Date: June 5, 2025
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has announced the new 34-member Board of Directors for the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). This launch of the OPTN Board of Directors advances HRSA’s ongoing efforts to strengthen OPTN governance, mitigate conflicts of interest, and modernize the organ donation, procurement, and transplantation system within the United States.
In accordance with the National Organ Transplantation Act of 1984 (NOTA) and the OPTN Final Rule, the new Board reflects the wide range of experience within the transplant community. All Board members were vetted for independence and adherence to conflict-of-interest policies, with each candidate required to submit disclosure forms as part of their application.
OPTN members voted on the final slate of candidates in two phases:
- Regional Councillor elections were held from May 2 to May 6, 2025
- National elections for the remaining Board seats took place from May 23 to June 2, 2025
Voter turnout showed strong engagement from the OPTN community, with an 83% participation in the national election—a notable increase from the 68% average turnout in national elections over the past three years. The newly elected Board of Directors will officially begin their terms on July 1, 2025.
The new 34-member Board is comprised of:
- 17 (50%) transplant physicians and surgeons
- 4 transplant physicians: 1 cardiologist, 2 nephrologists, 1 hepatologist
- 12 transplant surgeons: 9 abdominal transplant surgeons (3 with pediatric focus), 3 thoracic transplant surgeons
- 1 pediatric transplant specialist
- 9 (26%) transplant recipients, a transplant candidate, organ donors, and family members
- 5 transplant recipients
- 1 living organ donor
- 1 family member of an adult transplant recipient
- 1 family member of a pediatric transplant recipient
- 1 family member of a deceased donor
- 8 (24%) representatives of organ procurement organizations (OPOs), transplant hospitals, voluntary health associations, transplant coordinators, histocompatibility experts, non-physician transplant professionals, and the general public
- 3 OPO representatives
- 1 transplant hospital representative
- 1 voluntary health association representative
- 1 histocompatibility representative
- 1 governance/finance expert
- 1 ethics expert
- Of the 34-person Board, a total of 14 have lived experience as a transplant candidate, transplant recipients, organ donors, and/or family members.
The 11 Associate Regional Councillors are comprised of 10 transplant surgeons/physicians and one OPO representative.
2025 OPTN Board of Directors
Transplant Surgeon and Physician Representatives
Alan Reed, MD, MBA, FACS, Professor and Chief of Transplant and HPB Surgery, Iowa Carver College, Director, Iowa Health Care Organ Transplant Center, and Adjunct Professor of Accounting, Henry B. Tippie School of Management, University of Iowa
Dan Meyer, MD, Chief of Heart Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery, and Chief of Cardiac Transplantation and Advanced Cardiac Circulatory Support, Baylor Scott and White Health – Dallas
Shelley Hall, MD, Chief of Transplant Cardiology, Congestive Heart Failure and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Baylor University Medical Center
Kymberly D. Watt, MD, Medical Director of Liver Transplantation Program, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, and Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic
George Bayliss, MD, Medical Director, Division of Transplantation, Rhode Island Hospital, and Associate Professor of Medicine, Brown University
Joseph Magliocca, MD, Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics, Executive Director of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center, and Surgical Director of Pediatric Liver Transplantation, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Patient, Donor, and Family Member Representatives
John J. Sperzel III, BS, previously Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, T2 Biosystems, Inc.
Gitthaline (Candie) Gagne, USN, HM1 (Ret.), previously Level 3 Surgical Technologist, UPMC McKeesport and Retired U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman
Justin Wilkerson, MBA, Deputy Director of Human Services, Illinois Army National Guard
Peter Nicastro, MS, MBA, previously Finance Director, Cigna
Jen Benson, BA, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of The Transplant Journey Inc. and The Transplant Collective, and Operations Manager, R.L. Bension & Associates, Inc.
James Cason, MA, previously Mayor of Coral Gables, FL, and former U.S. Foreign Service Officer
Cody Reynolds, Father of a Pediatric Transplant Recipient
John Hodges, MA, previously Faculty Research Assistant, Center for Remote Sensing, Department of Geography, Boston University
William (Bill) Ryan, MBA, Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Transplant Life Foundation
Organ Procurement Organization Representatives
Samantha Endicott, MPH, CPTC, Senior Director, Organ Optimization, New England Donor Services
Kevin Lee, MPA, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mid-America Transplant
Note: The third seat resulted in a tie; therefore, a run-off election will be held.
Transplant Hospital Representative
Joshua Gossett, DNP, MBA, RN, FACHE, Director of the Pediatric Transplant Center, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford
Voluntary Health Association Representative
Annette Needham, DNP, NP-C, NEA-BC, CCTC, Transplant Quality Manager, UC Davis Transplant Center; and Secretary, NATCO Board of Directors
Histocompatibility Representative
Cathi Murphey, PhD, MS, Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory Director, Southwest Immunodiagnostics, Inc.
Non-Transplant Professional Representatives
Jerold Mande, MPH, Chief Executive Officer of Nourish Science, Adjunct Professor of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University; guided the development of the original National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) as a legislative assistant in the U.S. House and Senate
Mary E. Homan, DrPH, MA, MSHCE, Mountain Region Vice President of Theology and Ethics, CommonSpirit Health
Regional Councillors
Region 1 Councillor: Nahel Elias, MD, Medical Director for Quality, Division of Transplantation, Massachusetts General Hospital
Region 2 Councillor: Kenneth Chavin, MD, MBA, PhD, Director of Abdominal Organ Transplant, Temple University Health System
Region 3 Councillor: Ari Cohen, MD, MBA, Director, Ochsner Transplant Institute, and Director of Transplant Research and Surgical Director, Liver Transplant Section, Ochsner Health System
Region 4 Councillor: Ryan Davies, MD, Clinical Director of Pediatric Heart Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, and Interim Chief of Pediatric Solid Organ Transplantation, UT Southwestern Medical Center/Children’s Medical Center
Region 5 Councillor: Andrew M. Courtwright, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Utah
Region 6 Councillor: Gina-Marie Barletta, MD, Medical Director, Pediatric Kidney Transplantation, and Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Nephrology, Oregon Health & Science University
Region 7 Councillor: Reynold Lopez-Soler, MD, PhD, Professor of Surgery, Division of Transplant, Loyola University Medical Center, and Section Chief of Renal Transplant, Edward Hines Jr. VA Medical Center
Region 8 Councillor: Mark Wakefield, MD, Director and Primary Surgeon of Renal Transplant Program, University of Missouri Health Care
Region 9 Councillor: Meelie DebRoy, MD, Section Chief, Kidney Transplant, Department of Surgery, Westchester Medical Center
Region 10 Councillor: John C. Magee, MD, Attending Surgeon, Division of Transplantation, Jeremiah & Claire Turcotte Professor of Transplantation Surgery, University of Michigan Health Systems
Region 11 Councillor: Vincent Casingal, MD, Chief, Division of Abdominal Transplant, and Surgical Director, Adult and Pediatric Kidney Transplant, Atrium Health-Carolinas Medical Center
Associate Regional Councillors
Associate Region 1 Councillor: Michael F. Daily, MD, MS, FACS, Section Chief of Transplant and Surgical Director, Solid Organ Transplantation Surgery, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Associate Region 2 Councillor: Michael Marvin, MD, FACS, Professor of Surgery and Chair, Department of Transplantation and Liver Surgery, Geisinger Medical Center
Associate Region 3 Councillor: Kenneth Newell, MD, PhD, Professor of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, and Vice Chair for Academic Affairs, Emory University School of Medicine
Associate Region 4 Councillor: Brad Adams, JD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southwest Transplant Alliance
Associate Region 5 Councillor: Abbas Ardehali, MD, MPH, FACS, Professor of Surgery in the Division of Cardiac Surgery, Vice Chair of Transplantation, William E. Connor Chair in Cardiothoracic Transplantation, and Director of Heart, Lung, & Heart-Lung Transplant Programs, UCLA Medical Center
Associate Region 6 Councillor: Kevin Koomalsingh, MD, Surgical Director, Heart Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Providence St. Vincent’s Medical Center
Associate Region 7 Councillor: Paul A. Stahler III, MD, FACS, Surgical Director, Kidney Transplant Program, Hennepin County Medical Center
Associate Region 8 Councillor: This seat resulted in a tie; therefore, a run-off election will be held.
Associate Region 9 Councillor: Niraj M. Desai, MD, Director, Center for Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation, North Shore University Hospital
Associate Region 10 Councillor: Austin Schenk, MD, PhD, FACS, Quality and Patient Safety Officer, Comprehensive Transplant Center, and Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Transplantation Surgery, Ohio State University
Associate Region 11 Councillor: David Bruno, MD, FACS, Director of Transplant Service Line and Chair of Division of Transplant, Hume-Lee Transplant Center, Virginia Commonwealth University