Leadership

Advisory Board

 

The CORE Advisory Board is composed of 22 to 25 members and must include professionals from transplant centers, intensive care or emergency departments, tissue banks, voluntary health organizations, hisocompatibility members, neuroscience physicians, transplant surgeons, chief medical directors, medical directors of an eye bank, organ donor families, and public members. The board meets biannually.

 

Russell Mitesh Cerejo, MD
Co-Director, Endovascular Services
Allegheny Health Network/Cerebrovascular Center

Robert C. Dolence
Transplant Recipient Representative

Jonathan Elmer, MD, MS, FNCS
Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, and Neurology
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Armando Ganoza, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute

A.J. Harper
Voluntary Health Associate Representative
President/Emeritus, Healthcare Council of Western Pennsylvania

Lindsey Herlinger
Transplant Administrator
VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System

Chak-Sum (Sam) Ho, PhD, D(ABHI)
Laboratory Director
Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network

Ajai Khanna, MD
Professor of Surgery
UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

Candice Lee, MD
Cardiac Surgeon
Allegheny Health Network

Glen Martin
Associate Administrator
Charleston Area Medical Center/General Hospital

Deb Maurer
Transplant Administrator
UPMC Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute

Valliammai Muthappan, MD
Corneal Surgeon; Cataract and Eye Consultants
Sightline Ophthalmic Associates

Reshma Paranjpe, MD
Cornea, External Disease and Refractive Surgery
Allegheny Ophthalmic and Orbital Associates

Richard Plowey, MD, MPH
Keystone Pain Consultants

Duke Rupert
Public Member

Kathleen K. Ryan
Executive Director and Legal Counsel
Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association

Rajeev Sharma, MD
Transplant Surgeon
WVU Medicine

Kalathil Sureshkumar, MD
Nephrologist
Allegheny Health Network

Henkie P. Tan, MD, PhD, FACS, FAST
Transplant Surgeon
VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System

Gina Velar
Donor Family Representative

William R. Wagner, PhD
Director
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine

Debra Weismiller
Transplant Administrator
UPMC Hamot

Martin Wijkstrom, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation
Director Islet Transplantation
Director Abdominal Transplant Fellowship
UPMC Montefiore

Dawn Wilkerson
Transplant Administrator
UPMC Children’s Hospital

Rachelle (Shelley) Zomak, RN, MS, CCTC
Director, Transplant Operations and Compliance
WVU Medicine – WVU Hospitals

 


 

Ex Officio Members

 

Susan Stuart, RN, MPM
President/CEO
Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE)

Roheena Kamyar, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Elizabeth Lendermon, MD
Chief Medical Director
Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE)