Invited Speakers

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2025

Morgan Giannattasio, Associate Director of Clinical Partnerships
Dr. Bethany Dale, VP of Global Commercialization
PIRCHE

Mandy L. Ford, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Surgery
Scientific Director, Emory Transplant Center
Emory University
Atlanta, GA

Ty S. Diwan, MD
Associate Professor
Division of Transplantation Surgery
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN

Joseph Sushil Rao, MD
Surgical Lead
Pancreatic Islet Cryopreservation, Exogenic Organ Development & Transplant Immunology
Division of Transplantation & Schulze Diabetes Institute, Department of Surgery
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN

Lisa McElroy, MD MS FACS 
Assistant Professor of Surgery and Population Health Sciences
Inaugural Onyekwere E. Akwari Endowed Assistant Professor in Surgery
Duke University School of Medicine
Durham, NC

Elizabeth A. Pomfret, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.S.
Professor of Surgery
Igal Kam, MD Endowed Chair in Transplant Surgery
Chief, Division of Transplantation Surgery
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Aurora, CO

David Taber, PharmD, BCPS
Professor, Division of Transplant Surgery
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, SC

Brian P. Lee, MD MAS
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases
Keck School of Medicine of USC
Los Angeles, CA

Michael M. I. Abecassis, MD, MBA
Dean, College of Medicine
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Professor, Immunobiology
Professor, Surgery
University of Arizona College of Medicine- Tucson
Tucson, AZ

Jesse Schold, PhD
Professor
Department of Epidemiology
Colorado School of Public Health
Aurora, CO

Peter Ubel, MD
Professor of Business, Public Policy, and Medicine at Duke University
Durham, NC

Luke Preczewski
Vice President, Transplant
Miami Transplant Institute
Jackson Health System
Miami, FL

Dianne LaPointe Rudow DNP, ANP-BC, FAAN
Professor
Department of Population Health Science and Policy
Director, Zweig Family Center for Living Donation
Recanati/ Miller Transplant Institute
The Mount Sinai Medical Center
One Gustave L. Levy Place; Box 1104
New York, NY

2023

Kristopher Croome, MD
Professor of Surgery
Mayo Clinic
Jacksonville, FL

Amit K. Mathur, MD
Professor of Surgery
Surgical Director, Liver Transplant Program
Mayo Clinic
Phoenix, AZ

Henri Leuvenink, PhD
CSO of 34 Lives
University of Groningen
Groningen, Netherlands

Nicole Turgeon, MD
Professor of Surgery
Division Chief, Transplant Surgery
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX

Maria B. Majella Doyle, MD
Distinguished Endowed Chair in Abdominal Transplant
Professor of Surgery
Director, Liver Transplant Program
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, MO

James Shapiro, MD
Professor of Surgery
Director, AHS Liver, Living Donor Liver and Islet Transplant Programs
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta

Jeff Orlowski
President and CEO, LifeShare
Oklahoma City, OK

Clark Kensinger, MD
Surgical Director, Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation
Piedmont Atlanta Hospital
Atlanta, GA

Kevin Cmunt
Retired President and CEO
Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network
Itasca, IL

2022

Matthew Cooper, MD
President, United Network for Organ Sharing
Professor of Surgery
Director, Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Washington, DC

Caroline Jadlowiec, MD
Division of Transplant & Hepatobiliary Surgery
Mayo Clinic
Phoenix, AZ

Pal-Dag Line, MD, PhD
Professor of Surgery
Head, Department of Transplantation Medicine
Oslo University Hospital
Oslo, Norway

Dinee Collings Simpson, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Director, African American Transplant Access Program
Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, IL

Allison Tong, MM, MpH, PhD
Professor
University of Sydney School of Public Health
Sydney, Australia

Thierry Berney, MD
Professor of Surgery
Chief, Division of Transplantation
University of Geneva Hospitals
Geneva, Switzerland

Andrew M. Posselt, MD, PhD
Professor of Surgery
Director, Clinical Islet Transplant Program
University of California San Francisco
San Francisco, CA

Peter Reese, MD
Professor of Medicine
Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

Gabriel C. Oniscu, MDS
Consultant Transplant Surgeon and Honorary Reader
Director, Edinburgh Transplant Center
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
Edinburgh, Scotland

Jennifer Lai, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
University of California San Francisco
San Francisco, CA

James Markmann, MD, PhD
Chief, Division of Transplantation
Massachusetts General Transplant Center
Boston, MA

Srinath Chinnakotla, MD
Professor of Surgery
Surgical Director, Liver Transplant Program
Executive Medical Director, Pediatric Abdominal Transplantation
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN

Sunil K. Geevarghese, MD
Associate Professor of Surgery, Biomedical Engineering, Radiology and Radiological Sciences
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, TN

Heidi Yeh, MD
Associate Professor of Surgery
Surgical Director, Pediatric Transplantation
Massachusetts General Transplant Center
Boston, MA

Christina Strong, Esquire
Area of expertise: Organ and Tissue Donation for Transplant, Education, and Research
Law Offices of Christina Woodward Strong, LLC
Belle Mead, NJ

2021

Andrew Cameron, MD, PhD
Chief, Division of Transplantation
Surgical Director of Liver Transplantation
The Johns Hopkins Hospital
Baltimore, MD

John S. Gill, MD
Professor of Medicine
UBC Division of Nephrology
St. Paul’s Hospital
Vancouver, B.C., Canada

Deepali Kumar, MD
Professor of Medicine
Transplant Infectious Diseases & Multi Organ Transplant Program
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Daniel Brennan, MD
Professor of Medicine
Medical Director, Comprehensive Transplant Center
The Johns Hopkins Hospital
Baltimore, MD

Sundaram Hariharan, MD
Professor of Medicine and Surgery
Medical Director, Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation,
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Pittsburgh, PA

Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH
Professor of Surgery
Director, Health Services Research Center
Emory University School of Medicine
Atlanta, GA

Andrea Schlegel, MD
Transplant/HPB Surgeon
Careggi University Hospital
Florence, Italy 

David C Mulligan, MD
Professor and Chair, Division of Transplantation and Immunology
President, United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
Yale University School of Medicine
New Haven, CT

Howard M. Gebel, Ph.D.
Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Co-Director, Histocompatibility and Molecular Immunogenetics Laboratory
Emory University Hospital
Atlanta, GA

Sandy Feng, MD, PhD
Professor of Surgery
Vice Chair of Research
University of California San Francisco
San Francisco, CA

Markus Selzner, MD
Professor of Surgery
Surgical Director, Liver Transplant Program
Toronto General Hospital
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Parsia A. Vagefi, MD
Professor of Surgery
Chief, Division of Surgical Transplantation
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, TX

2020

Yolanda T. Becker, MD
Professor of Surgery
Director, Kidney & Pancreas program
University of Chicago Medicine
Chicago, IL

Garet Hil, Founder & CEO
National Kidney Registry
Babylon, NY

Leigh Anne Dageforde, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Massachusetts General Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA

Anil K. Chandraker, MD, MBChB
Associate Professor of Medicine
Medical Director, Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA

David Axelrod, MD, MBA
Professor of Surgery
Surgical Director, Kidney/Pancreas/Living Donor Transplantation
University of Iowa Organ Transplant Center
Iowa City, IA

Dr. Joseph Scalea
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Director, Pancreas and Islet Cell Transplantation
University of Maryland Transplant Center
Baltimore, MD

Dr. Marwan Abouljoud
Professor of Surgery
Chief, Division of Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery
Henry Ford Transplant Institute
Detroit, MI

2019

Giuliano Testa, MD
Chief, Abdominal Transplant Program
Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute
Baylor University Medical Center
Dallas, TX

Shafique Keshavjee, MD
Professor of Thoracic Surgery
University Health Network, TGH
Toronto, Ontario
Canada

Stuart Knechtle, MD
Mary and Deryl Hart Professor of Surgery
Duke University School of Medicine
Durham, NC

Joseph Tector, MD, PhD
Director, Xenotransplant Program
University of Alabama, Birmingham
Birmingham, AL

Enver Akalin, MD
Professor Medicine and Surgery
Medical Director, Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program
Montefiore Medical Center
Bronx, NY

Christian Larsen, MD, PhD
Carlos and Marguerite Mason Professor of Transplantation
Associate Director, Emory Transplant Center
Atlanta, GA

Stanley Jordan, MD
Director, Nephrology & Transplant Immunology
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
West Hollywood, CA

William Baldwin, MD, PhD
Department of Immunology
Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, OH

2018

Edward Geissler, PhD
Professor
Head of Experimental Surgey
University of Regensburg
Regensburg, Germany

Allan Kirk, MD, PhD
David C. Sabiston, Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chair
Department of Surgery
Duke University School of Medicine
Durham, NC
Organ Transplantation and Federal Immigration Reform

David Goldberg, MD, MSCE
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Medical Director for Living Donor Liver Transplantation
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

Garth Warnock, MD, MSc, FRCSC
Charles Nanby Woodward Professor
Department of Surgery
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia

Gaurav Gupta, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Division of Nephrology
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA

Gavin Pettigrew, MB, ChB
Reader in Clinical and Experimental Transplantation
Department of Surgery
University of Cambridge
Cambridge, England

Ian McGilvray, MD, FRCSC, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
University of Toronto
Ontario, Canada

James Markmann, MD, PhD
Chief, Division of Transplantation
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA

Jean Emond, MD
Thomas S. Zimmer Professor of Surgery
Chief of Transplantation Services
Columbia University
New York, NY

John Friedewald, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine & Surgery
Divisions of Nephrology/Hypertension & Organ Transplantation
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, IL

Julie Heimbach, MD
Professor of Surgery
Surgical Director of Liver Transplantation
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
Rochester, MN

Kenneth Andreoni, MD
Professor of Transplant Surgery
University of Florida Health
Gainesville, FL

Laura Gonzalez Bosc, PhD
Professor, Cell Biology & Physiology
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM

Mark Haas, MD, PhD
Professor, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Los Angeles, CA

Sue Dunn, President & CEO
Donor Alliance
Denver, CO

Peter Nickerson, MD
Vice-Dean Research
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Ulf Meier-Kreische, MD
Chief Scientific Officer
Veloxis Pharmaceuticals
Cary,NC

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2017

Timothy Pruett, MD
Professor and Chief, Division of Transplantation
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Organ Transplantation: The View from 30,000 Feet

Jayme Locke, MD, MPH, FACS
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Division of Transplantation
Director, Incompatible Kidney Transplant and Kidney Paired Donation Programs
Director, CTI Outcomes Research Center
Director, Transplant Analytics, Informatics & Quality
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Increasing Access to Kidney Transplantation: Novel Strategies to Expand Living Donation

Andrew Adams, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Emory Transplant Center
Atlanta, Geoargia
Next Generation Costimulation Blockade and Xenotransplantation

David C. Mulligan, MD, FACS
Professor of Surgery (Transplant)
Section Chief, Transplantation and Immunology
Yale Transplant Center
New Haven Connecticut
Update on Liver Allocation and Distribution

James R. Rodrigue, PhD
Professor of Surgery
Vice Chair, Clinic Research
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Boston, Massachusetts
Strategies for Safely Expanding Live Donor Kidney Transplantation

Koray Acarli, MD
Professor of Transplant Surgery
Memorial Sisli Hastanesi
Istanbul, Turkey
How has Live Donor liver transplantation influenced the treatment of HCC?

William Bracamonte-Baran, MD, PhD
Johns Hopkins University – School of Medicine
Department of Pathology – Division of Immunology
Autoimmune Disease Research Center
Baltimore, Maryland
Unique Properties of Cardiac Innate Lymphoid Cells: Transplantation and Autoimmunity Perspectives

Alan Reed, MD MBA FACS
Professor and Chief, Transplant and HPB Surgery
Director, UI Organ Transplant Center
Adjunct Professor of Accounting, Henry B. Tippie College of Business
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
Iowa City, Iowa
Medicare’s Post-SGR Reform (QPP) And Its Impact on Solid Organ Transplantation

Bruce Kaplan, MD
Raleigh R White Professor and Vice President
Baylor Scott and White Health
Temple , Texas
Biomarkers in Transplant: Random Thoughts

Nir Uriel, MD
Louis Block Professor in Medicine
Director, Heart Failure, Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support
The University of Chicago Medicine
Chicago, Illinois
Allomap

Joe Sinacore
Director of Education and Development
National Kidney Registry
Babylon, New York
National Kidney Registry