Ctr
Nashville, TN
End Term Date: June 30, 2028
At Large
Jerold Mande
Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University
General Public Region 2
Rockville, MD
End Term Date: June 30, 2028
At Large
Dan Meyer
Chair, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery
Baylor University Medical Center
Dallas, TX
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
At Large
Steven Weitzen
General Public Region 2
Randolph, NJ
End Term Date: June 30, 2029
At Large
Cody Reynolds
General Public Region 4
Tishomingo, OK
End Term Date: June 30, 2029
At Large
John Sperzel, III
Chief Executive Officer
General Public Region 1
North Attleborough, MA
End Term Date: June 30, 2028
Ex Officio (non voting)
Stephanie Grosser
Senior Advisor
Division of Transplantation, HHS
Rockville, MD
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
Ex Officio (non voting)
Raymond Lynch
Organ Transplantation Branch Chief
Division of Transplantation, HHS
Rockville, MD
End Term Date: June 30, 2027
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