After earning a BS in microbiology from McNeese State University and finishing up 6 years as a special operations forward air controller in the Louisiana Air National Guard, Kip Hanks began employment with the FDA as a field investigator in 1997. After a few years as a generalist covering multiple FDA-regulated products, he became a district biologics specialist and then the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) biologics national expert. In this role, Kip was responsible for providing regulatory and guidance interpretation and application to ORA staff, training and mentoring new investigators, serving on policy and document workgroups and advising ORA senior leadership on biologics-related matters. In July 2021, he joined the American Association of Tissue Banks as its first director of regulatory and governmental affairs. In this role, Kip establishes and communicates the AATB official position regarding regulatory issues that may impact AATB member organizations to the FDA and other applicable governmental and standard-setting organizations. He provides expert interpretation, guidance, strategy and counsel on existing laws, regulations, standards, and guidance that impact AATB members.

Tricia Samaniego Martinez currently serves as a Senior Advisor for the Office of Biologics Inspectorate (OBI), Immediate Office, within the Office of Inspections and Investigations at the US Food and Drug Administration. After receiving her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from Texas A&M University, she joined the FDA as an Investigator. She has worked in the Houston and San Antonio offices conducting inspections and investigations in the Biologics, Human and Animal Drug, and Bioresearch Monitoring programs, in both the domestic and foreign arenas.

Tricia most recently served as the Division Director of Investigations where she was responsible for leading a team of managers and investigators, primarily located in the western half of the US, during a time of quickly evolving technologies in the biologics industry. The staff under her management conducted inspections and investigations of establishments handling biological products, including blood and blood components, Source Plasma, and human cell, tissue, and cellular based tissue products.
As a Senior Advisor, she is responsible for working directly with OBI management, as well as cross-organizational leadership in developing, recommending, and coordinating operational priorities, activities and resources to ensure consistency and optimization throughout the program. In addition, she is responsible for advising OBI leadership on emerging and precedent-setting issues, representing OBI on Agency level work groups and leading multiple trainings.

Erik Fay is a 2011 graduate from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. There he studied Sociology with a concentration in Criminal Justice and a minor in Psychology. He served as a law enforcement officer for 6 years, receiving multiple Merit Awards and even a Life Saving Award. Erik began his work in the transplant field in 2018 as a Tissue Donation Coordinator with New England Donor Services. During his time in the Tissue Operations Department, he became a subject matter expert in tissue donation. Erik achieved the title of Certified Tissue Banking Specialist in 2020. After working as a Preceptor training new hires in the role, he was promoted to Tissue Operations Clinical Educator in March of 2024.

In her current role Gretchen leads the donor referral and donor services center for Tennessee Donor Services, Sierra Donor Services and New Mexico Donor Services.  Having the privilege to serve others working in donation for almost 20 years, Gretchen believes that the gift of donation can provide hope in some of life's darkest moments.

Gretchen holds her CTBS, CT.  She also earned her Bachelor of Science from University of Wisconsin- La Crosse and her Master of Arts in Counseling from Lakeland University.  She and her family currently live in Nashville, TN, but she still missed the winter in Wisconsin.

Wendy Garrison is part of the leadership team with the hospital-based organ procurement organization (OPO) in San Diego, California.   Lifesharing is a top-performing OPO serving a diverse population of just over 3.5 million in San Diego and Imperial Counties.  Wendy began her career as a Trauma nurse in Memphis, TN.  It was here Wendy discovered her passion for working with families who were experiencing trauma and end-of life.  She began working with the Memphis-based OPO in 2007 starting as a coordinator then joining the leadership team as Clinical Manager in 2010.  In 2014 she journeyed to the west coast and joined the Lifesharing team as Manager of Family Services and has remained a part of the leadership team currently serving as Director of Family Services and Donor Support. 

Mackenzie Ellis, Donor Services Specialist at Mid-America Transplant in Saint Louis, Missouri has over 10 years of Donor Services' experience. She is responsible for on-boarding new staff and focusing on developing best practices to enhance tissue authorization rates. As a subject matter expert, Mackenzie collaborates with Performance Excellence and Business Intelligence teams. Together, they have developed visual management tools to improve tissue authorization rates and are currently building advanced systems to provide real-time guidance for donation coordinators during tissue authorization conversations. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring new restaurants in the Saint Louis area.

I graduated St. Louis University School of Medicine. My anatomic/clinical pathology residency program was University of Missouri, Kansas City. I completed fellowships in Transfusion Medicine and Cytopathology at the University of Colorado. I have been an Associate Medical Director at AlloSource for approximately 2 1/2 years. I am CTBS certified. I am a member of the AATB Physicians Council and I served on the Monkey Pox Physicians Council Work group.

Haydee Barno is the Director of Education at the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) and is responsible for the management and execution of educational programs and the Certified Tissue Bank Specialist program. Prior to joining AATB, Haydee was the Director of Education at the American College of Clinical Pharmacology, a professional society dedicated to advancing the science of clinical pharmacology and to engage in educational efforts in the interest of Members, the clinical pharmacology community, and the public. During her tenure, Haydee was responsible for directing the planning and execution of the society’s continuing medical and pharmacy education programs. Haydee has been in the non-profit sector for over 20 years holding different positions including continuing education and certification programs.

Haydee earned her law degree from the Universidad Americana of Managua (UAM) and earned her MBA at Strayer University in Washington, DC. She is fluent in English and Spanish.

Miles Kueffner currently works as a Partner Relations Manager for two musculoskeletal processors and previously led teams responsible for initial donor screening, donor family paperwork, and tissue processor allocation. Through her time in these roles, she's also been responsible for the review of donor records prior to Medical Examiner release. She has almost 15 years' experience in donation, and prior to her time in our industry, served as a high school teacher. Miles holds a master's degree in healthcare administration in addition to being CTBS certified. When not thinking about how to get donors accepted, she likes winning music trivia and interior design. 

Alex Hamdan is the Director of Donor Services for Origin Biologics, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Prior to his role with Origin, he was a clinical researcher and studied for many years to become a Medical Doctor. Because of his background in medicine, he helps shed light on how different medical processes in the body can affect donor eligibility, and more importantly: when not to worry about them. He has a keen perspective on why a donor's gift may be affected - not only for regulatory risk, but also for graft quality after processing. In his spare time, Alex enjoys hiking, tattoo art, and 90's hip-hop. 

Dr. Rose has nearly 8 years of FDA experience and served as the Assistant Director for the Division of Restorative, Repair and Trauma Devices in CDRH’s Office of Orthopedic Devices where she led a large and diverse team of engineers, clinicians, and scientists. She brings a comprehensive understanding of FDA regulations, guidance, and decision-making, as well as a wealth of knowledge about regulation of devices and combination products for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. She signed multiple Substantial Equivalence (SE) letters for Restorative & Repair orthopedic devices and combination products, including bone void fillers and allograft-based products. Dr. Rose is an Engagement Partner with Bruder Consulting Venture Group (BCVG)

David Staley serves as the vice president of human resources and organizational development at LifeGift. He began his career at LifeGift in 2015 after serving as director of human resources at LifeNet Health, based in Virginia Beach, VA. Previously, Staley served as a human resources executive for Fortune 50 companies, privately held organizations and non-profit organizations. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. Staley has a Senior Professional in Human Resources certification from the Human Resources Certification Institute and is a Senior Certified Professional through the Society for Human Resources Management.

As a dynamic executive coach, educator, and transformational change catalyst, Laura Walling-Sotolongo uses her ~20 year experience in various aspects of Tissue Banking including leadership development, performance management, employee training, donor screening, tissue authorization, recovery, processing, distribution, and quality systems to produce impactful bottom-line results. In her current role as the Sr. Director, Talent + Optimization at New England Donor Services, Laura brings high energy, positivity, and consistent results to organizational & talent development, leadership coaching, and learning design.

She graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Molecular Biology and is a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, and CTBS certified.  She is driven by operationalizing strategies with tactics that engage, align, empower, and develop NEDS' employees and leadership team to help them cultivate their strengths and support positive change that maximizes their potential.

Michelle A Post, MA, LMFT, CTBS is a licensed marriage and family therapist (CA, FL, Colorado) and international life & business coach in private practice. She has specialized in grief, loss, trauma, suicide prevention and stress management since 2000. In 2007 when she joined OneLegacy in Southern California, Michelle further focused her grief and loss specialty with donor families, and her burnout-prevention training and teaching within high-stress, healthcare environments. Michelle left OneLegacy in 2019 to launch her own international coaching business to help others via destination retreats, teaching and consulting, and telehealth. She has written several books - including "Help Me Understand... A guide to help children understand hospitals, death, and organ, cornea, and tissue donation.”, She is a co-host of the weekly podcast “Keeping Your Sh*t (bleep) together in a Stressed World”  where they use transparency, humor, professional and lived experience to help others on their personal & professional journeys.

Shortly after completing a graduate degree in Thanatology I entered the world of Organ Procurement Organizations.  More specifically, working with both organ and tissue families, obtaining authorization, and providing aftercare support.  Along the way I spent more time focusing on the education and training side of my profession and found myself in a leadership role as the manager of the organ and tissue teams who are holding donation conversations with families.  While in this role I have been able to support new team members and develop new training tools for current and future team members.

Jeremy Benavides, Medical Examiner Liaison and Forensic Outreach Coordinator at Lifeshare Network. Before Lifeshare, I was at the Office of The Chief Medical Examiner Oklahoma(OCME). I served in many capacities starting in the autopsy lab as a Pathologist Assistant. I then transferred to Death Investigations before being appointed Chief of Death Investigations for the state of Oklahoma(OCME). I graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in microbiology. 

Amanda Abbott joined Indiana Donor Network April of 2009 as a Tissue Recovery Coordinator with CTBS certification, then picking up Organ Surgical Recovery Coordinator shifts before transitioning to the Forensic Outreach Coordinator April 2021. She has been a certified Mediolegal Death Investigator since 2009 serving 8 years as an elected Coroner IN Indiana. She has also worked as a forensic pathologist assistant for 3 years.  She has served her community as a certified EMT/ firefighter, 911 Dispatcher and Funeral Director. 

Caitlin Riordan, CTBS is a Team Lead in the Tissue Operations Department at New England Donor Services. She started at NEDS, then Lifechoice Donor Services, in 2013. Caitlin has a degree in Chemistry and Biology. Prior to Donation, she spent six years working in the Hospital Setting as a CNA and ED Tech. Throughout her career as a Donation Professional, Caitlin has spearheaded many Donation Development projects and initiatives in the Police, Fire, EMS, and Hospital Communities. She is currently a part of many improvement initiatives at NEDS and serves as a member of the AATB Donor Family Services Council.

Erik Fay began his work in the transplant field in 2018 as a Tissue Donation Coordinator with New England Donor Services. During his time in the Tissue Operations Department he became a subject matter expert in tissue donation. Erik achieved the title of Certified Tissue Banking Specialist in 2020 and ultimately was promoted to the position of Tissue Donation Coordinator III. After working as a Preceptor training new hires in the role, he was promoted to Tissue Operations Trainer in April 2022 and Tissue Operations Clinical Educator in March of 2024.

 Erik is a 2011 graduate from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. There he studied Sociology with a concentration in Criminal Justice and a minor in Psychology. He is a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society, Golden Key International Honor Society, and recipient of the W.E.B. Dubois Outstanding Achievement Award. Erik served as a law enforcement officer for 6 years, receiving multiple Merit Awards and even a Life Saving Award. Erik ultimately found his true passion in working with donor families. He lives at home in Marlborough MA with his wife and 3 children.