Michael Ghaffari

Director, Software Engineering
United Network for Organ Sharing
Michael Ghaffari 2022 1

Brief Bio

As Director of IT Software Engineering, Michael Ghaffari oversees a team of 60 software and quality assurance engineers and managers working on a variety of projects that touch every piece of the organ procurement and transplantation process. Ghaffari and the IT software engineering department are focused on improving UNetSM, the technology that powers transplant in the U.S., with input from clients internal to UNOS and OPTN member organizations. Ghaffari is also involved in bringing cutting edge technology into the world of transplant, planning for future projects that incorporate predictive analytics, machine learning and augmented reality.

Ghaffari joined UNOS in 2011 as a college recruit. He has filled a number of management and senior engineering roles, most recently serving as the Assistant Director within the Software Engineering Department.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2010 from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Alliance Presentations

3.28.23 Business Meeting Data 502864697

Transplant Decision Making Tools: A Major Upside for Your Transplant Program

Tuesday, March 28, 2023, at 3:00pm

In 2022, over 7500 kidneys were discarded, twice the number just four years ago. Acceptance practices vary 100-fold between programs and even within programs. While troublesome, the number of kidneys available for transplant presents an extraordinary opportunity to increase transplant and save more lives. Chris Zinner and members of his team at Accenture will share the extensive research they did for HRSA on transplant program acceptance practices and physician decision making. Chris will highlight ways the decision-making process could be improved, while Michael Ghaffari of UNOS will join us to discuss how this new tool was implemented to assist decision makers and improve the consistency of organ acceptance practice.

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