UNOS DonateLife

February 15, 2011

Center for Transplant System Excellence Names Research Team to Study Future Deceased Donation Potential Nationwide

Eleven experts, representing diverse fields including system dynamics, epidemiology, biostatistics, quantitative geography and behavioral health, have been named as investigators in a national study to determine the future number and trends of potential deceased organ donors in the United States.

The study, expected to be completed in 2012, is the first major initiative of the Center for Transplant System Excellence. The Center was recently formed by United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) to leverage the expertise and capabilities of UNOS staff in collaboration with academic and clinical researchers, nationally and internationally, who share an interest in advancing the field of transplantation.

The study is supported by $1.7 million in funds from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, added to UNOS’ existing contract to manage the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).

Karl McCleary, Ph.D., M.P.H., is the study’s principal investigator. He is Scientific Director of the Center for Transplant System Excellence and Affiliate Assistant Professor in Social and Behavioral Health at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine. His expertise includes organ transplant policy, health systems management, organizational behavior and change, and public health. “We are honored to work with a team of investigators who not only have extensive experience in the field of transplantation but who bring a variety of scientific disciplines assembled for the first time to research donor potential,” said Dr. McCleary.

Gary Hirsch, S.M., is the co-principal investigator. He is the creator of Learning Environments in Wayland, Mass., and an adjunct faculty member with the Division of Health Science and Technology at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has expertise in system dynamics and modeling and healthcare systems management.

Co-investigators include the following:

• L. Ebony Boulware, M.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (expertise in chronic disease epidemiology, organ donation and transplantation, health disparities and health equity and public health)
• Leah B. Edwards, Ph.D., Assistant Director of Research, UNOS (expertise in biostatistics, survival analysis and outcomes research, data registries and organ donation and transplantation)
• Gary King, Ph.D., M.A., Albert J. Weatherhead III University Professor and Director, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University (expertise in quantitative and qualitative social science research and forecasting mortality rates)
• Kevin A. Myer, M.S.H.A., Business Director, Center for Transplant System Excellence, UNOS (expertise in health administration, organ donation and recovery, organ donor registries, organ transplantation and patient safety)
• Michael Reibel, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Geography and Anthropology, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (expertise in quantitative geography and demographics)
• John D. Rosendale, M.S., Senior Performance Analyst, UNOS (expertise in biostatistics, performance of organ procurement organizations, organ donation and transplantation)
• Khalid Saeed, Ph.D., M. Eng., Professor, Economics and System Dynamics, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Mass. (expertise in system dynamics and modeling, governance and innovation)
• Laura Siminoff, Ph.D., M.A., Professor and Theresa A. Thomas Memorial Foundation Chair in Cancer Prevention and Control, Virginia Commonwealth University (expertise in social and behavioral health, organ donation and transplantation, and cancer prevention and control)
• Samuel Soret, Ph.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Occupational Health, Loma Linda University School of Public Health (expertise in health geoinformatics, environmental health and public health)

A private nonprofit organization operating the OPTN under contract with the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, UNOS manages the nation’s organ transplant system and oversees the world’s most comprehensive database of clinical transplant information. UNOS’ staff of 345 employees operates the 24-hour computerized organ sharing system, matching donated organs to patients registered on the national OPTN waiting list. UNOS seeks to increase organ donation through education and improve transplant success rates through outcomes-based research and policymaking. UNOS-developed technology applications are recognized internationally by transplant scientists and health officials as the model for organ sharing.