Special Election Update: Announcement of election dates
Published on: Tuesday, April 29, 2025
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Transitional Nominating Committee (TNC) announce the upcoming regional and national elections for the OPTN Board of Directors. OPTN members will vote on the final slate of candidates in two phases: (1) an election for the 11 Regional Councillors, to be held from May 2, 2025, through May 6, 2025; and (2) a national election for the remaining Board seats, to be held from May 27, 2025, through June 2, 2025. A separate ballot question for Associate Regional Councillors will be included in the regional section of the national ballot.
The formation of the new Board is a key part of the OPTN Modernization Initiative designed to modernize the nation’s organ transplant system to improve transparency, performance, governance, and efficiency for more than the 100,000 people on the organ transplant waitlist. The OPTN Board is the governing body that oversees and participates in policy development for OPTN operations. The Board is responsible for oversight of organ allocation policies, OPTN membership criteria, and OPTN management and membership policies.
The application period was open from March 3, 2025, through April 4, 2025, and select applicants are being invited to participate in interviews on a rolling basis. The TNC received a total of 300 applications, including:
- 182 (61%) organ transplant professionals (e.g., transplant surgeons; transplant physicians; and representatives of organ procurement organizations, transplant hospitals, voluntary health organizations, transplant coordinators, and non-physician transplant professionals);
- 46 (15%) individuals with lived transplant experience (i.e., transplant candidates, transplant recipients, organ donors, family members of transplant recipient, family members of deceased donor);
- 27 (9%) non-transplant professionals (e.g., professionals from law, theology, ethics, health care, public health, social and behavioral sciences, and labor and management unrelated to health care).
- 20 (7%) organ transplant professionals with lived organ transplant experience;
- 15 (5%) non-transplant professionals with lived experience; and
- 10 (3%) individuals who are organ transplant and non-transplant professionals.
Learn more about the Special Election
Regional nominees
The TNC recommended a slate of candidates to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who approved the following regional nominees for the national election. The ballot for the election of Regional Councillors will be open from 8 a.m. ET on May 2, 2025, to 5 p.m. ET on May 6, 2025. Those elected as Regional Councillors to the Board will begin their terms on July 1, 2025.
Personal statements for the Regional Councillor nominees are now available on the OPTN Special Election web page. Designated representatives of members with voting privileges may only cast one vote for nominees in their region.
| OPTN Region | Nominee(s) |
|---|---|
| Region 1 (CT, Eastern VT, ME, MA, NH, RI) (vote for one) |
Devin Eckhoff, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Nahel Elias, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital |
| Region 2 (DE, DC, MD, NJ, PA, WV) (vote for one) |
Kenneth Chavin, MD, MBA, PhD, Temple University Health System Stephen Gray, MD, MPH, George Washington University |
| Region 3 (AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, MS, PR) (vote for one) |
Ari Cohen, MD, MBA, Ochsner Health System David Goldberg, MD, MS, University of Miami |
| Region 4 (OK, TX) (vote for one) |
Ryan Davies, MD, UT Southwestern Medical Center/Children's Medical Center Shelley Hall, MD, Baylor University Medical Center |
| Region 5 (AZ, CA, NV, NM, UT) (vote for one) |
Abbas Ardehali, MD, MS, MPH, UCLA Medical Center Andrew Courtwright, MD, PhD, University of Utah Hospital |
| Region 6 (AK, HI, ID, MT, OR, WA) (vote for one) |
Gina-Marie Barletta, MD, Oregon Health and Science University Kevin Koomalsingh, MD, Providence St Vincent’s Medical Center |
| Region 7 (IL, MN, ND, SD, WI) (vote for one) |
Reynold Lopez-Soler, MD, PhD, Edward Hines Jr. VA Medical Center Kymberly D. Watt, MD, Mayo Clinic |
| Region 8 (CO, IA, KS, MO, NE, WY) (vote for one) |
Kevin Lee, MPA, Mid-America Transplant Mark Wakefield, MD, University of Missouri Health Care |
| Region 9 (NY, Western VT) (vote for one) |
Meelie DebRoy, MD, Westchester Medical Center Deirdre Sawinski, MD, Weill Cornell Medical College |
| Region 10 (IN, MI, OH) (vote for one) |
Paul Lange, MD, Ascension Borgess Hospital John Magee, MD, University of Michigan Health Systems |
| Region 11 (KY, NC, SC, Southern OH, TN, VA) (vote for one) |
Vincent Casingal, MD, Atrium Health-Carolinas Medical Center Malay Shah, MD, University of Kentucky |
How to participate in the election for Regional Councillors
- OPTN members with voting privileges will be able to vote virtually for candidates in their respective region between May 2, 2025, and May 6, 2025. These OPTN members will receive an email on May 2, 2025, with instructions on how to cast their vote.
How to participate in the national election for the Board of Directors
- Personal statements for Board candidates and Associate Regional Councillor candidates for your region will be posted for review ahead of time.
- OPTN members with voting privileges will be able to vote virtually for candidates between May 27, 2025, and June 2, 2025. These OPTN members will receive an email on May 27, 2025, with instructions on how to cast their vote.
Please submit questions to OPTNBoardSupport@air.org.