Chair
Dr. Andrew Flescher
Stony Brook University
The Ethics Committee aims to guide the policies and practices of the OPTN related to organ donation, procurement, distribution, allocation, and transplantation so they are consistent with ethical principles. The Committee makes recommendations to Board of Directors for changing, creating, or eliminating policies if warranted by ethical concerns. The Committee also provides written guidance pertaining to ethical considerations to OPTN members, after approval by the Board of Directors. The Committee does not address individual patient issues or disputes.
Current projects
Review
Implemented
- Ethical Analysis of Normothermic Regional Perfusion
- Ethical Considerations of Continuous Distribution in Organ Allocation (2/2022)
- Transparency in Program Selection (1/2023)
- Revise General Considerations In Assessment for Transplant Candidacy (7/2021)
- Ethical implications of multi organ transplants (1/2019)
- White paper on manipulating waitlist priority (1/2018)
- Living donation by persons with certain fatal diseases (7/2017)
- Ethical considerations of imminent death donation (8/2016)
- Ethics of deceased organ recovery white paper (8/2016)
- Split versus whole liver transplantation white paper (8/2016)
Committee members
Vice Chair
Dr. Sanjay Kulkarni
Yale New Haven Hospital
| Members | Position | End Date | Organization |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Flescher | Chair | 6/30/2027 | Stony Brook University |
| Andrew Courtwright | Visiting Board Member | 6/30/2027 | University of Utah Medical Center |
| Annette Needham | Visiting Board Member | 6/30/2028 | University of California Davis Medical Center |
| Brendan Parent | Region 9 Representative | 6/30/2029 | NUY Langone Health |
| Brian Jackson | Region 8 Representative | 6/30/2029 | University of Colorado Hospital/Health Science Center |
| Brian Childs | Region 3 Representative | 6/30/2029 | General Public Region 3 |
| Gloria Chen | Region 4 Representative | 6/30/2028 | General Public Region 4 |
| Grace Lee-Riddle | Region 2 Representative | 6/30/2027 | Thomas Jefferson University Hospital |
| Joel Wu | Region 7 Representative | 6/30/2028 | General Public Region 7 |
| Laura Jokimaki | At Large | 6/30/2027 | Ascension St. John Hospital |
| Laura Madigan-McCown | At Large | 6/30/2028 | General Public Region 1 |
| Laura Webster | Region 6 Representative | 6/30/2029 | General Public Region 6 |
| Marie Hilliard | At Large | 6/30/2029 | General Public Region 2 |
| Oluwafisayo Adebiyi | Region 10 Representative | 6/30/2028 | General Public Region 10 |
| Robert Truog | At Large | 6/30/2029 | General Public Region 1 |
| Sanjay Kulkarni | Vice Chair | 6/30/2027 | Yale New Haven Hospital |
| Sena Wilson-Sheehan | Region 5 Representative | 6/30/2028 | Mayo Clinic Hospital Arizona |
| Sheila Nichols Bullock | Regional 11 Representative | 6/30/2027 | General Public Region 11 |
- August 21, 2025 Ethics (PDF - 122 KB)
- July 17, 2025 Ethics (PDF - 124 KB)
- June 26, 2025 Ethics (PDF - 147 KB)
- May 15, 2025 Ethics (PDF - 126 KB)
- April 2, 2025 Ethics (PDF - 139 KB)
- March 20, 2025 Ethics (PDF - 118 KB)
- February 20, 2025 Ethics (PDF - 119 KB)
- January 16, 2025 Ethics (PDF - 120 KB)
- December 19, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 134 KB)
- November 21, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 139 KB)
- October 16, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 170 KB)
- September 26, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 116 KB)
- September 19, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 124 KB)
- August 22, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 118 KB)
- August 15, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 144 KB)
- July 18, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 127 KB)
- June 20, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 115 KB)
- May 16, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 119 KB)
- April 18, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 116 KB)
- March 14, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 206 KB)
- February 15, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 179 KB)
- February 1, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 122 KB)
- January 4, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 116 KB)
- December 21, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 115 KB)
- November 16, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 154 KB)
- October 19, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 113 KB)
- October 10, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 187 KB)
- October 5, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 178 KB)
- September 14, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 117 KB)
- August 17, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 124 KB)
- July 20, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 177 KB)
- June 8, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 114 KB)
- May 11, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 118 KB)
- April 20, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 148 KB)
- March 31, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 270 KB)
- March 2, 2023 Ethics - NRP Workgroup (PDF - 168 KB)
- February 16, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 150 KB)
- January 26, 2023 Ethics - NRP Workgroup (PDF - 109 KB)
- January 19, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 191 KB)
- June 2019: Ethical Implications of Multi-Organ Transplants (PDF - 1018 KB)
- December 2016: Guidance on Imminent Death Donation (PDF - 135 KB)
- December 2016: Guidance on Split Versus Whole Liver Transplantation (PDF - 489 KB)
Date Last Reviewed: