Joseph Magliocca, MD, director of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center, has been elected to the 2025 board of directors for the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).
Magliocca, professor of Surgery and Pediatrics, and surgical director of the Pediatric Liver Transplant Program, is among a new, 34-member board that will officially begin their terms on July 1. The board includes transplant physicians and surgeons, transplant recipients, organ donors, family members, representatives of organ procurement organizations and others.
“This new board is a unique opportunity to set policy in the Unites States to improve our transplant system,” said Seth Karp, MD, H. William Scott Jr. Professor of Surgery and chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences. “I can think of no one more thoughtful or knowledgeable to take up this important position at this critical time.”
The OPTN is a unique public-private partnership that links all professionals involved in the U.S. donation and transplantation system. Also crucial to the system are individuals who sign organ donor cards, people who comment on policy proposals and countless volunteers who support donation and transplantation, among many others.
The OPTN works to improve the U.S. organ procurement system so more lifesaving organs are available for transplant. The OPTN is operated under contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by the United Network for Organ Sharing.
“We are excited to have Dr. Magliocca serve on this new board,” said Heather O’Dell, MSN, ANP-BC, MMHC, Executive Director and Associate Operating Officer for the Vanderbilt Transplant Center. “At such a pivotal moment in transplant policy, his experience and insight make him well suited for this important role.”
Magliocca holds the Cindy and Dave Baier Directorship.
