Learning Center

Your central location for online learning and education surrounding all aspects of tissue donation, tissue banking, research and transplantation.

Donation & Death Investigation Webinar Series

This free interdisciplinary webinar series has been developed through collaboration with stakeholders representing the fields of donation and death investigation. This program intends to provide information surrounding these overlapping fields and to identify challenges and solutions on shared cases.

The 2023 Donation & Death Investigation Webinar Series includes seven webinar presentations to promote collaboration and explore improvement opportunities.

  • Contains 5 Component(s), Includes Credits

    This session will review collaborative initiatives between organizations representing the fields of donation and death investigation. The American Association of Tissue Banks, the Eye Bank Association of America, the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations, and the International Association of Coroners & Medical Examiners joined forces to deliver guidance and education to support the needs of the medicolegal community and ensure donation and death investigations can move forward cohesively on shared cases. Through this presentation, we will review the jointly published Guide to Medical Examiner & Coroner Cases and how collaboration can improve the outcome of shared cases.

    This session will review collaborative initiatives between organizations representing the fields of donation and death investigation. The American Association of Tissue Banks, the Eye Bank Association of America, the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations, and the International Association of Coroners & Medical Examiners joined forces to deliver guidance and education to support the needs of the medicolegal community and ensure donation and death investigations can move forward cohesively on shared cases.

    Through this presentation, we will review the jointly published Guide to Medical Examiner & Coroner Cases and how collaboration can improve the outcome of shared cases. 


    Jonathan Boyd, MS, LSSBB, CTBS

    Director of Education

    Jonathan has worked in multiple roles within the tissue banking and transplant industry, including recovery and leadership roles. Jonathan is currently the Director of Education at AATB where he oversees the development of educational programming and the Certified Tissue Bank Specialist program. Jonathan earned his undergraduate degree in communications and a master’s degree of science in management. Jonathan is a Certified Tissue Bank Specialist and a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

    Jonathan is an active member of the International Association of Coroners & Medical Examiners (IACME), an Affiliate Member of the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME), a member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), and an active committee member of IACME, NAME, and Donate Life America. 

    Kristen McCoy, MS, CEBT, CTBS

    Vice President of Client Relations

    Kristen joined Miracles in Sight in 2019 as the Vice President of Client Relations.  She has over 23 years of eye banking experience focusing on clinical operations, technician training, process improvement, and new service line development.  She is a Certified Eye Bank Technician (CEBT) and Certified Tissue Bank Specialist (CTBS).  She has served on numerous Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA) committees and sub-committees over the years including the Technician Education Committee, the Certification Board, and Research Committee. Kristen has served as faculty for the EBAA Technician Education Symposium and Slit Lamp Course.  Kristen holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton and a Masters of Health and Human Services Administration from St. Mary’s University in Minnesota.

    Kelly Keyes, BA, D-ABMDI

    Research Forensic Scientist

    RTI International

    Kelly Keyes is a Research Forensic Scientist at RTI International in the Center for Forensic Science Advancement and Application, following a 25-year career as a Medicolegal Death Investigator at the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office.  She has investigated and certified thousands of cases in her career and retired as a Supervising Investigator.  She has a BS in Animal Physiology from UC San Diego, is a California POST Certified death investigator, and is a diplomat with ABMDI. Ms. Keyes is the president-elect of the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners (IACME), a member of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) and the chair of the medicolegal death investigation subcommittee at OSAC. Her current research revolves around various aspects of medicolegal death investigation and coroner and medical examiner systems in the United States, including improving accuracy and thoroughness of data produced by these populations.

    Brian Bricker, RN, CPTC

    Brian Bricker began his career at the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE) in 1998 as an Organ Procurement Coordinator. Brian currently serves as the Director of Clinical Operations, overseeing the Donor Referral, Recovery, and Procurement Departments. Brian is a registered nurse and a Certified Procurement Transplant Coordinator through the American Board of Transplant Certification.

  • Contains 3 Component(s), Includes Credits

    During this presentation, we will review how the decision to release or restrict donation may be influenced by the cause, manner, and circumstances surrounding death. The session will evaluate how considerations for release may be influenced by the intended use of donated organs and tissues and the impact of factors such as donation after cardiac death (DCD) or an investigator observing recovery may have on the final decision.

    During this presentation, we will review how the decision to release or restrict donation may be influenced by the cause, manner, and circumstances surrounding death. The session will evaluate how considerations for release may be influenced by the intended use of donated organs and tissues and the impact of factors such as donation after cardiac death (DCD) or an investigator observing recovery may have on the final decision.



    Jennifer L. Hammers, D.O.

    Anatomic, Clinical and Forensic Pathologist

    Dr. Hammers is a Board Certified Anatomic, Clinical and Forensic Pathologist who performs autopsies and teaches the Forensic Pathology course for the fifth-year students in the Master of Anthropology Program at Boston University and the Master of Forensic Science and Law Program at Duquesne University. Dr. Hammers has a particular interest in cardiac pathology and actively participates in research related to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). After training in forensic pathology in at the New York City Medical Examiner’s office, she worked for several years in Massachusetts and New York City. Dr. Hammers then accepted a position in a private practice located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she worked for over five years before establishing Jennifer Hammers Pathology, which serves several counties in Western Pennsylvania by providing autopsy services. Dr. Hammers also performs autopsies and medical legal consultations at the request of families and attorneys.

    Tim Carson

    Westmoreland County Coroner

    As the Westmoreland County coroner, Timothy Carson is responsible for investigating the facts and circumstances of deaths that occur within the county, regardless of where the cause thereof may have occurred. The purpose of the investigation shall be to determine the cause of death and manner of death. He is also responsible for determining whether or not there is sufficient reason to believe that any such death may have resulted from criminal acts or criminal neglect of persons other than the deceased.

    Timothy Carson worked in the Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office from 2000-2011 as the Director of Community Affairs and Grant Coordinator. He served as Chief Deputy in the Register of Wills Office from 2011-2012. Timothy is a 1989 graduate of Southmoreland High School and 1993 graduate of Waynesburg College. He resides in Scottdale and has three daughters and two sons.

    Call 2-1-1 for Social Services. Help Starts Here. 

  • Contains 3 Component(s), Includes Credits

    This presentation will review common challenges medicolegal professionals encounter when working with donation organizations. We will discuss how these issues may impact the ability to permit donation, provide examples of complicated or challenging cases, and evaluate potential solutions.

    This presentation will review common challenges medicolegal professionals encounter when working with donation organizations. We will discuss how these issues may impact the ability to permit donation, provide examples of complicated or challenging cases, and evaluate potential solutions. 

    Mark Giffen, DO

    Forensic Pathologist & Assistant Professor of Pathology

    Wake Forest School of Medicine

    Dr. Mark Giffen began his journey to Forensic Pathology in New York State, working with his father in the funeral industry. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Upstate New York with a Bachelor of Science in 2008 and then graduated from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, Pennsylvania in 2013. He pursued a residency in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital, graduating in 2017 before completing a 1-year fellowship in Forensic Pathology at the Office of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

    Dr. Giffen has presented at the national meetings of the National Association of Medical Examiners and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences as well as locally through the North Carolina Area Health Education Consortium. He carries board certifications in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology from the American Board of Pathology. Special interests include forensic radiology and advanced forensic imaging techniques.

    Dotti Owens

    Coroner, M.A., D-ABMDI

    Dotti Owens assumed the position of Ada County Coroner in January 2015 and served as the county coroner until January 2023. Following her retirement, Dotti remains dedicated to enhancing the field of medicolegal death investigation and implementing high standards through her consulting firm. Her professional background boasts an impressive array of accomplishments, including:

    • Obtaining a master’s degree in criminology and criminal justice administration.
    • Certification in Medicolegal Death Investigation from The American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators
    • Accreditation from the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners
    • Accreditation from the National Association of Medical Examiners
    • Authorship of numerous Policy & Procedure Manuals and planning documents
    • Overseeing the second office in the nation to achieve dual accreditation from both organizations.
    • Development of Regional Facilities within the State of Idaho to Include a 30 million dollar forensic pathology facility.

    Dotti Owens actively participates in various boards and committees affiliated with the National Association of Counties (NACo). She contributes her expertise to the Idaho Governor's Child Fatality Review Team and the Idaho State Association of County Coroners. Dotti also serves as a member of the Medicolegal Consensus Body of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Standards Board (AAFS) and holds an executive board position in the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners (IACME), among other professional organizations.

    She frequently conducts training sessions for Coroner/Medical Examiner agencies nationwide and is currently involved in the development of the Eastern Idaho Forensic Pathology Center. Dotti's proficiency extends to advising on the establishment of Coroner/Medical jurisdictions in the region. Her commitment to suicide and drug overdose prevention has led her to introduce the Man Therapy campaign to the State of Idaho. Dotti has played a significant role in bridging the gap between Coroners and Medical Examiners and their involvement in Suicide and Overdose Prevention. Recognizing the coroner's pivotal role in public health, she continues to champion its importance.

  • Contains 3 Component(s), Includes Credits Includes a Live Web Event on 10/06/2023 at 2:00 PM (EDT)

    This presentation will review practices, challenges, and case studies surrounding post-valve donation pathological examination. Learning Objectives: • Know about the destination of heart remnants • Understand the importance of pathologic examination of heart tissue • Recognize the limitations created by donation • Recognize the connection between procurement, patient history, and pathologic diagnoses on heart remnants • Review interesting diagnoses found in post-valve recovery donor hearts

    This presentation will review practices, challenges, and case studies surrounding post-valve donation pathological examination. 

    Learning Objectives:

    • Know about the destination of heart remnants
    • Understand the importance of pathologic examination of heart tissue
    • Recognize the limitations created by donation
    • Recognize the connection between procurement, patient history, and pathologic diagnoses on heart remnants
    • Review interesting diagnoses found in post-valve recovery donor hearts

    Emily Duncanson, MD

    Dr. Emily Duncanson is a cardiovascular and forensic pathologist. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School. She completed an anatomic pathology residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan and a two-year forensic pathology fellowship at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York, including a year of forensic cardiovascular pathology. She has been a cardiovascular pathologist at the Jesse E Edwards Registry of Cardiovascular Disease since 2008 along with Dr. Shannon Mackey-Bojack. The Registry pathologists examine almost 2000 postmortem cardiac specimens per year, including over 1500 post-valve recovery donor hearts. 

  • Contains 3 Component(s), Includes Credits Includes a Live Web Event on 11/10/2023 at 2:00 PM (EST)

    During this presentation, we will review cases in which clots, DVTs, and PEs, were a concern, discovered during recovery, why they are important, and what can be done on shared donation and death investigation cases.

    During this presentation, we will review cases in which clots, DVTs, and PEs, were a concern, discovered during recovery, why they are important, and what can be done on shared donation and death investigation cases.

    Kim A. Collins, MD, FCAP

    Forensic Pathologist, Fulton County ME, Medical Director

    Dr. Collins serves as a forensic pathologist with Newberry Pathology Associates and is a Medical Director for SharingHope SC, the Organ and Tissue Donation Services for South Carolina. After receiving her BS in microbiology, magna cum laude Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Georgia, Athens, Dr. Collins earned her MD from the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta. Following medical school, Dr. Collins completed an anatomic and clinical pathology residency at Wake Forest University/Bowman Gray School of Medicine. After residency, she completed a forensic fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina where she remained on faculty as a Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Director of Forensic and Autopsy Pathology, and Chief Medical Examiner. Dr. Collins is a Diplomat of the American Board of Pathology, board-certified in anatomic pathology, clinical pathology, and forensic pathology. She is a member of the College of American Pathologists and past Chair of the Autopsy Committee. She is past President of the South Carolina Society of Pathologists, and past Chair for the Pathology/Biology Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. She serves on the Board of Directors and is past-President for the National Association of Medical Examiners.

  • Contains 3 Component(s), Includes Credits Includes a Live Web Event on 09/29/2023 at 2:00 PM (EDT)

    During this presentation, we will discuss various circumstances of death in different death investigation systems/jurisdictions. We will review deaths in police custody, prison/detention facility deaths, and officer-involved deaths. We will discuss custody and jurisdiction of the body when a death investigator, law enforcement, and district attorneys are involved.

    During this presentation, we will discuss various circumstances of death in different death investigation systems/jurisdictions. We will review deaths in police custody, prison/detention facility deaths, and officer-involved deaths. We will discuss custody and jurisdiction of the body when a death investigator, law enforcement, and district attorneys are involved.


    Karl Williams, MD

    Chief Medical Examiner

    Allegheny County

     Dr. Karl E. Williams is a life-long Pittsburgher, graduating as valedictorian from South Hills High School, in 1965, and subsequently being inducted into its Hall of Fame for Medicine/Science. His passions are his family, (son, Michael), music, literature, sailing, France and Armagnac!

     At Oberlin College, his undergraduate years were spent pursuing a major in Biology and a minor in Religion.

    Following Oberlin, he attended the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (Class of 1974), where he worked as a bench scientist at Mellon Institute and won an essay award from the Pennsylvania Medical Society.

    Following graduation with a MD degree, he completed an internship in Washington DC Veteran’s Administration Hospital and Georgetown University Hospital. He then worked four years as an Emergency Room physician in Scranton, before returning to residency programs in Pathology at Allegheny General Hospital under the directorship of Dr. Robert Hartsock, and at Shadyside Hospital, under the directorship Dr. Edwin Fisher.

    After completing his training in Pathology, he was employed for two years at the Coroner’s Office of Allegheny County. 

    The science of Pathology holds the keys to understanding the most complex diseases and discrepancies of the body. It is also central to resolving Medicolegal issues in Forensic Pathology.

    Karl is triple boarded in Anatomic, Clinical and Forensic Pathology, as well as having a Master’s in Public Health, from the Graduate School of Public Health of the University of Pittsburgh, in Occupational/Environmental Medicine.

    Before becoming Allegheny County’s first appointed Medical Examiner, he was the Laboratory Director of Ellwood City Hospital, as well as the Medical Director of that hospital’s Occupational Medicine division. He was, additionally, Director of a high-tech start up medical biotech research and lab which performed testing of malignancies for the purpose of evaluating chemotherapy options.  

    The Office of the Medical Examiner is one of the rare facilities in the country to have the complete set of Crime Laboratories integrated with its morgue and Death Scene Investigation System.

    The collaboration of these two aspects of investigation can be applied in novel issues in Public Health, such the current drug overdose epidemic ravaging the country, as well as to frontier areas such as the use of DNA in the court system.

    Some prominent cases that Karl has been involved with during his career include the crash of USAir 427 in 1995, the arrest and conviction of the Ross Township serial rapist, the cyanide poisoning of a local physician by her husband and the Tree of Life Synagogue slayings.

    For the past decade one of his principal concerns have been with the on-going drug overdose epidemic. He works with the Pitt School of Pharmacy in creating and maintaining a unique resource Overdose Free PA.

  • Contains 3 Component(s), Includes Credits Includes a Live Web Event on 12/08/2023 at 2:00 PM (EST)

    Pediatric and sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUIDS) are exceptionally challenging cases for medicolegal death investigators. As a result, unique considerations are granted when these cases are suitable for organ and tissue donation. During this presentation, we will review the unique challenges surrounding the release for donation on pediatric cases under the jurisdiction of a death investigator, situations that may limit the ability to permit donation, and how these issues may be addressed.

    Pediatric and sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUIDS) are exceptionally challenging cases for medicolegal death investigators. As a result, unique considerations are granted when these cases are suitable for organ and tissue donation. During this presentation, we will review the unique challenges surrounding the release for donation on pediatric cases under the jurisdiction of a death investigator, situations that may limit the ability to permit donation, and how these issues may be addressed.

    Anna G. McDonald, MD

    Anna McDonald, M.D. - Medical Director Birth Tissue Recovery, LLC Winston-Salem, North Carolina Dr. McDonald completed her medical degree at Duke University Medical School prior to her training at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital (Anatomic and Clinical Pathology residency), Harvard-affiliated Boston Children's Hospital (Pediatric Pathology fellowship), and the Boston Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (Forensic Pathology fellowship). She served as a staff Pediatric Pathologist at Boston Children's Hospital and a Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 2014, she joined the Wake Forest Department of Pathology as an Assistant Professor of Pathology with specialty interests in forensic/autopsy pathology and perinatal/placental pathology. She was appointed as Medical Examiner for the State of North Carolina since 2014. She joined Birth Tissue Recovery, LLC as Medical Director in 2016, allowing her to integrate her expertise in placental/perinatal pathology and tissue and organ donor service experience. She is certified by the American Board of Pathology in Forensic Pathology, Pediatric Pathology, and Anatomic and Clinical Pathology.