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Board Member Bios


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Board Biographies

Dan Martinelli, BS, CTP

Board Member, ISOP
Director of Preservation Services, Lifebanc

Dan Martinelli earned a Bachelor of Science in Management from Mount Olive College, and currently holds the position of Director of Preservation Services at Lifebanc in Cleveland, Ohio. Prior to joining Lifebanc, he served as Preservation Coordinator - Certified Preceptor - at Carolina Donor Services. Mr. Martinelli has developed training programs, policies and procedures; provides staff training and mentorship; gives presentations to hospital personelle, and is involved in community education.

Mr. Martinelli has been dedicated to the field of organ and tissue donation since 1996. His tenured experience in the field of transplantation serves our field and the International Society for Organ Preservation well as a Board of Director (since 2009).

Contact Information:
919.222.0817
drm@organpreservation.org
danielm@lifebanc.org

Debbie Jeffreys, CTP, CST

Board Member, ISOP
Senior Surgical Specialist , Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency

Debra Jeffreys is a Certified Surgical Technologist. Her experience comes from 3 years assisting with heart, lung and liver transplant as well as 10 years of organ recovery, preservation, and pulsatile kidney perfusion. She has developed training programs, policies and procedures. She also provides staff training and is a preceptor.

Ms. Jeffreys has been an ISOP member since 2002 and serves our field and the International Society for Organ Preservation well as a member of the Board of Directors (since 2008).

Contact Information:
504.559.4020
djeffreys@organpreservation.org
djeffreys@lopa.org

James V. Guarrera, MD, FACS

Medical Director & Board Member, ISOP
Surgical Director, Adult Liver Transplantation
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation

James is an active transplant surgeon who is Assistant Professor of Surgery and Columbia University. He is also the Surgical Director of Adult Liver Transplantation and Director of Organ Acquisition and Preservation at New York Presbyterian Hospital. James graduated from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York where he won the Arthur Aufses Sr. prize in Surgery and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society representing the top 10% of the class. James completed internship, residency and chief residency in general surgery as well as a multi-organ transplant surgery fellowship at Columbia University Medical Center.

For 10 years, He has been working on a novel technique for liver preservation using machine perfusion. I brought this technique from the preclinical stage to the completion of the first clinical trial. The results of this trial were published and featured on the cover of the February 2010 issue of the American Journal of Transplantation. In addition, as an international authority in the field of organ preservation, James has been an invited speaker, manuscript and abstract reviewer for all of the major meetings and publications associated with the top professional societies in transplantation.

James has one several prestigious awards including The International Liver Transplantation Society "Rising Star" Award in 2005 and the ASTS Vanguard award in 2010. Dr. Guarrera has co-authored 36 peer reviewed manuscripts, over 80 published abstracts and presentations and several book chapters. This work has led to 2 federal grants from HRSA with total costs > $1,000,000 in support of his research in Liver preservation and machine perfusion.

Contact Information:
212.305.4199
jvguarrera@organpreservation.org
jjg46@columbia.edu

Martin J. Mangino, Ph.D.

Board Member, ISOP
Professor of Surgery, Emergency Medicine, and Physiology and Biophysics
Virginia Commonwealth University, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, VA

Martin Mangino received a Ph.D. from Michigan State University in Medical Physiology and Post-Doctoral Training in Biochemistry and Transplantation Biology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He has served on the faculty at Washington University School of Medicine (Dept Surgery), Miami Children's Hospital (Critical Care Medicine), and The University of Wisconsin Medical School (Dept. Surgery). He served as Senior Scientist and Research Professor in the historic organ preservation laboratory of Belzer and Southard at UW-Madison. He currently is Professor of Surgery, Emergency Medicine, and Physiology and Biophysics at Virginia Commonwealth University, Medical College of Virginia.

Dr. Mangino directs an NIH funded laboratory in Organ Preservation. His lab studies the basic molecular mechanisms of organ preservation injury, perfusion and heat transfer of DCD donor organs, and novel donor pretreatment strategies. His laboratory also partners with leading bioengineering and organ preservation technology companies to develop, test, and translate new technologies in organ preservation into the clinic. He recently established one of the nation's only uncontrolled non-heart beating donor programs at MCV.

Contact Information:
804.628.3226
mjmangino@organpreservation.org
mjmangino@vcu.edu

Cristiano Quintini, M.D.

Board Member, ISOP
Director, Digestive Disease Institute, Intestinal Rehabilitation and Transplant Program
Staff, Liver Transplant Program
Assistant Professor of Surgery

Cristiano Quintini, MD is the Director of Intestinal Rehabilitation and Transplant Program at the Cleveland Clinic and is also a member of the Liver Transplant Program. Dr. Quintini received his Medical Degree at the University of Bologna, Italy and his General Surgery training at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. He joined the University of Miami in Florida, USA in2004 for a multiorgan abdominal transplant fellowship. In Miami, Dr. Quintini received training in Liver, Multivisceral, Kidney and Kidney/Pancreas transplantation.

In 2006 he joined the Cleveland Clinic for a Clinical Scholarship in Living Donor Liver Transplantation. In 2007 he was appointed as a Director of the Intestinal Rehabilitation and Transplant Program and performed the first adult intestinal transplant in the state of Ohio. Dr. Quintini is part of one of the largest nutrition department in the world and nourishes an interest in ultra-short bowel syndrome and intestinal failure associated liver disease. He has authored and co-authored 55 publications in international journals.

He is currently conducting research on ex-vivo liver perfusion as a way to revive and better preserve injured organs. He serves as a reviewer of several journals in the field of transplantation and is a board member of the International Society for Organ Preservation. In 2011 he received the Cleveland Clinic Innovator Award for his contribution on normothermic ex-vivo organ perfusion.

Contact Information:
216.445.3388
quintic@ccf.org


Officer Biographies

Amber McAfee, MBA, CTP, CTBS

President, ISOP
Medical Sales and Marketing Manager, Bettcher Industries

Amber McAfee currently holds the position of President for the International Society for Organ Preservation and is the Medical Sales and Marketing Manager for Bettcher Industries in Birmingham, Ohio. Prior to joining Bettcher, Ms. McAfee served Lifebanc in Cleveland, Ohio by starting their Preservation Services Department and as the Director. She has worked in the organ and tissue donation industry since 2001.

Ms. McAfee recently earned a Masters of Science in Business Administration, with Specialization Healthcare from Indiana Wesleyan University. Prior to her acedemic achievements, she worked as a Surgical Technician/First Assistant. She also served in the US Army for 8 years as an Operating Room Specialist/Combat Medic.

Contact Information:
617.680.5793
amber@organpreservation.org
amber@bettcher.com

Kevin Darnell EMT-P, CTP

Vice President, ISOP
Organ Preservation Specialist/Trainer, Lifebanc

Kevin Darnell serves the International Society for Organ Preservation as the Vice President and was a Board Member since 2009. He has worked at LifeBanc as the Organ Preservation Specialist/Trainer since October 2007. He first served as a Procurement Transplant Coordinator before transitioning into Preservation. Before Lifebanc he worked for Cleveland Clinic in the roles of Organ Preservation Specialist and Emergency Room Paramedic.

Since 2003, Mr. Darnell has held several qualifications as Paramedic Firefighter. Some of his responsibilities at Lifebanc are to provide organ recovery preservation support, precept and provide guidance for new hires, develop and deliver clinical presentations or workshops to various audiences.

Contact Information:
216.392.1518
kevind@organpreservation.org
kevind@lifebanc.org

Melissa Zehner, LPN, ORT

Secretary, ISOP
Surgical Recovery Supervisor at University of Miami, Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency

Melissa Zehner of Hollywood, FL joins ISOP as Secretary. She works as Surgical Recovery Supervisor at University of Miami, Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency in Miami, FL and has worked her way into management since 2003.

Ms. Zehner has a background in surgical technology as well as she achieved her LPN in 1999. Some of her duties are supervising staff, creating procedures for preceptors of new recruits, administrator on-call duties, lymph node recoveries, and quality assurance and compliance.

Contact Information:
305.301.6447
mzehner@organpreservation.org
mzehner@med.miami.edu

Lori Watkins, CTBS

Treasurer, ISOP
Preservation Coordinator & Preceptor, Carolina Donor Services

Lori Watkins is a Preservation Coordinator and Preceptor at Carolina Donor Services in Durham, NC. She is Certified Tissue Bank Specialist Certified and has been with Carolina Donor Services since 2004 serving in positions in both tissue and organ recovery. Lori is 130 credit hours in towards a BS in biological sciences and a minor in health, medicine and human values at North Carolina State University. Lori is eligible to sit for the Certified Transplant Preservationist (CTP) exam.

Contact Information:
919.225.7514
lwatkins@carolinadonorservices.org

Dave Schollman

Executive Director, ISOP

Dave Schollman has served as the Executive Director of the International Society for Organ Preservation since 2007, after retiring as General Manager of Waters Medical Systems, then a division of Waters Instruments. Waters Medical Systems is a manufacturer and worldwide distributor for medical devices used in transplantation and the cardiac catheterization lab.

Contact Information:
952.215.6018
daveschollman@organpreservation.org
daveschollmanLLC@aol.com
Who do we service? Our members work in Organ Procurement Agencies and Transplant Programs. We are involved with kidney and liver machine preservation. In addition ISOP members coordinate the recovery of abdominal and thoracic organs.