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Madeline Knoff

MPH
In 2026, I am answering the call to... innovate, educate, and collaborate to honor donors and reduce the waitlist.
Job Title: Manager of Hospital and Partner Relations
Organization: Iowa Donor Network
Age: 33
Years in Donation and Transplantation: 11
What makes your career in organ donation and transplantation special?

What makes this work special is the intersection of purpose and partnership. I’m not just supporting the donation process; I am part of our mission to honor someone’s ultimate decision to be a donor, which in turn gives another individual a second chance at life. What could be more rewarding? This responsibility carries weight and drives me to put my best foot forward every day.
My role brings everyone together—hospital teams, EMS, medical examiners, and more—to work toward a shared goal: aligning the complex system of donation so that donation can happen the right way every time. This collaboration is where progress happens. One moment that encapsulates this for me was working with a physician who was extremely hesitant and closed off to DCD donation. Instead of pushing, I leaned into his concerns, listened, and built trust over time—and that relationship ultimately opened the door to opportunities that honored donors and saved lives.
That is what makes this career meaningful to me: the chance to build the partnerships and trust that allow the whole system to work better for donors, families, and the patients waiting for a gift of life.

Biography

Madeline Knoff, MPH, serves as Manager of Hospital and Partner Relations at Iowa Donor Network, where she leads a team focused on strengthening collaboration and improving processes across Iowa’s healthcare partners. With nearly 11 years of experience in organ and tissue donation, she began her career in tissue recovery before transitioning into hospital services, where she developed a passion for partner engagement and outreach.

Madeline was the first Hospital Services Coordinator at Iowa Donor Network, helping establish a structured approach to hospital relations across the state. She has played a key role in several organizational initiatives, including implementation of A-NRP, development of organ clinical triggers, and the launch of the Donor Care Unit model. Under her leadership, her multidisciplinary team has implemented an electronic referral application for out-of-hospital partners, developed a recognition program for EMS professionals, and launched a hospice referral program that integrates donation education into the hospice admission process. She also serves as a Hospital Development Subject Matter Expert on the AOPO IMPACT Committee.

She was nominated for The Alliance 40 Under 40 by Sarah Jaschen, Director of Promote the Gift at Iowa Donor Network. Jaschen highlighted Madeline’s decade of work building net-forward partnerships inside and outside the organization, from implementing new clinical triggers to launching a workgroup for Medical Examiner Investigators.