Nominees Chosen for 2021 Board of Directors Election
Published on: Monday, December 7, 2020
The following slate of nominees was approved in December by the Board of Directors for the annual Board election. The ballot for the national Board of Directors election will be open January 13-27, 2021. Learn more about the nominees here. Only designated voting representatives of members with voting privileges and member electors may cast a vote in the annual Board election. Designated voting representatives for each member organization and member individuals will receive emailed instructions for casting their vote from elections@unos.org in January 2021.
The Board slate is developed in alignment with the Nominating Committee’s annual needs assessment, identifying the key skill sets, expertise, and perspectives most needed in the coming year. The Nominating Committee also ensures that Board composition is compliant with OPTN bylaws as well as regulatory requirements. Membership on the Board of Directors is open to transplant professionals and members of the general public alike.
FAQs
Anyone who wishes to serve on the Board of Directors must first apply by completing a Volunteer Interest Form each cycle they wish to be considered. Once your form is submitted, there are three ways to become a nominee to the Board:
- Through the Board’s Nominating Committee: The Board Nominating Committee selects nominees Officer, At Large and Patient & Donor Affairs positions. These nominees compete in the national election on contested ballot positions.
- Through your Regional Nominating Committee: Each OPTN Region’s Nominating Committee selects nominees to participate in a regional election for Associate Regional Councillor/Regional Councillor-Elect. Associate Councillors serve a two-year term to the MPSC before participating in the national membership election on an uncontested ballot position for Regional Councillor to the Board of Directors.
- Via a Medical/Scientific Society: Five professional transplantation societies select nominees from their membership to participate in the national election on uncontested ballot positions.
- The American Society of Transplantation (AST)
- The American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS)
- The Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO)
- The American Society for Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics (ASHI) or The College of American Pathologists (CAP)
- NATCO
For more information about the OPTN Board of Directors, visit https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/members/get-involved/.
Only designated voting representatives of OPTN members with voting privileges and member electors may cast a vote in the annual Board election. Complete details on voting privileges are outlined in OPTN Bylaw 1.1.B. You may request the name of your organization’s designated voting representative by contacting elections@unos.org.
Membership categories with voting privileges are:
- Transplant hospital members (one vote per hospital)
- OPO members (one vote per OPO)
- Histocompatibility laboratory members (one vote per independent laboratory)
- Medical/scientific members (one vote per member)
- Public organization members (No more than 12, cast by public organization member electors)
- Individual members (No more than 12, cast by public organization member electors)
Nominees
| Board Position | Candidate(s) |
|---|---|
| President (vote for one) |
Matthew Cooper, M.D., FACS MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute |
| Vice President/President-Elect (vote for one) |
Christie Thomas, M.B., FASN, FAST University of Iowa Jerry McCauley, M.D., M.P.H. Thomas Jefferson University |
| Treasurer (vote for one) |
Bradley Kornfeld, J.D. Kornfeld Real Estate LLC Kathy Schwab, B.S.N., RN Mayo Clinic |
| Immediate Past President (vote for one) |
David Mulligan, M.D., FACS, FAASLD, FAST Yale New Haven Health System |
| Regional Councillors (vote for seven) |
|
| Region 1 | Richard Formica, M.D. Yale New Haven Health System |
| Region 2 | Adam Frank, M.D. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital |
| Region 7 | Edward Hollinger, M.D., Ph.D. Rush University Medical Center |
| Region 8 | Clifford Miles, M.D., FAST University of Nebraska Medical Center |
| Region 9 | Maryjane Farr, M.D., M.Sc. Columbia University, New York Presbyterian Hospital |
| Region 10 | Jonathan Fridell, M.D., FACS Indiana University School of Medicine |
| Region 11 | David Gerber, M.D. University of North Carolina |
| Minority Transplant Professional (vote for one) |
Errol Bush, M.D., FACS Johns Hopkins University Irene Kim, M.D, FACS Cedars-Sinai Medical Center |
| OPO Representative (vote for one) |
Jan Finn, RN, M.S.N., CPTC Midwest Transplant Network |
| At Large Patient and Donor Affairs Representative (vote for one) |
James Sharrock, J.D. Ted Gordon, M.B.A., J.D. |
| At Large Patient and Donor Affairs Representative (vote for one) |
Kelly Willenberg, D.B.A., RN, CHRC, CHC, CCRC Laurel Avery |
| At Large Patient and Donor Affairs Representative (vote for one) |
Melissa McQueen Nikita Patel, CISSP |
| At Large Patient and Donor Affairs Representative (vote for one) |
Christopher Woody Stephanie Little, M.S.W., LMSW |
| At-Large Non-M.D. Representative (vote for one) |
Andrea Tietjen, CPA, M.B.A. St. Barnabas Medical Center James Pittman, RN, M.S.N. HCA Healthcare |
| Transplant Coordinator Representative (vote for one) |
Gail Stendahl, DNP, APNP, CCTC Children’s Wisconsin |
| Histocompatibility Representative (vote for one) |
Chang Liu, M.D., Ph.D. HLA Laboratory, Barnes-Jewish Hospital Annette Jackson, Ph.D. Duke University |