Dr. John Magee, Transplant Surgeon with Deep Understanding of the Organ Donation and Transplantation Ecosystem, will Chair The Alliance’s Board of Directors in 2024

Nationally recognized transplant leader Dr. John Magee, Professor of Surgery at the University of Michigan, has an appreciation for all aspects of the donation and transplantation ecosystem. He plans to put that understanding to work as the 2024 Chair of the Board of Directors of the Organ Donation and Transplantation Alliance (The Alliance).

“This will be an important year for the donation and transplantation community, and we will need to continue to work collaboratively to address change,” says Dr. Magee. “The Alliance does an exceptional job of reaching out to different people and incorporating members from across the donation and transplantation ecosystem into conversations about critical issues facing our field. Continuing those collaborative conversations this year will be paramount.”

Dr. Magee says he gained his understanding of the many perspectives and stakeholders across the donation and transplantation continuum through his decades of leadership in national organizations such as the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) and the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease. He served as chair of the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan Board of Directors from 2018-2020 and he currently serves on the board of Gift of Life Michigan.

He has also a long record of involvement with The Alliance, having served on its Board of Directors since 2011 and previously serving as chair from 2017-19. He began his service with The Alliance on the Leadership and Innovation Council, which he later chaired, and has served on The Alliance’s strategic planning committee and on the planning committee for the 2022 National Critical Issues Forum. He is Co-Chair of The Alliance’s March 2024 National Collaborative Forum: “Developing National NRP Standards and Approaches.”

“John has a strong understanding of the mission and values of The Alliance,” says Executive Director Karri Hobson-Pape. ”He’s a big thinker and approaches everything from a systemic perspective and is a problem-solver. His experience and leadership in the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and in leading critical discussions at The Alliance has honed his appreciation for all aspects of the donation and transplantation continuum.”

Dr. Magee is the Jeremiah and Claire Turcotte Professor of Transplant Surgery in the University of Michigan Department of Surgery, professor of internal medicine and pediatrics, and the surgical director for Pediatric Abdominal Transplantation. He previously served as the Director of the University of Michigan Transplant Center as well as the Head of the Section of Transplant Surgery. In addition to clinical work in kidney, pancreas, and liver transplantation, Dr. Magee has been funded by the National Institute of Health for over 20 years.

“We have to be open to other ideas and other ways of doing things and thinking about how to do things best,” says Dr. Magee. “Transformative change can be difficult. In organ donation and transplantation, there are many amazing people involved and you see that any time you visit a donor at a hospital. You get to interact with the hospital staff, the OPO staff, and other transplant doctors and nurses and team members. Everyone is there to do the right thing and collaborate. This new team forms and it’s very effective. Being involved in a team of dedicated professionals is really the sweet spot because you see the best in the people doing the work and getting things done.”

“Hearing about other solutions to challenges from multiple people is really special in transplantation” he adds.” When we talk to patients about transplantation, we often have them hear from many experts¬¬ including the surgeon, the physician, the nurses, the dieticians, and the psychologists. One of the purposes of doing that is to provide many different voices. The beauty of transplantation is there are a lot of great people who are trying to make things better.”

“The Alliance provides a framework to hear some of the different voices in transplantation that are not just from your program. And hearing other voices is good. By being the convener of a variety of experts in donation and transplantation and health care, The Alliance provides an opportunity for everyone who gets involved to learn from a diverse group of people. It really gives you a perspective that is not all that common in healthcare.”
To learn more about Dr. John Magee, read Seizing Opportunities to Move Forward Drives Michigan Transplant Surgeon Dr. John Magee.