Ethics Committee

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

Chair

Dr. Andrew Flescher
University Hospital of State University
of New York at Stony Brook

Vice Chair

Dr. Sanjay Kulkarni
Yale New Haven Hospital

Liaison

Emily Ward
UNOS Employee
emily.ward@unos.org

MembersOrganizationPositionEnd Term Date
Dr. Oluwafisayo O AdebiyiIndiana University HealthRegion 10 Representative6/30/2028
Ms. Sheila Nichols BullockGeneral Public Region 11Region 11 Representative6/30/2027
Gloria ChenGeneral Public Region 4Region 4 Representative6/30/2028
Jennifer DillonGeneral Public Region 9Region 9 Representative6/30/2026
Laura J JokimakiAscension St. John HospitalAt Large6/30/2027
Dr. Grace S Lee-RiddleThomas Jefferson University HospitalRegion 2 Representative6/30/2027
Laura Madigan-McCownGeneral Public Region 1At Large6/30/2028
Lisa A PaolilloNew England Organ BankRegion 1 Representative6/30/2027
Lois ShepherdUniversity of Virginia Health Sciences CenterAt Large6/30/2026
Dr. Robert D TruogGeneral Public Region 1At Large6/30/2026
Ms. Megan UrbanskiEmory University HospitalRegion 3 Representative6/30/2026
Ms. Felicia Wells-WilliamsLegacy of Life HawaiiRegion 6 Representative6/30/2026
Dr. Matthew B WilkinsonSt Luke's Hospital of Kansas CityRegion 8 Representative6/30/2026
Ms. Sena A Wilson-SheehanMayo Clinic Hospital ArizonaRegion 5 Representative6/30/2028
Joel WuGeneral Public Region 7Region 7 Representative6/30/2028
Date Last Reviewed: