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Charles M. Miller, MD
Professor of Surgery Director, Liver Transplantation Program
Cleveland Clinic

• ASTS member 1987 - Present
• Chair Education Committee 1999–2002
• Chair of Ethics Committee 2005–2008
• Co-Chair of Ethics Committee 2004–2005
• Advisory Committee on Issues 2008–2009
• Conflict of Interest Task Force 2009–2010
• Council Member 2006– Present
• Secretary 2011–Present

I am honored and humbled to be the nominee for President-Elect of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS). Perhaps most importantly, I am deeply inspired by the opportunity to help lead ASTS and to give back to the transplant community. My involvement with ASTS has been very rewarding and fulfilling, and over the years, ASTS has been a great support to me professionally and personally.   I am eager to contribute to the organization’s future as President-Elect and to help ensure that current and future members benefit from the Society’s collegial and supportive environment and resources.

Many of my previous leadership roles within ASTS, my academic and surgical background, experiences and accomplishments, and my participation in other professional organizations have prepared me for this role. In addition to academic appointments at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, I have initiated and restructured 2 large and complex transplant programs in both New York and Cleveland. These experiences have been invaluable and provide important perspective and knowledge of the breadth of issues facing transplant professionals. They also teach the real value of empowerment, a value I want to promulgate as a leader of the Society.

I have been actively involved in ASTS leadership for almost 20 years. I was Chair and Co-chair of the ASTS Ethics Committee and Chair of the Education Committee. I served as Councilor-at-Large and serve currently as Secretary where I have learned close-up the scope and complexities of the issues we face and the rapidity of change in our environment. The combination of these roles and experiences provide the foundation necessary for the contributions I hope to make as President-Elect.

The Society’s current leadership has devised a strategic plan that skillfully advances the ASTS mission. Each piece of this plan merits our attention and hard work. Of particular interest to me is our commitment to provide the resources necessary to help our membership access and share an array of information, including best practices. Importantly, ASTS members also need a platform to confidentially share information critical to continuous improvement in transplantation. To this end, I am interested in the ongoing discussion about a Patient Safety Organization where clinical and administrative problems faced by our members and their transplant centers can be discussed, shared, and learned from in a confidential and protected environment.

Mentorship and training was important to me as a trainee and is important to me now. I benefited from others investing time to mentor me, and in turn, I approach that role for myself with a significant of sense of responsibility. The Society’s ability to help all transplant professionals, and to enhance their careers, is a key reason why this position is so important to me. And I want to hear from you, the Society’s membership; I want to hear about your needs and your ideas for the future. I will look to you for constant input and feedback as we continue to grow in a world where the rate of change has no bounds.

With the Society’s past achievements setting a solid foundation for the future, with the guidance of our new strategic plan, and with a strong focus on membership needs, ASTS will continue its pivotal role as the premier professional organization for transplantation.

• Current Member, Nominating Committee (2012-2014)
• Current Councilor-at-Large (2011-2014)
• Previous Chair, Scientific Studies Committee (2010-2011)
• Previous ASTS Representative & Member, ATC Executive Planning Committee (2008-2010)
• Previous ASTS Representative & Member, ATC Planning Committee (2007–2008)
• Previous Co-Chair, Scientific Studies Committee (2007–2010)
• Previous Chair, Informatics & Data Management Committee (2005–2007)
• Previous Co-Chair, Informatics & Data Management Committee (2004–2005)
• Previous Member, Ad Hoc Workforce Committee (2003–2012)
• Previous Chair, Ad Hoc Membership Database Committee (2003–2006)
• Previous Chair, Vanguard Committee (2001–2004)
• Previous Member, Vanguard Committee (1999–2001)
• Recipient, ASTS Vanguard Prize (2004)
• Recipient, Sandoz Fellowship Award (1995–1997)
• 2004-2009, AJT – Associate Editor
• 2009-present, AJT – Deputy Editor
• 2011-present, AJT – Special Features Editor: Images in Transplantation

I vividly remember my first ASTS service. Then President Busuttil had appointed me to the newly formed Vanguard Committee which was holding its inaugural meeting at the Chicago Hilton approximately 10 days after I delivered my daughter. Although the day-long trip would pose some challenges for Rebecca and I (no need to elaborate), I was determined to go and participate. What an exciting concept?! A Committee formed to cultivate relationships with young transplant surgeons such as myself—to serve us and to provide opportunities for us to serve the ASTS.

This was my entrée to the ASTS which has, over the past 15 years, become my professional home. Within its supportive climate, it has been easy and fun to grow up from a wide-eyed, excitable and energetic toddler into an experienced, excited and (hopefully) still energetic professional. I have been privileged to propose and implement multiple initiatives to welcome, integrate, and serve (young) transplant surgeons. These efforts include establishing the Vanguard Prize, proposing the Presidential Mentored Student Grant, initiating the Career Development Symposium at the ASTS Winter Symposium, initiating the annual New Members’ Cocktail Reception during the ATC, establishing the match for Abdominal Transplant Fellowships, and redesigning the ASTS Website in 2006 with electronic membership application, award submissions and review, and a web-based Fellowship Log. I have helped shape the primary ASTS educational offerings by organizing the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th ASTS Winter Symposia, serving on the Executive Planning Committee for the 2008, 2009, and 2010 ATCs, and serving as an Associate Editor and now as a Deputy Editor for AJT.

As my professional perspective has evolved, so has my focus within the ASTS. Currently, my primary initiative is to harness ASTS’s power of advocacy to delineate an algorithm for clinical trials testing interventions in brain dead donors. I am certain that we all consider the insufficient quantity and suboptimal quality of deceased donor organs to be our biggest challenge, hands down. However, there is striking lack of innovation in research to mitigate ischemia/reperfusion injury in deceased donors, likely attributable to daunting scientific, logistical, ethical, and regulatory obstacles (1, 2). ASTS—with a strong presence and track record of advocacy&mdash can lead the discussion to address and resolve these fundamental and vital issues.

This initiative speaks to my vision as to how ASTS can best advance its “research mission”. Rather than solely awarding individual fellowships, the ASTS can, through advocacy, broadly advance a wide spectrum of transplantation research efforts that span basic, translational, clinical, social, and education sciences. The ASTS should dialogue vigorously with NIH, other federal agencies, pharmaceutical companies and private funding sources to set and prioritize the transplantation research agenda. Moreover, to facilitate future advances to improve transplant outcomes, the ASTS can advocate for surrogate endpoints and novel trial designs to overcome the nearly insurmountable standards that impede registration of new therapies. As ASTS Secretary, it would be my distinct privilege to continue to serve and advance the ASTS vision, “saving and improving lives through transplantation."

1. Feng S. Donor intervention and organ preservation: where is the science and what are the obstacles? Am J Transplant 2010;10:1155-1162.
2. Abt PL, Marsh CL, Dunn TB, Hewitt WR, Rodrigue JR, Ham JM, Feng S. Challenges to research and innovation to optimize deceased donor organ quality and quantity. Am J Transplant 2013;13:1400-1404.

Dixon B. Kaufman, MD, PhD

Professor and Chief
Division of Transplantation
Department of Surgery
University of Wisconsin

• Previous Chair, MOC Task Force (2010–2012)
• Previous Member, Nominations Committee (2008–2010)
• Previous Councilor-at-Large (2007–2010)
• Previous Member, Philanthropy Committee (2007–2009)
• Previous Member, Ad Hoc Philanthropic Committee (2006–2007)
• Previous Member, Cell Transplant Committee (2003–2004)
• Previous Asst. Editor, Newsletter Committee (1999–2003)
• Previous Member, Program, Publications & Post Graduate Course Committee (1996–1999)
• Previous Member, Local Arrangements Committee (1996–2001)
• Previous Chair, Education Committee (1993–1996)
• Previous Member, Membership Committee (1993–1996)
• Recipient, Fugisawa Faculty Development Award (1994)

It is an honor to be nominated for the position of Secretary of the ASTS. The ASTS has been an important part of my academic career since attending my first annual meeting at the Drake Hotel in Chicago when a surgical resident in the mid-1980s. My formal involvement with ASTS service started in 1993 and has been continuous since, having served in many capacities including: Chair of the Education Committee, the Executive Program Committee Chair for the American Transplant Congress, and recently as a Councilor-at-large.

In addition, I have held leadership positions in other facets of the transplant field that complement the ASTS. I have been active with UNOS, having served on the Kidney and MPSC Committees, as Chair of the Pancreas/Islet Transplant Committee, and currently as a Regional Councilor and a member of the UNOS Board of Directors. I have also been Councilor of IPITA, and currently serve on the editorial boards of the major transplant journals.

What’s my day job? Well, I am a transplant surgeon and since 2011 have held the position as the Ray D. Owen Professor and Chair of the Division of Transplantation at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. I also serve as Medical Director of the Transplant Service Line at UW Hospitals and Clinic, and as the Surgical Director of the kidney transplant program. My clinical focus is on kidney, pancreas and islet transplantation. My clinical research focuses on immunosuppression minimization in kidney and pancreas transplant recipients. My basic research effort focuses on development of new tolerance induction strategies in large animals, currently supported by the NIH Non-human Primate Tolerance Study Group Consortium.

John C. Magee, MD
Professor of Surgery, Section of Transplantation
University of Michigan

• Current Member, Nominating Committee (2012–2014)
• Current Councilor-at-Large (2011–2014)
• Previous Member, VCA Committee (2012–2013)
• Previous Member, FMG Taskforce (2009–2012)
• Previous Member, Ad Hoc Committee of VCA (2010–2012)
• Previous Member, Ad Hoc Composite Tissue Allotransplantation Committee (2008–2010)
• Previous Chair, Fellowship Training Committee (2007–2010)
• Previous Member, Curriculum Committee (2007–2013)
• Previous Member, Ad Hoc Society Development Committee, 2007–2008
• Previous Co-Chair, Education/Fellowship Training Committee (2005–2007)
• Previous Member, Scientific Studies Committee (2002–2005)

I am concluding my term as Councilor-at-Large and am seeking election as Secretary. I am committed to serving our membership by active contribution to our Society. During my term as Councilor, I built upon a continuous record of leadership. Prior to my current role, I believe my greatest contributions have been while co-Chair, and subsequently Chair, of the Fellowship Training committee where I have helped develop our current educational efforts and oversight for fellows and residents. I have been fortunate to serve on the Curriculum Committee, the Scientific Studies Committee, and the VCA committee. I have been on several task forces and currently serve as the ASTS representative to the Organ Donation and Transplantation Alliance. Both within the ASTS, as well with other organizations, I have been able to build consensus and lead across diverse groups. I believe my broad level of involvement provides me with an excellent overall understanding of our Society's mission and vision.

My clinical practice includes liver, kidney, and pancreas transplantation in adults and children. In addition to my current leadership roles with in our transplant center, I am the director of our pediatric liver and kidney programs and was previously the director of our adult kidney program for several years. With respect to organ donation, I have had leadership roles within our OPO and am the ASTS representative to the Organ Donation and Transplantation Alliance. I believe this exposure provides me with insight into the challenges our members face in delivering clinical care and running transplant programs. In addition to maintaining a broad clinical practice, I am active in research to advance the field, with significant academic efforts in pediatric liver disease, transplant outcomes, organ donation and immunosuppression management. These efforts are funded by federal sources (NIH, HRSA, and CMS) as well as industry. I have been involved in development and refinement of transplantation policy, having served with the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) for 7 years and worked with many OPTN committees. I have also worked with CMS in efforts to balance oversight of transplantation. I believe this span of clinical practice, program leadership and academic effort provides me an awareness of the challenges facing transplant surgeons and insight regarding opportunities for improvement.

David A. Axelrod, MD, MBA
Associate Professor of Surgery
Section Chief, Solid Organ Transplant Surgery
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

• Current Chair, Advanced Leadership Development Program Planning Committee (2012–2014)
• Current Member, Bylaws Committee (2013–Present)
• Previous Chair, Business Practice Committee (2009–2012)
• Previous Co-Chair, Reimbursement Committee (2009)
• Previous Member, Curriculum Committee (2007–2010)
• Previous Co-Chair, Vanguard Committee (2008–2009)
• Previous Member, Vanguard Committee (2007–2008)

Ginny L. Bumgardner, MD, PhD, FACS
Associate Dean for Research Education
Director, Masters of Medical Science Program
Co-Director, OSU HHMI Med into Grad Scholars Program
Ohio State University

• Current Member & ASTS Representative, ATC Planning Committee (2012–Present)
• Previous Chair, Grants Review (formerly Awards) Committee (2010–2013)
• Previous Co-Chair, Awards Committee (2007–2010)
• Previous Member, Awards Committee (2005–2007)
• Recipient, Wyeth/ASTS Mid-Level Faculty Research Award (2003–2005)
• Previous Chair, Ad hoc Committee on Workforce (2003–2012)
• Previous Member, Ad hoc Membership Database Committee (2003–2006)
• Previous Member, Scientific Studies Committee (2001–2004)
• Previous Member, Education Committee (1997–2000)

I first became involved with the field of transplantation during my General Surgery residency at the University of Minnesota through care of transplant patients, involvement in transplant clinical trials, and participation in exciting transplant-related immunology and clinical research projects. These early experiences became the foundation for pursuit of an academic career in transplantation merging patient care, research and training.

The opportunity to serve on the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) Council is an extension of my dedication to the transplant field and efforts to ensure that these core missions of the ASTS are supported by patient-centric health care policies and legislation, NIH funding to support transplant research and transplant research training programs and transplant workforce models and environments which recruit and sustain the most vibrant, skilled and committed transplant professionals. As an active ASTS member since completion of my transplant fellowship at the University of California San Francisco, I have been involved with many aspects of ASTS advocacy, education, and research related activities. I served as Chair of the ASTS Ad hoc Workforce Committee, Chair of the ASTS Grants Committee, representative to the Transplant Roundtable testifying before the House Appropriations Committee to request $25 million in funding for the Organ Donation and Recovery Improvement Act of 2004, organizer of ASTS Winter Symposium Lunch & Learn Sessions, contributor to the Chimera, contributing author to the ASTS Academic Universe, contributing author to the ASTS History initiative, topic leader in national consensus conferences and current member of the ATC planning committee. I have experience with ATC pre-meeting symposia development and organization, ATC abstract review and program development, and as a moderator at the ATC meeting.

I am engaged in NIH-funded translational and clinical transplant research. I have experience with manuscript submission, manuscript review and editorial service. I served as an Associate Editor for the American Journal of Transplantation, on the Editorial Board for Transplantation and routinely review for a number of other journals. I have served as a standing member on NIH study sections and continue to perform grant review for NIH and other organizations. Transplantation is a multidisciplinary field involving many health care professionals. I have had the privilege of serving as an elected member of the Board of Directors for the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and for the American Society of Transplantation.

As a Professor of Surgery at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Transplant Center I have over 20 years experience in transplant surgery as well as the pre- and post- transplant management of transplant recipients. As Associate Dean for Research Education in the OSU College of Medicine for over 7 years and Director of the OSU Department of Surgery Research Training Program for over 10 years, I have been actively engaged in the training of undergraduates, medical students, residents, graduate students, dual degree MD PhD students, postdoctoral and clinical fellows. Collectively these experiences, service and professional activities contribute to my qualifications and perspectives as a potential ASTS Councilor-at-Large.

Kenneth D. Chavin, MD, PhD, FACS
Professor of Surgery, Microbiology and Immunology
Vice Chairman of Research, Department of Surgery
Transplant Surgery
Medical University of South Carolina

• Previous Chair, Communications Committee (2010–2013)
• Co-Chair, Communications Committee (2007–2010)
• Previous Member, Curriculum Committee (2007–2009)
• Recipient, ASTS Vanguard Prize (2005)
• Recipient, Roche Presidential Travel Award (2005)
• Previous Member, Informatics and Data Management Committee (2005–2008)
• Previous Member, Scientific Studies Committee (2002–2005)
• Recipient, Fujisawa Faculty Development Award (1998–2000)

A. Osama Gaber, MD, FACS
Professor of Surgery
Director of Transplantation
Houston Methodist Hospital

• Current Co-Chair, Business Practice Services Committee (2012–Present)
• Previous Member, Business Practice Services Committee (2010–2012)
• Previous Member, Advisory Committee on Issues (2007–2008)
• Previous Member, Legislative Committee (2004–2005)
• Previous Member, Nominations Committee (2002–2004)
• Previous Councilor-at-Large (2001–2004)
• Previous Member, Education Committee (1997–2000)

Michael B. Ishitani, MD
Chair, Division of Pediatric Surgery
Associate Professor of Surgery
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

• Previous Chair, CME Committee (2010–2013)
• Previous Co-Chair, CME Committee (2007–2010)
• Previous Member, Curriculum Committee (2007–2008)
• Previous Member, CME Committee (2006–2007)
• Previous Member, Education Committee (2003–2006)

I am grateful for this opportunity to run for the position of an ASTS councilor-at-large. Over the last 2 decades I have pursued a career in transplantation, pediatric transplantation and pediatric surgery with a strong focus on fellowship training and continuing medical education. My career has taken me from the University of Virginia to Cleveland Clinic, Case Western University Hospital and finally the Mayo Clinic.
My contributions to the ASTS include being a Member of the Education Committee from 2003–2006. As a member I was involved in auditing and examining training programs for the ASTS. I was also active with the training program director meetings that were organized by the committee.

I then joined the Curriculum Committee from 2007-2008. I was involved initially from 2005 onward, at the beginning of the development of the Academic Universe fellowship curriculum working with Elizabeth Pomfret in determining the scope and format of the modules. I continued to be active in reviewing AU modules through 2010, even though I rotated off the committee, to maintain momentum and provide editorial consistency.

I was then asked to join the CME Committee in 2006. I served on this committee but it was relatively inactive from 2006–2009. However, after discussion with ASTS administrative leadership I was offered the position of chairman of the CME committee with a mandate to revitalize and develop the CME program of the ASTS. I accepted.

During my tenure from 2010–2013, the ASTS CME Committee basically reinvented itself with the following accomplishments:

1. ACCME accreditation with distinction, making the ASTS the only society in transplantation with CME-granting capabilities.
2. Development of a new Mission Statement for the CME committee.
3. Provided continuing oversight review and CME accreditation for the ATC meeting, Winter Symposium, ASTS Business meeting, and ASTS Fellows meetings.
4. Development and launch of the AJT “Images in Transplantation” CME feature which was the first MOC CME Part 2 program available specifically for transplantation.
5. Development and launch of the ASTS MOC CME Part 2 program Transplant Surgery Self-assessment Program (TRANS-sap) to provide continuing ongoing education self-assessment material pertinent to the field of transplantation. This program is designed to meet all requirements of the ABS and requisite state licensing requirements and provides CME education opportunities for surgeons, physicians, and allied health professionals in the field of transplantation
6. Ongoing editor position with CME committee for review of Trans-SAP material: current

After rotating off the CME Committee, I have remained involved as a Co-editor and Member of the ASTS 40 group which is tasked with producing the  “40th Year Anniversary of the ASTS” book with Tom Peters.

I am also a member of the ASTS Certifying Exam working group which is developing a certifying examination for the Transplant surgery fellows.

I would be happy to serve as an ASTS councilor in any capacity. I believe I have special interests and expertise in continuing medical education and fellowship training and a strong track record of completing projects that have benefited our trainees, members, and the ASTS itself.

Alan I. Reed, MD, MBA
Professor and Chief, Division of Transplant and HPB Surgery Director, UI Organ Transplant Center University of Iowa Health Care

• Previous Member, Curriculum Editorial Review Sub-Committee (2008–2012)
• Previous Chair, Ethics Committee (2008–2011)
• Previous Co-Chair, Ethics Committee (2005–2008)
• Previous Co-Chair, Bylaws Committee (2004–2005)
• Previous Member, Bylaws Committee (2002–2004)
• Previous Member, Newsletter Committee (2001–2004)
• Previous Member, Awards Committee (1997–2000)
• Previous Member, Newsletter Committee (1997–2000)
• Presenter, ASTS Leadership Development ProgramPresenter, ASTS Advanced Leadership Development Program
• ASTS Advocate on legislative issues