DCD

The Organ Donation and Transplantation Alliance (The Alliance) is a non-profit organization that activates the “All Teach, All Learn” approach by exchanging collective expertise across the healthcare continuum, and by developing relevant, targeted and scalable learning solutions for the organ donation and transplantation community of practice – including organ procurement organizations (OPOs), transplant centers and hospitals where donations occur. By convening members across the community of practice, it serves as a platform to identify emerging concepts and innovative practices, and cascade resources and educational programs of transformational quality and value. The Alliance is not a membership organization, but partners with leading organizations across the continuum to advance a shared mission to save and heal lives through organ donation and transplantation.

The Alliance Board of Directors

The Alliance Board of Directors is comprised of expert leaders from several key national organizations from across the organ donation, transplantation and healthcare community. They are the driving force behind The Alliance’s successful programs and activities. These valued partners work closely with The Alliance team to achieve optimal results on key issues that impact the field of donation and transplantation.

The first edition of this guide was published under the 2024 Board of Directors. The current Board of Directors can be found at https://www.organdonationalliance.org/about/board-of-directors/.

About The Alliance National Donation Leadership Council

The National Donation Leadership Council is one of three national leadership councils of The Alliance, comprised of volunteer representatives from diverse disciplines and levels of leadership across the donation and transplantation continuum. This council works to develop and provide resources and education to improve and advance the organ donation process. It supports hospital and donation professionals’ efforts in the sharing of knowledge, data, and successful practices as it relates to identification of potential donors, family support and communication, and optimizing the availability of organs for transplantation. Through the course of their work, members of the council identified a need for a comprehensive Donation after Circulatory Death (DCD) resource, which would share successful practices in DCD with the goal to increase the availability of organs for transplantation from DCD donors.

The Alliance expresses its sincere gratitude to the members of this council, past and present, for their insight and contributions toward making this important resource a reality.

Current council members:  https://www.organdonationalliance.org/about/workgroups-faculty-councils/.

DCD Educational Guide Workgroup Members

The following workgroup of volunteers representing various roles and expertise across the donation and transplantation continuum spent many hours over the course of several years to amalgamate the content of this guide. We would like to extend our sincere appreciation for their time, commitment, and passion for this project:

Current DCD Workgroup can be found at https://www.organdonationalliance.org/about/workgroups-faculty-councils/

Special Acknowledgments

The Alliance DCD Educational Guide would not be possible without the impassioned work and dedication of Glenn Matsuki, a 27-year heart recipient and long-time member of the donation and transplantation community of practice, who championed this initiative until his passing in 2023. We remember his contributions with deep gratitude and respect. Through this important work, his legacy lives on.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Dan Lebovitz, Kristina Wheeler, Hedi Aguiar, and Meghan Stephenson, who leveraged their wealth of career experience and content knowledge to meticulously refine and enhance this guide, transforming it into a polished and valuable resource for readers.

Additionally, The Alliance team wishes to thank the following individuals for their time and contributions to select sections of this guide: