April 7, 2000
Smithsonian Institute Honors UNOS Life-Saving Technology
Richmond, Va. - The Smithsonian Institute recently recognized the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)'s life-saving organ matching system by incorporating it into the Permanent Research Collection on Information Technology.
The collection is a comprehensive anthology of significant achievement and innovation over the past decade, which have made substantial contributions to the advancement of the dynamic world of information technology.
"We are honored to be recognized by this prestigious institution and to be included in this exclusive collection of innovative technology applications," said Walter K. Graham, UNOS executive director. "UNOS' mission is highly dependent upon its leading-edge information technology. Our commitment to developing and implementing the most advanced capabilities has paid off. Thousands of lives are saved annually through organ transplantation using our organ matching system."
UNOS' new organ matching system, called UNet sm, began operating last winter and enables transplant professionals to share essential medical information instantaneously over the Internet when minutes make a life-saving difference.
John Chambers, president and chief executive officer of Cisco Systems, nominated UNOS for inclusion into the collection. UNOS was one of 440 organizations in 21 countries to become a permanent part of the collection.
"The primary source material submitted by UNOS will enrich the National Museum of American History's growing collection on the history of information technology, and contribute significantly to the museum's on-going efforts to chronicle the Information Age," said Spencer Crew, director of the National Museum of American History.
UNOS maintains the U.S. organ transplant waiting list and brings together medical professionals, transplant recipients and donor families to develop organ allocation policy under contract with the Health Resources and Services Agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. UNOS also collects, analyzes, and publishes more data on a single field of medicine than any other U.S. organization.
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